"The Greatest" 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 ...

, taken from her sixth studio 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 and Interscope Records. The album was primarily produced by Del Rey and Jack Antonoff, with additional cont ...

'' (2019). Del Rey wrote and produced it with

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 released for digital download as a joint

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

with " Fuck It I Love You" on August 22, 2019, by

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Musi ...

and

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

. An accompanied "double feature" music video with the two was also released.

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

sent "The Greatest" to Italian radios on September 13, 2019, as the fifth

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the album.

Writing and composition

The track was written and produced by Del Rey and

. Lyrically, Del Rey sings about missing the "good old days" in her relationship and the world in general, but further expressing frustrations with how the world has changed: "The culture is lit, and if this is it‚ I had a ball/I guess that I'm burned out after all ... If this is it, I'm signing off". Del Rey makes numerous pop culture references including to the

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

song "

Life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...

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 ...

livestreams,

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

, the destructive effects of the

2018 California wildfires The 2018 wildfire season was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire season in California history. It was also the largest on record at the time, now third after the 2020 and 2021 California wildfire seasons. In 2018, there were a total of ...

, and her infamous feud with rapper

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

due to his support of President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

Music video

Placed in the second half of her "double feature" music video, the song plays after tumbling waves and a drone shot of

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

serve as prelude. Featuring the same bar sequence from the "Fuck It, I Love You" portion of the video, Del Rey continues to sing in front of a neon-gradient backdrop while new clips of her wandering the Long Beach harbor in a

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

"Locals Only" jacket. Reminiscent of shots from her video for "

Ride Ride may refer to: People * MC Ride, a member of Death Grips * Sally Ride (1951–2012), American astronaut * William Ride (19262011), Australian zoologist Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Ride'' (1998 film), a 1998 comedy by Millicen ...

", Del Rey plays darts and pool in the bar accompanied by older, biker-like men. Shots of a jukebox show a series of songs Del Rey has covered including "

Doin' Time "Doin' Time" is a song by the American band Sublime for their self-titled third album. The lyrics tell of a cheating girlfriend, whose infidelities and poor treatment of her lover makes him feel like he is in prison. It was released as a sing ...

" by Sublime and " Chelsea Hotel #2" by

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

, as well as "

" by

, "

Pacific Ocean Blue ''Pacific Ocean Blue'' is the only studio album by American musician Dennis Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys. When released in August 1977, it was warmly received critically, and noted for outselling the Beach Boys' contemporary efforts. Two ...

" by

Dennis Wilson Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their drummer and as the middle brother of bandmates Brian and Carl Wilson. ...

, "

Kozmic Blues "Kozmic Blues" is a song from American singer-songwriter Janis Joplin's '' I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!'' album, her first after departing Big Brother and the Holding Company. It was a part of Joplin's set at the Woodstock Festival ...

" by

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...

and "

Grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...

" by

Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scott Moorhead, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by ...

and "

Bluebirds over the Mountain "Bluebirds over the Mountain" is a song written and recorded in 1958 by Ersel Hickey, later covered by artists such as The Beach Boys, Ritchie Valens and Robert Plant. Hickey's original recording of the song peaked at No. 75 on the ''Billboard'' ...

" by

Ritchie Valens Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens was killed i ...

among others. Towards the end of the video, happy bar patrons are shown (one of them being Del Rey's brother Charlie). The video ends with a shot of Del Rey sitting on a boat "heading forward", similar to how she was in the cover art for the album. The video was directed by

Rich Lee Richard "Rich" Lee is an American music video and commercial director. He has directed music videos for Eminem, Lana Del Rey, Maroon 5, The Black Eyed Peas, Norah Jones, Michael Bublé and The All-American Rejects. Rich Lee started his professio ...

, who had previously directed the videos for "Love", " Lust for Life", and "White Mustang", among others. Standing over nine minutes in length, the video has also been considered to be a

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

. While Del Rey has released visuals for "Mariners Apartment Complex" and "Venice Bitch" from the album, she has referenced the double-feature as her "first video from the album" numerous times.

Critical reception

The song received widespread critical acclaim upon its release, with numerous

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

calling it one of her best songs. Claire Shaffer of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' stated that the song features "Del Rey reflect ngon the state of pop... as well as the state of the world." Tosten Burks of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' wrote that both "Fuck It, I Love You" and "The Greatest" were "surf-ish rock ballads that reflect on California's lost mystique." James Rettig of ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

'' further praised the California sound and called both songs "two more promising glimpses of ''Norman Fucking Rockwell''." Writing for ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', Rhian Daly called the song "maybe one of the greatest songs she's ever written." Designating the song 'Best New Track', ''

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 ...

''s Sam Sodomsky wrote:

Critics' lists

Charts

Release history

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greatest 2010s ballads 2019 songs Lana Del Rey songs Rock ballads Songs about California Songs written by Lana Del Rey Songs written by Jack Antonoff Surf rock songs Music videos directed by Rich Lee