Briona Bargerstock – Staff Writer

bnb5387@psu.edu

In March, Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, known professionally as Lana Del Rey, released her ninth studio album, “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard.” While the title may be long, the album was anything but. Featuring songs that hit close to home, speaking of the dysfunctionality of her family to songs that speak of finding true love, this album perfectly captures where Lana’s heart is right now. 

As someone who has been a fan of Lana Del Rey since her 2012 album, “Born to Die,” it has been rewarding to see how she has grown as an artist.This record is more laid back than her others. 

Instead of writing about forbidden love, Lana writes about her current life. She chose to reflect on everything that has happened to her in these past couple of years and how it has affected her as a person rather than an artist. Elements of abuse, hurt, and neglect are paired beautifully with love and hope. This album helps you reflect on failed relationships, makes you think about where you currently are in life, and leaves you longing for true love all at the same time.

The songs that stood out to me most on this album were “Sweet,” “Fingertips,” and “Margaret [feat. Bleachers].” These songs embodied the theme of finding love despite having endured loss.

That resonates with me and where I am in my life at this very moment. 

“Sweet” offers playful lyrics about knowing who you are and the hope that your partner will accept those traits and love you despite your faults. It lives up to its name in how it makes its listener feel. It made me reflect on my relationship with my partner and how much we have grown together, and how we have accepted both the best and worst parts of each other.

“Fingertips,” on the other hand, is less of a song that offers a moment of reflection to the listener and more of an ode to what the future has in store for us all. Lana opens up and speaks of her family life and the complications that they have faced when it comes to being connected and feeling like a family. Offering time to honor those in her family who have passed and the grief that she experienced with their deaths. The line, “it’s a shame that we die,” being added after a verse depicting someone being told bad news and having to move on with their lives as normal. 

Another empowering topic of this song is that Lana questions whether she should have children of her own. In my opinion, that is a powerful topic because, with the state that the world is in right now, I think that is a question we all ask ourselves.

The last song I wanted to focus on was “Margaret [feat. Bleachers].” This beautiful song is about knowing when you are falling in love and how you can tell if that love will last forever or if it is temporary. I think the addition of Jack Antonoff’s vocals made this song’s message even more potent because it felt like hearing both sides of a love story. Both a feminine and masculine view of falling in love and then the coming together of the chorus of, “Cause when you know, you know.” This is the best song on the album and if you are in a relationship, it will bring a tear to your eye. However, even if you are not in a relationship right now this song offers insight into falling in love in general, which I think is a really good message.

Overall, I think this album is worth listening to. There are songs on here that are very memorable to me. I would not say that this is Lana’s best album by any means. There are songs on this album that I have found myself skipping on more than one occasion. The beauty of the good songs outweighs the ones I am not too fond of though which makes this album higher up on Lana’s discography for me. Listen to this album if you would like insight into Lana’s heart with her iconic, playful lyrics sprinkled in and the beautiful work of Jack Antonoff’s production.

Rating: 7/10