Young and Beautiful (Lana Del Rey song)

"Young and Beautiful" is a song by American singer and songwriter Lana Del Rey used for the soundtrack to the drama film The Great Gatsby.

"Young and Beautiful"
Single by Lana Del Rey
from the album The Great Gatsby: Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film
Released	April 23, 2013
Length	3:56
Label	Interscope Polydor Water Tower
Songwriter(s)	Lana Del Rey Rick Nowels
Producer(s)	Rick Nowels, Al Shux (original version) Dan Heath (DH orchestral version)
Lana Del Rey singles chronology
"Dark Paradise" (2013) "Young and Beautiful" (2013) "Once Upon a Dream" (2014)
Cedric Gervais singles chronology
"Summertime Sadness (Remix)" (2013) "Young and Beautiful (Remix)" (2013) "Adore You (Remix)" (2014)
Music video
"Young and Beautiful" on YouTube

Contemporary music critics lauded the single, calling it "haunting" and "somber". Lyrically, "Young and Beautiful" follows a young lover's apprehension about whether love can last. A music video, directed by Chris Sweeney and filmed by Sophie Muller, was released on May 10, 2013.

"Young and Beautiful" reached the top ten in Australia where it was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In May 2013, the song broke into the Billboard Hot 100; it peaked at 22 on the chart, making it Del Rey's highest peak since "Video Games" peaked at 91 in 2012. Shortly after, the song also peaked at 3 on the Hot Rock Songs chart.

Del Rey and Nowels received accolades for their songwriting from various music and film awards, including nominations for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, and Best Song at the 19th Critics' Choice Awards. They eventually won the Best Original Song at the 18th Satellite Awards. On January 26, 2014, "Young and Beautiful" was announced as number 7 on the annual Triple J's Hottest 100 in Australia.[1]

Background

Working with the film's director, co-writer, and co-producer Baz Luhrmann, Del Rey penned the original song "Young and Beautiful" for the soundtrack of the 2013 film adaptation of the novel The Great Gatsby, written from the perspective of Daisy Buchanan.[2]

In an interview with Catalunya Ràdio; Del Rey said she had three new songs for her third extended play, Paradise: "I Sing the Body Electric", "In the Land of Gods and Monsters" and "Will You Still Love Me When I'm No Longer Young and Beautiful." Del Rey sang the chorus of "Young and Beautiful" during the Catalunya Ràdio broadcast.[3]

Baz Luhrmann later gave an interview which contained a Skype chat with Del Rey, where Luhrmann said "we are very lucky that the song found a film",[4] implying the song had already been penned prior to the film.

Luhrmann changed some of the lyrics in the beginning of the second verse from the demo version of "Will You Still Love Me" to fit with the film.[5] It clearly was always intended for Paradise, which did get picked up by various media.[6]

The song was released to contemporary hit radio as a single and was used as the film's kickoff single.[7] A snippet of the track appeared in the official trailer for the film and played during the scene where the characters portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan express their romantic feelings for one another.[8] In October 2013, a remix by Cedric Gervais was commissioned for the record label Universal Germany. It was sent to Italian contemporary hit radio by Universal Music on January 10, 2014.[9]

Composition

With the lyrics "Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful?", Del Rey adds a hint of desperation which parallels the idiosyncrasies faced by the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby.[10] Del Rey's dreamy vocals are draped over sedated strings and canned percussion.[10] The soft and dreary vocals, falling in line with Del Rey's retro affectation, fits the atmosphere of the 1920s when the novel is set.[11] The lyrics rotate around the themes of pleasing a lover, nostalgia, and the gloom of aging.[12] The Cedric Gervais remix of the song was released on October 11, 2013.

Music video

The music video for "Young and Beautiful" was set to be released on April 22, 2013,[13] but was officially released on 10 May 2013.[14] Directed by Chris Sweeney, the video's production was helmed by Adam Smith and Jacob Swan-Hyam, with Sophie Muller shooting the footage.[15] Flanked by a full-string orchestra, Del Rey sings Dan Heath's Orchestral version of her song in 1920s art deco fashion.[14] She is shown singing the song in a dark room with glittery diamond-tears on her cheek which look like tattoos.[16][17] Jason Lipshutz of Billboard magazine described the video as "somber" and the singer's look as "especially demure". Lipshutz concluded that "the clip ends without ever reaching any kind of conclusion -- much like the rhetorical question 'Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful?' at the heart of the song."[16] Spin's Marc Hogan described it as "elegantly conceived, but succeed[s] only as much as the music does".[17]

An edit of the video set to the Cedric Gervais remix was published on 27 September 2013.[18]

Critical reception

The song was met with universal acclaim from critics. Hip hop magazine Rap-Up called the single "haunting",[7] while MTV called it "somber-sounding".[8] Jason Lipshutz of Billboard called the ballad, "typically lush", paralleling the single with Del Rey's previous hits, "Video Games" and "Born to Die".[10] Canadian journal National Post said "Young and Beautiful" picks up where "Video Games" left off, stating the song was relevant to the book because of "...its obsession with decay and the fleeting nature of the good life certainly resonate."[19] The journal continued to call it an "artifact" of Del Rey's consistently dark tone, adding that by the second play-through "its bald directness becomes its appeal."[19] MTV commented that the track "falls very much in-line with what Lana Del Rey's fans have come to expect" from Del Rey.[11] Jeff Benjamin of Fuse said the track featured "a big, sweeping ballad with piano, violins and Lana's warbly delivery." He added that "if the single takes off, perhaps the songbird can finally scrub her image clean of that 'Girl that totally f-cked [sic] up her Saturday Night Live debut' tag."[20] Rolling Stone's Jody Rosen recognized "Young and Beautiful" as the album's centerpiece, calling it "inert" and "a drag" despite its symmetry with the album's entire theme.[21] Finding the track restrained in comparison to her earlier work, August Brown, writing for The Los Angeles Times, called the single "clean" and "classy".[22] "Young and Beautiful" was given a positive review by Stereogum's Tom Breihan, although he disapproved of the vapidity of the line: "make me wanna party".[23]

The song was nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.

Commercial performance

Debuting at number 89 on the United States' Billboard Hot 100, "Young and Beautiful" became Del Rey's second highest mark on that chart since her breakthrough single "Video Games" charted at 91 in 2012.[24] With 48,000 units in first-week sales, the song also entered the Hot Digital Songs chart at 36. The song later peaked at number 22, became Del Rey's highest charting song at the time.

The single was sampled by Flo Rida's artist iRome on his Radio hit "Homicide" where Del Rey's vocals are heard throughout the song.[25] "Young And Beautiful" became one of her best-selling singles in the United States, nearly on par with "Video Games", which is certified for 500,000 download and streaming units.[26][27] Later that year, "Young and Beautiful" was nominated for Best Original Song at the World Soundtrack Awards 2013.[28] It won the Best Original Song at the 18th Satellite Awards.[29]

Accolades

Year	Organization	Award	Result	Ref.
2014	Critics' Choice Movie Awards	Best Song	Nominated	[30]
	Grammy Awards	Best Song Written for Visual Media	Nominated	[31]
	Satellite Awards	Best Original Song	Won	[32]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the soundtrack's liner notes.[33]

Original version Lana Del Rey – vocals, composition Rick Nowels – production, piano, keyboards, orchestration, composition Patrick Warren – strings, tubular bells, dulcitone, electric guitar, pump musette, piano Craig Armstrong – orchestral arrangement Perry Montague-Mason – orchestra leader Devrim Karaoglu – bass Kieron Menzies – recording, programming Al Shux – drum programming Dan Heath – orchestral drum programming Jon Ingoldsby – additional engineering Jordan Stilwell – additional engineering Trevor Yasuda – additional engineering Chris Barrett – assistant engineering John Prestage – assistant engineering Geoff Foster – orchestra recording Robert Orton – mixing David Greenaway – orchestra conductor Isobel Griffiths – orchestra contractor Charlotte Matthews – assistant orchestra contractor

"DH orchestral version" Lana Del Rey – vocals, composition Dan Heath – producer Rick Nowels – composition Kieron Menzies – vocals recording Songa Lee – violin Kathleen Sloan – violin Robert Orton – mixing Trevor Yasuda – engineering Chris Barrett – engineering John Prestage – engineering

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Original version Chart (2013–14) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[34] 8 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[35] 57 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[36] 34 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[37] 33 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[38] 45 Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[39] 44 France (SNEP)[40] 31 Germany (Official German Charts)[41] 50 Greece Digital Songs (Billboard)[42] 2 Hungary (Single Top 40)[43] 9 Iceland (RÚV)[44] 30 Ireland (IRMA)[45] 16 Israel (Media Forest)[46] 7 Italy (FIMI)[47] 8 Lebanon (The Official Lebanese Top 20)[48] 16 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[49] 79 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[50] 23 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[51] 12 Russia Airplay (Tophit)[52] 1 Scotland (OCC)[53] 21 Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[54] 53 Spain (PROMUSICAE)[55] 24 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[56] 39 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[57] 31 UK Singles (OCC)[58] 23 Ukraine Airplay (Tophit)[59] 10 US Billboard Hot 100[60] 22 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[61] 3 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[62] 41 US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)[63] 5 Cedric Gervais Remix Chart (2014) Peak position New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[64] 38

Year-end charts Chart (2013) Position Australia (ARIA)[65] 29 France (SNEP)[66] 142 Russia Airplay (Tophit)[67] 61 Ukraine Airplay (Tophit)[68] 103 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[69] 196 US Alternative Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[70] 14 US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)[71] 45 US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[72] 21 Chart (2014) Position Italy (FIMI)[73] 63 Russia Airplay (Tophit)[74] 26 Ukraine Airplay (Tophit)[75] 113 US Alternative Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[76] 19 US Rock Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[77] 41 Chart (2015) Position US Rock Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[78] 50 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Australia (ARIA)[79] 4× Platinum 280,000^^ Canada (Music Canada)[80] Platinum 80,000^* Italy (FIMI)[81] 2× Platinum 100,000 New Zealand (RMNZ)[82] Gold 7,500^* United Kingdom (BPI)[83] Gold 400,000 Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[84] Gold 900,000 United States (RIAA)[85] Platinum 1,000,000[86] ^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label
Germany[87]	April 22, 2013	Digital download	Polydor Interscope
United States[88]	April 23, 2013		Water Tower Interscope
Italy[89]	April 26, 2013	Contemporary hit radio	Universal
United States[90]	May 21, 2013		Interscope

References

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External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics