Lyrically Speaking: The melancholy truth behind Lana Del Rey’s anthem ‘Video Games’
These days, Lana Del Rey is considered one of the industry’s biggest stars. Still, she spent years making music before becoming successful, using various alternative names such as Lizzy Grant, Sparkle Jump Rope Queen and May Jailer. After releasing her debut album, Lana Del Ray A.K.A Lizzy Grant, in 2010, the project was soon recalled, leaving the singer to start afresh.
However, after a slight rebrand, including changing her name to Lana Del Rey and ditching the bleach blonde hair that defined her career as Lizzy Grant, she released ‘Video Games’. The song, shared in 2011, acted as her debut single and came complete with a handmade music video by Del Rey featuring webcam clips and archival footage from movies and pop culture.
The song propelled Del Rey to stardom and was championed by artists like The Weeknd, who posted the song on his Tumblr account and exposed it to all of his followers. Del Rey soon became an icon on the social media platform, perhaps due to the singer’s preoccupation with visual aesthetics – perfect for a picture-sharing website.
‘Video Games’ remains one of Del Rey’s most beloved songs, exploring themes that would come to define much of her imminent career, such as complicated romantic relationships, fantasy, and the darkness lurking beneath the American dream.
On the surface, Del Rey’s debut single, despite its downbeat and melancholy tone, seems like a sweet ballad, with the lines “It’s you, it’s you, it’s all for you, everything I do/ I tell you all the time, Heaven is a place on Earth with you,” suggesting romantic bliss. However, Del Rey’s relationship appears much more one-sided than she’d like to admit to herself, seemingly fooling herself into believing that she is truly happy.
In reality, her boyfriend would much rather play video games while she’s with him instead of paying her attention, even when she’s made an effort for him, such as putting “his favourite perfume on”. This opening verse depicts a relationship that feels somewhat secure yet unexciting; Del Rey and her lover seem to spend much of their time playing games rather than actually living. While there is a sense of domesticity and safety here, she clearly possesses stronger emotions than him.
The chorus sees Del Rey declare her intense love for her man, seemingly defining her life by the presence of romance by singing, “They say that the world was built for two/ Only worth living if somebody is loving you.” She insists that everything she does is for him, ensuring him – and perhaps herself – “I tell you all the time.” She is lulling herself into a false sense of happiness, believing it would be easier to stay in the relationship rather than be alone.
Yet, from the slight desperation in her voice to the gentle piano, it is clear that Del Rey is trying to do everything to save a doomed relationship that is going nowhere. “He holds me in his big arms, drunk, and I am seeing stars/ This is all I think of,” she sings in another verse, describing nights out with friends and “swinging with the old stars.”
It seems as though when they’re indulging in nights out with friends, presumably hitting bars and locations littered with echoes of old Hollywood or New York, Del Rey feels happier, as though she and her boyfriend are part of something greater than simple domesticity. Yet when she sings, “This is my idea of fun,” we are left wondering how truthful this statement really is.
In an interview with Social Stereotype, Del Rey revealed, “The verse was about the way things were with one person, and the chorus was the way that I wished things had really been with another person, who I thought about for a long time.” This suggests that, while she pretended everything was fine with one man, he couldn’t give her the kind of reciprocal, undying love that she is capable of giving, as demonstrated in the chorus, but another man could potentially give this to her instead.
Elsewhere, she told NME, “I was writing about this guy I’d been seeing and the way our relationship was at the time. It was a time in my life when I had let go of my own personal career ambitions and just enjoyed being with him at home.” Thus, while it is clear that the song is a bittersweet tale of love that has its fun and easy moments, it features clear indications of a buried knowledge that this kind of relationship is unsustainable, fleeting and ultimately, unfulfilling.
