"Venice Bitch" (stylized in sentence case) is a song written and produced by Lana Del Rey and Jack Antonoff. The song was released on September 18, 2018 and it serves as the second single from her sixth studio album, Norman Fucking Rockwell!.
Background
On September 12, 2018, The Fader announced Del Rey would release the song on September 18, 2018 and it would be accompanied by a music video shot by Chuck Grant:
- ""Venice Bitch" and "Mariners Apartment Complex" serve as singles for Del Rey's upcoming album, which will be released on August 30, 2019."[1]
The song premiered on Beats 1 Radio with Zane Lowe.[2] Before the release, Lowe announced on Twitter that the track length was 10 minutes.[3] During the interview, Del Rey explained her managers' reaction to her interest in releasing the track as a single.
- "I played it for my managers and I was like, "yeah I think this is the single I want to put out". And they were like "It's 10 minutes long, are you kidding me? It's called “Venice Bitch”. Like why do you do this to us? Can you make a three minute normal pop song?" I was like "well, end of summer, some people just wanna drive around for 10 minutes get lost in some electric guitar"."
Composition
"Venice Bitch" runs at 9 minutes and 36 seconds long, making it Del Rey's longest-running track released to date. Running at a moderate tempo of 79 beats per minute, the track consists of drums, guitar, piano, and electric guitar mainly. Towards half of the song, there is a long instrumental part, which shows an electric guitar solo. The chorus repeats itself several times throughout the song, and Del Rey's vocals during the bridge and towards the end of the song are airy and layered, similar to those of "West Coast".
Critical reception
Pitchfork named the song "Best New Track" upon its release. In the review, critic Sam Sodomsky compared the song to "Mariners Apartment Complex", stating that the singles were "set in the golden haze of 1970s FM radio". Sodomsky wrote that the track was unlike anything Del Rey had ever written and that while it's nearly 10 minutes long, it's also "one of her most gripping", and added "she has never allowed herself to sink so completely into an atmosphere, burrowing deep into the song's dark blue, moody grooves".[4]
Year-end lists
Venice Bitch ranked on many critics 2018 year end lists.
Critic outlet | Position |
---|---|
Crack Magazine |
2 |
Dazed | 8 |
Hot Press | 16 |
Idolator | 1 |
Noisey | 4 |
Paper | 3 |
Pitchfork | 37 |
Slant Magazine | 21 |
Spin | 3 |
Uproxx | 11 |
Live performances
Lana performed the song live for the first time at a Apple Event on October 30, 2018 changing the lyrics "Bitch" to "Chick" and "Fucks" to "Cares".[5] The track was also a part of the tracklist for the Norman Fucking Rockwell tour. During the performance of this song, as well as of "Blue Jeans", as part of the Norman Fucking Rockwell Tour, Del Rey would go up to the audience to take selfies, sign autographs and accept gifts, just like she did during the 2019 Festival Tour.
Artwork
The single's official artwork was shot and edited by Del Rey.
Music video
Music video | Information | |
---|---|---|
Released | September 18, 2018 | |
Length | 9:41 | |
Director | Chuck Grant | |
Producer | ||
Filmed | ||
Location | California | |
Vevo views | 16+ Million views |
Background and description
The music video was shot by Chuck Grant with Del Rey's iPhone and released simultaneously with the track. It features Del Rey's backup dancers Ashley Rodriguez and Alexandria Kaye who previously appeared in the video for "Mariners Apartment Complex".
On January 11, 2019, Del Rey posted a snippet of the music video for "Happiness Is a Butterfly" on Instagram, and it revealed that clips from that video were featured in the "Venice Bitch" and "Mariners Apartment Complex" music video.[6]
Cross-references
- "Nothing gold can stay" is a reference to the poem of the same title written in 1923 by Robert Frost, which was also referenced in "Music to Watch Boys To".
- Direct reference to the album title Norman Fucking Rockwell.
- Referenced in "Mariners Apartment Complex".
- Del Rey sings about her jealousy explicitly in the unreleased song "Jealous Girl".
- Direct reference to the 1968 hit single "Crimson and Clover" by Tommy James and the Shondells.
- Del Rey refers to herself as "insane", possible reference to earlier song "Born to Die" wherein she sings "you like your girls insane".
- Being an ice queen is also mentioned in an unreleased song "Crooked Cop".
- Direct reference to "Hangin' Around", "American".
- Leather is also mentioned in "Off to the Races", "Freak" and "I Don't Wanna Go", as well as the poem "Patent Leather Do-Over".
- Ice cream is also referenced in "Salvatore" and "Carmen".
- Jeans are also mentioned in "Blue Jeans" and "I Don't Wanna Go".
- Del Rey remarks "oh, God" which is similar to the phrase "oh my God" and it appears in "Heroin", "When the World Was at War We Kept Dancing", "The Blackest Day" and "Paradise".
- Summer is also mentioned in "Summer Bummer", "Summertime Sadness" and "Summer of Sam", among some others.
- Gold is also mentioned in "Ultraviolence", "Off to the Races" and "Lust for Life", among some other songs.
- References to the colour blue appear in many of Del Rey's songs, some of which are "Old Money", "Norman Fucking Rockwell" and "Freak".
- The phrase "paint me happy and blue" is similar to "color me blue" which appears in "Norman Fucking Rockwell".
- Fire is also mentioned in "West Coast", "Sad Girl", "Live Forever", "Off to the Races" and "Freak".
- Diamonds are also referenced in many Del Rey's songs, most notably "Young and Beautiful", "Money Power Glory" and "Last Girl on Earth".
- A garden is also mentioned in "Cherry" and "Off to the Races", as well as in the poem "My Bedroom is a Sacred Place Now — There Are Children at the Foot of My Bed".
- The phrase "life's a dream" also appears in "Roses Bloom for You".
- The yard is also mentioned in "How to Disappear".
- Getting high is also mentioned in "Florida Kilos", "High by the Beach", "Hollywood", "Carmen", among others.
- Ice is also mentioned in "Brooklyn Baby" and "Freak".
Official versions
- Album version — 9:37
- Instrumental version — 9:36
- Single version — 9:36
Lyrics
Fear fun, fear love
Fresh out of fucks, forever
Tryin' to be stronger for you
Ice cream, ice queen
I dream in jeans and leather
Life's dream, I'm sweet for you
Oh, God, miss you on my lips
It's me, your little Venice bitch
On the stoop with the neighborhood kids
Callin' out, bang bang, kiss kiss
You're in the yard, I light the fire
And as the summer fades away
Nothing gold can stay
You write, I tour, we make it work
You're beautiful and I'm insane
We're American-made
Give me hallmark
One dream, one life, one lover
Paint me happy and blue
Norman Rockwell
No hype under our covers
It's just me and you
Oh, God, miss you on my lips
It's me, your little Venice bitch
On the stoop with the neighborhood kids
Callin' out, bang bang, kiss kiss
You're in the yard, I light the fire
And as the summer fades away
Nothing gold can stay
You write, I tour, we make it work
You're beautiful and I'm insane
We're American-made
Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, oh, yeah
Signin' off, bang bang, kiss kiss
Yeah, yeah, oh, yeah, oh, yeah
Signin' off, bang bang, kiss kiss
Oh, God, want you on my lips (I do, I do)
It's me, your little Venice bitch
On the stoop with the neighborhood kids
Signin' off, bang bang, kiss kiss
Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, oh, yeah
(Signin' off, bang bang, kiss kiss)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
(Signin' off, bang bang, kiss kiss)
Yeah, yeah
Young baby is back in town now
You should come on, come over
We'll be hanging around now
You should come on, come over
Oh, God, I love him on my lips
It's me, your little Venice bitch
Touch me with your fingertips
It's me, your little Venice bitch
Ba-back in the garden
We're getting high now, because we're older
Me, myself, I like diamonds
My baby, crimson and clover
(La-la-la-la-la-la, losers)
(Beautiful losers)
(La-la-la-la-la-la, losers)
(Beautiful, losers)
Oh, oh, oh, oh, whatever
Everything, whatever
Oh, oh, oh, oh, whatever
Everything, whatever
(La-la-la-la-la-la, beautiful)
(Beautiful, beautiful)
(La-la-la-la-la-la, beautiful)
(Beautiful, beautiful)
(La-la-la-la-la-la, beautiful)
(Beautiful, beautiful)
(La-la-la-la-la-la, beautiful)
(Beautiful, beautiful)
Back in the garden
We're getting high now, because we're older
Me and myself, I like diamonds
My baby, crimson and clover
Crimson and clover, honey
Crimson and clover, honey
Crimson and clover, honey
Crimson and clover, honey
Crimson and clover, honey
Crimson and clover, honey
Over and over, honey
Over and over, honey
Over and over, honey
Over and over, honey
Over and over
If you weren't mine, I'd be
Jealous of your love
If you weren't mine, I'd be
Jealous of your love
If you weren't mine, I'd be
Jealous of your love
If you weren't mine, I'd be
Jealous of your love
If you weren't mine, I'd be
Jealous of your love
Credits
- Personnel
- Lana Del Rey — songwriting, production, vocals, background vocals
- Jack Antonoff — songwriting, production, drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, synthesizer, piano, programming, mixing
- Laura Sisk — engineering, mixing
- Jon Sher — recording
- Derrick Stockwell — recording
- Greg Eliason — recording
- Chris Gehringer — mastering
- Will Quinnell — mastering
- Technical
- Mastered at Sterling Sound
- Recorded at Conway Recording Studios, Los Angeles, United States / Westlake Recording, Los Angeles, United States / Henson Recording Studios, Los Angeles, United States
- Mixed at Conway Recording Studios, Los Angeles, United States
External links
- Buy/stream "Venice Bitch"
- Watch "Venice Bitch"
References
- ↑ Renshaw, David (September 12, 2018) "Lana Del Rey to release two new songs ahead of 2019 album"
- ↑ Lana Del Rey on Instagram: "Venice Bitch. Tomorrow w Zane Lowe on Beats 1"
- ↑ Zane Lowe on Twitter: "New Lana coming to @Beats1 this morning ‘Venice Bitch’ is 10 min long. And it’s stunning."
- ↑ Sodomsky, Sam (September 18, 2018) ""Venice Bitch" by Lana Del Rey Review". Pitchfork.
- ↑ https://globalnews.ca/news/4611965/lana-del-rey-new-single/
- ↑ Lana Del Rey (@lanadelrey). "Norman Fucking Rockwell @yourgirlchuck @follow_ashley @missalexkaye". (January 11, 2019). Instagram. [Access date: January 11, 2019]