The 10 best unreleased Lana Del Rey songs
Since releasing her single ‘Video Games’ in 2011, Lana Del Rey has become one of the most significant artists of the 21st century, attracting millions of fans to her richly lyrical world. With her album Born To Die, Del Rey defined an era, changing the course of pop music by keeping one foot firmly in the past and using the other to stride into the future.
However, it took Del Rey years to cultivate her aesthetic and distinctive sound, having signed her first recording deal in 2006. She tried to make it under various monikers, including Sparkle Jumprope Queen, May Jailer and Lizzy Grant. Under these names, Del Rey recorded hundreds of songs which were never released. Yet, through computer leaks or old uploads courtesy of Del Rey and her producers, many of the songs have made their way online and into the hands of dedicated fans.
Thus, not only do fans have access to her released music, but hundreds of outtakes, demos, and rarities that range from bubblegum pop hits to gentle acoustic numbers. Several of these have become so popular that Del Rey has played them live or reworked them into album cuts. Earlier this year, she even rerecorded a fan favourite, ‘Say Yes to Heaven’, and released it on streaming platforms.
With such an exhaustive collection of unreleased songs, this list does not include tracks that appeared on Del Rey’s previously released (and subsequently shelved) album Lana Del Ray, such as ‘Pawn Shop Blues’ and ‘Raise Me Up (Mississippi South)’, despite their brilliance.
Discover the ten best unreleased Lana Del Rey songs below.
10 best unreleased Lana Del Rey songs:
10. ‘Never Let Me Go’
‘Never Let Me Go’ reflects Del Rey’s ambitions to become a successful singer, asking her lover to stay by her side while she pursues her goals. “We gonna go far, I can already taste it, kid/ LA’s gonna look real good,” she sings over dreamy instrumentation featuring strings and soft guitars.
Recorded in 2010, Del Rey once revealed that she improvised the first verse while listening to Pavement’s ‘Strings of Nashville’, a song with a similar mellow tempo. The song features plenty of cultural references, including Sid and Nancy and Scarface, illuminating Del Rey’s desire to live fully, regardless of the consequences.
9. ‘You Can Be The Boss’
It would be criminal not to include one of Del Rey’s most beloved unreleased songs, ‘You Can Be The Boss’, on this list. Potentially intended for Born to Die, the song is one of Del Rey’s most alluring, with the singer describing her encounter with a man who is “sick” and “taken” yet completely irresistible. The song was uploaded to Del Rey’s Soundcloud alongside several other tracks, such as ‘Kinda Outta Luck’ in 2010.
Like ‘Serial Killer’, Del Rey has performed the song live a handful of times, including during the Endless Summer tour in 2015. It’s a firm fan favourite, finding popularity on sites like Tumblr in the early 2010s.
8. ‘You’re Gonna Love Me’
Del Rey’s unreleased catalogue has numerous acoustic numbers that reveal a particularly vulnerable side to the star. With just a guitar for accompaniment, Del Rey allows her beautiful voice and honest lyrics to take precedence. While many of these cuts, such as ‘1949’ and ‘Super Movie’, could make this list, there’s something about ‘You’re Gonna Love Me’ that makes it stand out from the rest.
The song sees Del Rey reckon with her beliefs, singing, “What God give me a brain for/ If he won’t help me use it?” while addressing a lover named Jim, with whom she clearly doesn’t have the healthiest of relationships. At times, Del Rey sounds scared as she processes her words, making the song particularly stirring.
7. ‘Kinda Outta Luck’
One of Del Rey’s most excellent pure pop numbers, ‘Kinda Outta Luck’ was recorded for Born to Die but never made the final cut. Still, that didn’t stop the song from garnering attention after being discovered on Del Rey’s old Soundcloud account. Although it was never officially released, the song made its way into an advert for a Gossip Girl episode in 2011.
The playful track sees the singer ask, “Is it wrong, wrong that I think it’s kinda fun when I hit you in the back of the head with a gun?” Del Rey even made several music videos for the track, which, like her Video Games clip, features webcam shots of her intercut with movie scenes.
6. ‘Wayamaya’
In ‘Wayamaya’, recorded in 2007, Del Rey fondly recalls a time in her life when she was living by Waimea Bay in Hawaii. The song starts on a gentle foot with nostalgic guitars before picking up at a faster pace. From here, she remembers staying up all night, watching the ocean waves and driving in a Mercury with her lover.
It’s a sweet song, although there’s an air of melancholy as the singer makes it clear that these memories are now exactly that – just memories – ones she can never physically return to. After leaking in 2015, Del Rey considered playing the track during a Hawaiian show, yet she sadly never did.
5. ‘Afraid’
Del Rey is no stranger to exploring abusive relationships, and these themes couldn’t be more prevalent in the emotionally devastating ‘Afraid’, recorded in 2010. She sings about a toxic relationship in which it’s easier for her to remain rather than leave her lover, perhaps due to his violent tendencies. With crushing lines like “There’s nothing in your heart/ Thought that I could make you change”, ‘Afraid’ is one of Del Rey’s most emotional songs.
Musically, evocative strings collide with a bouncy beat, creating a unique instrumental palette for Del Rey’s words. As the song draws to a close, Del Rey expresses the courage to up and leave, ending the emotive track on a hopeful note.
4. ‘Angels Forever, Forever Angels’
‘Angels Forever, Forever Angels’ sounds like driving through an open desert on the road to somewhere bigger and better. Similar to ‘Ride’ from Paradise (Del Rey even sings “I just ride”), the song explores the idea of freedom with a quintessentially American edge, referencing Easy Rider, rock and roll and California.
Del Rey’s gentle melodies sound as angelic as the title, giving the song an almost euphoric sensibility. The track is speculated to have been recorded for Ultraviolence, with production coming from Rick Nowels, although it’s hard to imagine the upbeat cut appearing on the darkly melancholic album.
3. ‘Trash Magic’
Recorded all the way back in 2007, ‘Trash Magic’ is a seductive ode to motels and trailer parks, encapsulating the trashy Americana imagery that defined Del Rey’s early aesthetic. The song features Del Rey asking her lover to come back to her, reminiscing over their life together, where they “didn’t know much, just worked at night”. She addresses him directly in a breathy tone, her voice layered over itself to create a delicate, ethereal effect.
Discussing the song in a YouTube comment in 2011, Del Rey explained: “I was staying at the Sunset Motel in New Jersey off and on every other couple of weeks. I decorated it with tinsel from the Duane Reade up the street and wrote this song.. It still makes me happy.”
2. ‘Serial Killer’
Perhaps the most well-known unreleased Del Rey song, ‘Serial Killer’ has even been played live by the singer several times, including during her 2015 Endless Summer Tour. While many of Del Rey’s early unreleased songs are pure pop, some are considerably better than others, and ‘Serial Killer’ is certainly one of the greatest.
A trap-inspired beat backs Del Rey’s declarations of “I love you just a little too much”, detailing a scarily obsessive attitude towards love. Del Rey’s vocals shine as she performs beautiful melodies that seem to absolve her of the romantic sins she playfully muses over.
1. ‘Your Girl (3 Years)’
Initially recorded during the Ultraviolence sessions in 2013, ‘Your Girl (3 Years)’ suits the album’s sultry soft rock sound, leaving many fans questioning why it wasn’t included in the final cut. If it made it onto the tracklist, ‘Your Girl’ would undoubtedly be one of the album’s darkest moments. The song possesses a brooding, mysterious quality, aided by Del Rey’s siren-like melodies.
Moreover, the lyrics see Del Rey express an unhealthy desire for co-dependency, opening with “Carry me off the stage/ I can’t do this anymore,” eventually confessing, “Been on tour too long/ And I’ve had too much time to think.” It’s one of the singer’s most hauntingly beautiful cuts.
