Born To Die

"Born To Die" explores the complex and often contradictory themes of fatalistic love, mortality, and the desperate pursuit of happiness in the face of inevitable pain. At its core, the song is a dual narrative. On one level, it tells the story of a chaotic, all-consuming romantic relationship that is destined to end tragically. The lyrics articulate the internal conflict of a woman who is aware of her relationship's destructive nature but chooses to immerse herself in its fleeting moments of passion and joy. Phrases like "Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough" acknowledge the relationship's unsustainability, yet she pleads, "Don't make me sad, don't make me cry," and suggests they "go get high" as a form of escapism. This highlights a theme of living in the moment, even when the future is bleak.

On a deeper, more existential level, the song is a contemplation on life and death itself. The title phrase, "Born to Die," serves as a memento mori, a reminder of human mortality. The narrative of the doomed love affair becomes a metaphor for the human condition: life is a beautiful, wild, and often painful journey that inevitably ends. The protagonist's desire to "take a walk on the wild side" and "kiss hard in the pouring rain" represents a carpe diem philosophy—seizing the day and embracing intense experiences because life is short. The journey to the "finish line" and the hope of validation at "the gates" symbolize the struggle through life's hardships with the hope of finding peace or meaning in the end. The song thus captures a sense of romanticized tragedy, finding beauty and purpose not in longevity, but in the intensity of the experience itself.

The narrative unfolds from the perspective of a woman deeply entangled in a passionate yet perilous love affair. She begins with a plea for resilience, asking her body and spirit to carry her through a difficult journey, likening it to reaching a finish line. Every step she takes is fraught with emotional pain, yet she holds onto a desperate hope that in the afterlife, symbolized by 'the gates', her love will be eternally validated and she will be reunited with her partner. This journey is set against a backdrop of loneliness, particularly felt on quiet Friday nights, where she yearns for her lover to provide a sense of home and belonging. She questions the nature of her fate, wondering if her path is a result of random chance or a predetermined design.

The chorus reveals the core conflict and the central philosophy of their relationship. The narrator recognizes the inherent sadness and difficulty of their situation, acknowledging that 'sometimes love is not enough' to overcome the obstacles they face. Despite this, she pleads with her lover not to cause her sorrow. Instead, she implores him to keep her happy, suggesting escapism through laughter and getting high as a way to cope with the arduous journey. It's a conscious decision to 'try to have fun in the meantime' while they navigate their long and challenging road. This is coupled with an invitation to embrace their wilder instincts, to live recklessly and passionately. She wants to create cinematic, unforgettable moments, like kissing intensely in a downpour, catering to his preference for 'insane' girls. This embrace of chaos is shadowed by a stark awareness of mortality. The line, 'Choose your last words, this is the last time,' serves as a chilling reminder of their shared destiny, culminating in the fatalistic declaration: 'you and I, we were born to die'.

Later in the song, the narrator reflects on her past with a newfound clarity. She describes a transformation from being lost and blind to being found. She recalls a childhood filled with confusion and fear, a time when she desperately tried to grasp for anything she could, scared she would never find the answers she sought. This vulnerability provides context for her current relationship, suggesting that this intense, albeit destructive, love may have offered a form of salvation or identity. The repetition of the chorus reinforces the central theme: a cyclical pattern of seeking joy and escape within a relationship that is fundamentally marked by the inevitability of its end. The song concludes with the haunting, repeated mantra, 'We were born to die,' cementing the idea that their love story, in all its passionate intensity, is ultimately an ephemeral experience played out against the backdrop of human mortality.

"Born to Die" was written by Lana Del Rey (under her birth name Elizabeth Grant) and Justin Parker, and produced by Emile Haynie. It was recorded in 2011 at Studio 13 in London, England. The song was released on December 30, 2011, as the second single from her major-label debut album of the same name. Del Rey explained that the song is an "homage to true love and a tribute to living life on the wild side." Much of the album, including this track, was influenced by her experiences with alcohol and life in New York during her "wilderness years." She stated, "A great deal of what I wrote on Born to Die is about these wilderness years... when I write about the thing that I’ve lost I feel like I’m writing about alcohol because that was the first love of my life."

The song features a distinctive cinematic sound, with grand string arrangements composed by Larry Gold, reminiscent of film scores by John Barry. The production also incorporates trip-hop and hip-hop-influenced beats, creating the signature "Hollywood sadcore" sound Del Rey became known for. The iconic music video was directed by French artist Yoann Lemoine, also known as Woodkid. Del Rey created the initial concept for the video, which Lemoine then developed into a high-budget production filmed at the Palace of Fontainebleau in France. The video, which co-stars model Bradley Soileau, depicts the tumultuous and ultimately fatal relationship described in the song, solidifying the track's tragic and cinematic identity.

The rhyme and rhythm of "Born To Die" are crucial to establishing its somber, deliberate, and dramatic feel.

Rhyme Scheme: The song's rhyme scheme is generally simple and direct, often following patterns of couplets (AABB) or alternating rhymes (ABAB) within its verses and chorus. For example, in the pre-chorus, "cry" rhymes with "why," and "high" rhymes with "meantime." This straightforward structure makes the lyrics feel declamatory and memorable, like a solemn proclamation. The predictability of the rhymes enhances the sense of inevitability and fate that permeates the song's lyrical themes.

Rhythm and Tempo: The song maintains a slow to mid-tempo pace, driven by a prominent trip-hop beat that is steady and deliberate. This rhythm creates a feeling of a slow, inexorable march towards a fated conclusion, mirroring the lyrical journey to the "finish line." The beat is not aggressive; rather, it's a persistent, almost hypnotic pulse that underpins the sweeping orchestral strings. The interplay between the modern, rhythmic beat and the classical, flowing strings is a key element of the song's unique sound, creating a tension between structure and melodrama. The lyrical rhythm often flows conversationally over this beat, with Del Rey's languid vocal delivery sometimes falling slightly behind, adding to the song's characteristic dreamy and melancholic atmosphere.

"Born To Die" masterfully blends literary and musical techniques to create its signature cinematic and melancholic atmosphere.

Musical Techniques:

• Orchestral Arrangements: The song is defined by its lush, sweeping string arrangements, composed by Larry Gold and often compared to the work of film composer John Barry. This gives the song a grandiose, cinematic quality, elevating the personal drama to an epic scale.
• Trip-Hop Beats: Contrasting the classical strings is a prominent beat influenced by trip-hop and hip-hop. This fusion creates a modern-yet-timeless soundscape, grounding the song's dramatic elements with a dark, brooding rhythm.
• Vocal Delivery: Lana Del Rey employs a distinctive dual vocal style. She shifts between a high, breathy, almost girlish register in the verses and a lower, more languid, and somber tone in the chorus. This vocal duality reflects the song's themes of innocence and corruption, vulnerability and world-weariness.
• Sampling: The track includes a vocal sample from "Long Red" by the rock band Mountain, which adds a subtle, haunting texture to the background.

Literary Techniques:

• Direct Address: The lyrics are written as a direct address to a lover ("Can you make it feel like home if I tell you you're mine?"). This creates an intimate, confessional tone, drawing the listener directly into the narrator's emotional world.
• Juxtaposition: The song constantly juxtaposes concepts of joy and sorrow, love and death. Lines like "Don't make me sad... Keep making me laugh, let's go get high" place a plea for happiness right next to an admission of escapism, highlighting the desperation and complexity of the narrator's state.
• Fatalistic Imagery: The lyrics are filled with imagery of finality and doom, such as "Take me to the finish line" and "Choose your last words, this is the last time," which powerfully reinforce the song's central theme of a fated end.

"Born To Die" had a significant cultural impact, helping to establish Lana Del Rey as a major and polarizing figure in pop music and influencing the sonic and aesthetic landscape of the 2010s. Upon its release, the song and its accompanying album were met with both critical acclaim and skepticism, but its influence is undeniable.

The song peaked at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming her second top 10 hit there. While its chart performance in the US was more modest, the album *Born to Die* debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and has since become one of the longest-charting albums by a female artist in Billboard history, demonstrating immense longevity and a dedicated fanbase.

The song's cinematic, high-budget music video, directed by Yoann Lemoine, became iconic. Its imagery—Del Rey on a throne in a grand palace flanked by tigers, juxtaposed with a fatal car trip with a tattooed lover—solidified her persona as a tragic, glamorous femme fatale and heavily influenced the visual aesthetic of the "sad girl" pop subgenre. The video won "Best Pop – International Video" at the 2012 UK Music Video Awards.

Billboard included "Born to Die" in its list of 100 songs that defined the 2010s, noting that it "influenced a sonic shift that completely changed the pop landscape." Its blend of orchestral pop, trip-hop beats, and themes of tragic Americana paved the way for a more melancholic and atmospheric style of pop music. The song and Del Rey's persona sparked widespread debate about authenticity in music, but ultimately cemented a unique and enduring legacy.

"Born To Die" is rich with symbolism and metaphors that deepen its themes of love, death, and destiny.

• The Road: The "road" is a recurring metaphor for life's journey. Lyrics like "The road is long, we carry on, try to have fun in the meantime" portray life as an arduous path that must be endured, with moments of pleasure providing temporary relief.
• The Gates: The reference to "the gates" is a clear metaphor for the entrance to Heaven or the afterlife. When the narrator sings, "But I'm hoping at the gates, they'll tell me that you're mine," she is expressing a desire for their love to be validated and eternal, transcending the mortal world and its hardships.
• Walking on the Wild Side: This phrase is an invitation to embrace a life of rebellion, passion, and recklessness. It symbolizes a departure from convention and a conscious choice to live intensely, even if it leads to danger or an early demise.
• Kissing in the Pouring Rain: This is a powerful image of cinematic, unrestrained passion. It represents a desire to create iconic, memorable moments of love that defy circumstance and stand out against a backdrop of potential tragedy. It’s an act of defiance against the mundane and the sorrowful.
• The Car Crash (in the music video): The video's climax, a fatal car crash, is the ultimate symbol of the song's title. It literally and metaphorically represents the doomed nature of the relationship and the idea that their intense, wild love affair was on a collision course with destiny from the start. The car itself symbolizes their journey together, one that is both thrilling and inevitably destructive.

"Born To Die" is built around several powerful recurring phrases and motifs that anchor its central themes.

• "Born to die": This is the song's central and most significant recurring phrase. Repeated at the end of each chorus, it functions as a fatalistic mantra. Its repetition transforms it from a simple statement into the core philosophy of the song, defining both the specific relationship and the broader human condition. It encapsulates the idea that the end is predetermined, making the journey—the love, the pain, the wildness—the only thing that matters.
• "Don't make me sad, don't make me cry / Keep making me laugh": This couplet, appearing in the pre-chorus, is a recurring plea that highlights the narrator's vulnerability and her desperate attempt to control her emotional environment. It's a motif of willful escapism, showing her desire to focus only on the positive aspects of the relationship as a defense mechanism against the inevitable heartbreak.
• "The road is long / The road gets tough": The motif of the difficult journey or "road" appears throughout the song, symbolizing life and the hardships within the relationship. Its recurrence emphasizes the theme of perseverance in the face of suffering, and the need to "carry on" despite the pain.
• "Come and take a walk on the wild side": This recurring invitation is a motif for rebellion and passionate living. It is consistently linked to the idea of a thrilling, cinematic love that is inherently dangerous but irresistible. It's the ideological counterpoint to the song's sadness, representing the embrace of chaos as an antidote to despair.