15 Heartbreaking Lana Del Rey Lyrics About The One Who Got Away
Lana knows all about not being able to move on.
Everyone has that one person they just can’t seem to get over. Maybe you have accepted that you can’t have a relationship with this person, but the feelings are still there — or maybe you keep going back to them hoping things might improve.
There’s something about going through a continuous cycle of heartache with the same person and feeling unable to get over someone that just makes you feel so powerless and out of control.
It’s almost as if this person has you under their spell and there’s no way to break it.
Often times, the one who got away is not always the best to you, yet you choose to look past it because you are so blinded by love.
For me, I’ve given guys multiple chances because I felt so strongly about them and could see their potential, but there were so many character flaws that I waited for them to fix, only to find them incapable of doing so. Although it was hard, I had to do what was best for me and let these people go. You would think this would be easy to do, especially if they are heavily flawed, but it’s hard to let someone go who you still care about deeply.
If you are anything like me when it comes to heartbreak and lost love, you likely take every sad love song you hear and imagine that song as if it were written about your life. You find common ground between the protagonists in these songs and wonder how a songwriter can perfectly describe exactly how you are feeling, down to the smallest detail. For me, that songwriter is Lana Del Rey.
Known for her unique Hollywood sad-core style music, her ability to write song lyrics in a way that captures my exact feelings, when I am unable to fully articulate them myself, is exactly what I need when I’m feeling down. She’s able to put my feelings into a much more beautifully poetic piece than I ever could. Lana Del Rey's music is especially perfect for me when I get upset over a guy and just want to drown in my sorrows or get hit in the feelings.
Although heartbreak sucks, there is some solace in knowing that you are not alone. If even Lana Del Rey has gone through things like heartbreak, it gives me comfort in knowing I’m not abnormal.
In honor of Lana’s new album, Norman F*****g Rockwell, coming out August 30th, here are 15 song lyrics from her past albums which perfectly sum up how you might feel about the guy you just can’t seem to get over.
1. When your friends keep telling you to stop going back to him, but you don’t listen.
“All my friends tell me I should move on. I'm lying in the ocean, singing your song. Ah, that's how you sing it. Loving you forever, can't be wrong. Even though you're not here, won't move on."— Lana Del Rey in "Dark Paradise"
2. When he’s unaffected by the pain and hurt he’s caused you.
“But you are invincible. I can't break through your world 'cause you live in shades of cool. Your heart is unbreakable.” — Lana Del Rey in "Shades of Cool"
3. When you’ve accepted that he is incapable of change.
“But I can't fix him, can't make him better. And I can't do nothing about his strange weather.” — Lana Del Rey in "Shades of Cool"
4. No matter how much you try to fight it, you still love him.
“And there's no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody, it won't leave my head. Every time I close my eyes, it’s like a dark paradise”. — Lana Del Rey in "Dark Paradise"
5. When you kept sticking around, hoping it would get better.
“I'll wait for you, babe, that's all I do, babe. Don't come through, babe, you never do because I'm pretty when I cry.” — Lana Del Rey in "Pretty When You Cry"
6. When you know his patterns, but he knows he’s your weakness.
“Don't say you need me when you're leaving, you leave again. I'm stronger than all my men except for you."— Lana Del Rey in "Pretty When You Cry"
7. When you know he's far from perfect, but you still love him anyway.
“And I don't know how you get over, get over someone as dangerous, tainted and flawed as you.”— Lana Del Rey in "Million Dollar Man"
8. His love made you feel so alive that you looked past his character flaws.
“Heavy metal love of mine, I should have learned to let you stay. You didn't want me all the time, but you were worth it anyway.”— Lana Del Rey in "Guns and Roses"
9. You can’t live with him, can’t live without him.
“Now that he’s gone, I can’t feel nothing. Ever since my baby went away, It's been the blackest day.” — Lana Del Rey in "Blackest Day"
10. You know the toxic cycle that comes with going back to him, but you’re along for the ride anyway.
“Sometimes it feels like I've got a war in my mind. I want to get off, but I keep riding the ride.”— Lana Del Rey in "Get Free"
11. When you believed he was going to change.
“You've been wasting my time while you're taking what's mine, with the things that you're doing. Talk that talk, well now they all know your name and there's no coming back from the place that you came.”— Lana Del Rey in "In My Feelings"
12. He will never appreciate the beauty in the world the way you do.
“What can I do? Life is beautiful, but you don't have a clue. Sun and ocean blue, they're magnificent, but It don't make sense to you.” — Lana Del Rey in "Black Beauty"
13. When you thought love was enough for him to stay.
“Sometimes love is not enough, and the road gets tough, I don't know why.” — Lana Del Rey in "Born to Die"
14. No matter how many times he wrongs you, you can’t deny the effect he has on you.
“My old man is a bad man, but I can't deny the way he holds my hand, and he grabs me, he has me by my heart.”— Lana Del Rey in "Off to the Races"
15. And finally, you know his track record, but you choose to go back to him anyway.
"I'm not gonna listen to what the past says, I've been waiting up all night."— Lana Del Rey in "Diet Mountain Dew"
Elizabeth Ward is a writing student finishing her bachelor’s at the University of Louisville. You can find her painting, dancing to her heart's content, or binging the Office.