"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.[1] 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.[2]
Critical reception and composition
"White Mustang" runs at 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.[3] 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".[4]
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 has been apart of the setlist for many of her 2017 summer festival shows.
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" and "Diet Mountain Dew".
- A white mustang also appears in the "Born to Die" music video.
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 | 905+ Thousand 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.[5] On September 7, 2017, Del Rey shared a longer clip of the music video,[6] 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 for an "Architecture" music video, an outtake from Lust for Life that leaked before the album was released, similarly to how the footage intended for the original "Ultraviolence" was recycled and used for the "Freak" music video. 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 "Architecture". There is even a video that was taken behind the scenes of "White Mustang" where Del Rey is singing "Architecture", which further supports the theory.[7]
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)[8] | 93 |
References
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/lanadelrey/videos/1599474376761673/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/BWOLlYhFcpS/?taken-by=lanadelrey
- ↑ http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/lust-for-life/204097/
- ↑ https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/07/lana-del-rey-lust-for-life-review.html
- ↑ https://twitter.com/MissDaytona/status/891124518307090434
- ↑ https://twitter.com/LanaDelRey/status/905926536749924352
- ↑ http://www.breatheheavy.com/lana-del-reys-best-american-record-soundtracked-to-the-white-mustang-video-makes-way-more-sense/
- ↑ "SK - Singles Digital - Top 100". ČNS IFPI. (Archive to 201730)
