White Mustang (song)

Lana Del Rey
Writer(s)	Lana Del Rey Rick Nowels
Producer(s)	Lana Del Rey Rick Nowels Kieron Menzies Dean Reid
Length	2:44 (See official versions)
From
Single(s)	"Love" "Lust for Life" "Summer Bummer" "Groupie Love"
Promotional single(s)	"Coachella - Woodstock in My Mind"
Lust for Life track listing
"Cherry"
"Summer Bummer"

"White Mustang" is a song by Lana Del Rey. It was co-written with Rick Nowels and co-produced with Nowels, Kieron Menzies and Dean Reid. It is featured on her fifth studio album and fourth major-label studio album, Lust for Life.

Background

On June 8, 2017, Del Rey shared a video on Instagram and Facebook of herself listening to a snippet of the song. It was confirmed that the song was titled "White Mustang" and would be featured on Lust for Life. On July 6, 2017, Del Rey posted a second video of herself listening to a snippet of the song.

Critical reception and composition

"White Mustang" is composed in the key of F# minor and runs for exactly two minutes and forty-four seconds, making it the shortest song on Lust for Life. Jon O'Brien of Prefixmag complimented the song for Del Rey's whistling during the outro, noting that it was an intriguing production touch. Liddy Cudmore of Paste grouped the song alongside "Cherry", saying that "these are soundtracks for film noirs that never existed, right down to the slow-down-the-stairs-footstep percussion".

Live performances

Del Rey performed the song live for the first time at her Lust for Life listening party and performance hosted by Spotify at No Vacancy in Los Angeles, California, on July 20, 2017. Del Rey performed the song live again at Lollapalooza Paris in Paris, France, on July 23, 2017 and it was apart of the setlist for many of her 2017 summer festival shows and headlining shows in cities including London and New York City as part of the small promotional tour in support of Lust for Life. In 2018 the song was included as part of the setlist for the LA to the Moon Tour.

Cross-references

• The line "I like(d) you a lot" is also used in "Music to Watch Boys To" and "You Can Be the Boss".
• Reference to "Summer Bummer".
• "Hold me in your arms" is a lyric from "Never Let Me Go".
• A killer is also mentioned in "Serial Killer".
• White cars are also mentioned in "Axl Rose Husband","Diet Mountain Dew" and in the second version of "Come When You Call Me America".
• A white mustang also appears in the "Born to Die" music video.
• Many of the visuals and themes used in the music video are strongly connected to the lyrics of "The Next Best American Record".
• A snippet of "Get Free" can be heard in the music video.
• Whistling can be heard in "Every Man Gets His Wish" as well.
• The line "everybody said you're a killer" is thematically similar to "your love is deadly" from "Without You".

Music video

Music video	Information
	Released	September 13, 2017
	Length	4:41
	Director	Rich Lee
	Producer	Clark Jackson
	Filmed
	Location	Los Angeles, California
	Vevo views	31+ Million views

Background

On July 27, 2017, Del Rey announced during a livestream on Instagram that a music video for the song would be released. She described it as futuristic, similarly to the "Love" and "Lust for Life" music videos and would be directed by Rich Lee. On July 28, Del Rey revived her defunct Twitter account (@MissDaytona), to post a quick four second preview of the official music video. On September 7, 2017, Del Rey shared a longer clip of the music video, and on September 12, she shared another clip of the beginning of the video and confirmed the release date to be September 13, 2017.

Many fans suspect that the footage was originally intended to be used for a video for "The Next Best American Record," an outtake from Lust for Life that leaked before the album was released (before seeing an official release on Norman Fucking Rockwell!), similarly to how the footage intended for the original "Ultraviolence" music video was recycled and used for the "Freak" music video or the footage for "Happiness Is a Butterfly" was used for "Mariners Apartment Complex" and "Venice Bitch". This theory comes from the fact that many of the visuals and themes used in the "White Mustang" video are strongly expressed in the lyrics of "The Next Best American Record". There is even a video that was taken behind the scenes of "White Mustang" where Del Rey is singing a part of "The Next Best American Record," which further supports the theory.

Behind the scenes

White Mustang - Behind the Scenes 2

White Mustang - Behind the Scenes 1

Official versions

• Album version — 2:44
• Instrumental version — 2:45
• Music video version — 4:41

Lyrics

Packing all my things for the summer
Lying on my bed it's a bummer, 'cause I
Didn't call when I got your number
But I liked you a lot

Slippin' on my dress in soft filters
Everybody said you're a killer, but I
Couldn't stop the way I was feeling the day
Your record dropped

The day I saw your white mustang
Your white mustang
Day I saw your white mustang
Your white mustang

Caught up in my dreams and forgetting
I've been acting like armageddon 'cause you
Hold me in your arms just a little too tight
That's what I thought

Summer's meant for loving and leaving
I was such a fool for believing that you
Could change all the ways you been living
But you just couldn't stop

The day I saw your white mustang
Your white mustang
Day I saw your white mustang
Your white mustang

And you're revving and revving and revving it up
And the sound it was frightening
And you were getting a part of that
You're gonna hit me like lightning

White mustang, your white mustang
The day I saw your white mustang
Said you're a wild mustang

You're gonna hit me like lightning
You're gonna hit me like lightning

Credits

Personnel

• Lana Del Rey — vocals, songwriting, production
• Rick Nowels — songwriting, production, piano, synthesizer, Mellotron
• Kieron Menzies — production, engineering, mixing, drums, percussion, synthesizer, strings
• Dean Reid — production, engineering, mixing, drums, bass, synthesizer, effects
• Trevor Yasuda — engineering, keyboards
• Chris Garcia — engineering
• Adam Ayan — mastering

Technical

• Published by R-Rated Music administered by EMI April Music Inc. (Global Music Rights) / Sony / ATV Music Publishing (ASCAP)
• Recorded at The Green Building, Los Angeles and Hampstead Studios, London
• Mastered at Gateway Mastering, Portland, Maine

Charts

Chart (2017)	Peak position
Slovakia Digital Singles (ČNS IFPI)	93