"Looking for America" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent ...

. The song was written and produced by Del Rey and

Jack Antonoff Jack Michael Antonoff (born March 31, 1984) is an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. Antonoff is the lead singer of rock band Bleachers, and is the guitarist and drummer in the pop rock band Fun. He was pr ...

. The song was written as a response to the back-to-back shootings in Dayton and

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

on August 3, 2019. The song was previewed on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

on August 5, the day it was written. After gaining positive feedback and popularity online, the song was officially released onto streaming platforms as a

digital single In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...

on August 9.

Background and development

On August 5, 2019, Del Rey released a video of her singing a new song she had written in the studio that day with producer

on guitar and engineer Laura Sisk. The track was written following the back-to-back

and

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

mass shootings. Del Rey commented on the song's meaning, stating "Now I know I'm not a politician and I'm not trying to be so excuse me for having an opinion—but wrote the songin light of all of the

mass shootings There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 200 ...

and the back to back shootings in the last couple of days which really affected me on a cellular level." The video quickly attained popularity, gaining over a million views within a few days. She was inspired while visiting the Central Valley of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, while mentioning the City of

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, California, and many others.

Release

Del Rey subsequently released the song internationally on August 9 as a single, the same day her cover for " Season of the Witch" was released. The single is a standalone release and is not included on Del Rey's album, ''

Norman Fucking Rockwell ''Norman Fucking Rockwell!'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey released on August 30, 2019, by Polydor Records, Polydor and Interscope Records. The album was primarily produced by Del Rey and Jack Antonoff, wit ...

''. An accompanying audio video was posted onto Del Rey's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

channel on August 9. Del Rey announced the day of the release that she would use all of her proceeds from the song to support the Gilroy Garlic Festival Victims Relief fund, El Paso Community Relief Fund and Dayton Foundation.

Critical reception

Upon release, the song received praise from critics and fans alike. Anna Gaca of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' was positive in her review, comparing the song to Del Rey's other politically charged single, "

Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind "Coachella – Woodstock In My Mind" is a song by American singer Lana Del Rey. It was officially released worldwide as the lone promotional single from her fifth studio album, '' Lust for Life'', on May 15, 2017. Background and writing The song ...

", adding, "This nostalgic

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

doesn't just go back to

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

—it predates the

Kennedy assassination John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 un ...

. Now each of us who visit a public space live in fear, and in fear begin to curtail our own freedoms." Carlos De Loera of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' further supported the comparison to "Coachella" and added that "The song's poignant lyrics reflect Del Rey's longing for a better, less fearful vision of her country." Bradley Stern of ''MuuMuse'' praised the song, commenting "Beyond just being a beautiful, classically wistful, hauntingly sung Lana song about less worrisome days gone by while longing for a more peaceful future." Donna Balance of ''California Rocker'' added that "the lyrics to the new song don't play around and in her own delicate fashion, Del Rey makes some strong statements about hereality that Americans still face, despite repeated mass attacks and demands for more stringent

gun laws Gun laws and policies, collectively referred to as firearms regulation or gun control, regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, and use of small arms by civilians. Laws of some countries may afford civilians a right to ...

." Trey Alson of

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

referred to the track as "timeless" in his coverage of the release, further adding how Del Rey "sings somberly about a country in need of improvements to its

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...

." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' included the song its weekly "songs of the week" playlist. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine also included the song in a best songs of the week article.

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2010s ballads 2019 songs 2019 singles Interscope Records singles Lana Del Rey songs Polydor Records singles Charity singles Song recordings produced by Jack Antonoff Songs written by Jack Antonoff Songs written by Lana Del Rey Protest songs Songs about the United States Mass shootings in the United States Songs about violence