“Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” is for the music fans who love albums that have an almost perfect amount of somber and sweet weaved throughout it. Lana Del Rey’s ninth and most recent album is filled with heartbreak and a continuing story told in each song. “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” is a rush of emotions from start to finish. I would love so much to write and analyze each of the 16 songs on the album, but sadly, I’m only allowed to analyze six, so here are my favorites:
“The Grants”
“Do you think about heaven? Oh
Do you think about me?
My pastor told me (I’ll do it, I’ll do it)
‘When you leave, all you take (I did it, I did it)
Oh, is your memories’”
The name “The Grants” is an allusion to her legal name Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, and the song speaks of taking treasured experiences and recollections with her after death. To me, the song serves as a letter written to people Lana loves and is just another reminder of how much she appreciates them. The end of the song mentions some of her favorite memories, memories she hopes to take into the afterlife, of her grandmother’s final smile and another being about her sister’s child.
“Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd”
“Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard?
Mosaic ceilings, painted tiles on the wall
I can’t help but feel somewhat like my body marred my soul
Handmade beauty sealed up by two man-made walls”
“Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” is the second song on the album and the album’s namesake. The beginning of the song, and the lyrics written above, are of Lana describing a once beautiful and loved tunnel under Ocean Boulevard, and that once it had lost its beauty, was closed off from the public and forgotten about. Lana uses this as a metaphor for herself. She’s worried that now that she’s aged out of becoming an object purely loved for looks, she’s going to be forgotten about. Just like the tunnel under Ocean Boulevard.
“Sweet”
“Not talkin’ ’bout the stuff that’s at the very heart of things
Do you want children? Do you wanna marry me?
Do you wanna run marathons in Long Beach by the sea?
I’ve got things to do like nothing at all
I wanna do them with you
Do you wanna do them with me?”
The fairy-tale-esque type melody of the third song on the album conveys how Lana knows alot of men want her just to have her, and how she isn’t willing to subject herself to a relationship like that. The song is deep and philosophical, and it talks about all the thoughts everyone has inside but most are too scared to put out into the open.
“Candy Necklace”
“I think that we should address this
Actin’ like the young and restless
I’m obsessed with this
All his candy necklaces”
Candy necklaces refers to the necklaces everyone got when they were younger. They are made by stringing rings of sugary candy onto thread with a simple knot in the back to hold everything together. Lana speaks about how the person she’s in love with gives her small pieces affection just to string her along. Nothing enough to keep her satisfied, only shallow and surface level. In other words, the things that her lover provides never satisfy a real, healthy relationship.
“Margaret”
“Word to all my friends
With their red flags, their white knights
Their black eyes and their blue lies
If you’re asking yourself, “How do you know?”
Then that’s your answer, the answer is no”
“Margaret” is my personal favorite track on the album, and the name “Margaret” is an allusion to Jack Antoff’s—the lead singer of Bleachers—wife, Margaret Qualley. It’s about knowing when to spot a toxic relationship and knowing when to walk away. It also talks about how hard it is to walk away from these relationships sometimes. Among other things, it talks about Lana’s fear of getting older, but instead of being ashamed and hiding, she comes to terms with it and decides to embrace it.
“Fishtail”
“Palm trees in black and white
I see in technicolor
Maybe I’ll take my glasses off
So I stop painting red flags green”
“Fishtail” is my second favorite track on the album and this one is very similar to “Candy Necklaces.” It talks about how sad the relationship she’s in is making her but how without it, she feels like she can’t live. She’s hanging onto the scraps she’s receiving and this other person in her toxic relationship is saying that they care for her, but Lana suspects something else. She doesn’t want them to lie to her and at this point, she can’t even trust if they would do something as simple as braiding her hair.
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This is one of my favorite albums by far, and I 100% think it’s worth a listen! The whole thing is a whirlwind of emotions and I feel like each song continues onto the next in the best way possible.
