"Ultraviolence" is a song recorded by American singer and 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 ...

for her third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, of the same name (2014). It was co-written by Del Rey, and Daniel Heath, and produced by

Dan Auerbach Daniel Quine Auerbach (; born May 14, 1979) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer, best known as the guitarist and vocalist of The Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. As a member of the group, Auerbach has ...

. The song was released on June 4, 2014, by

Polydor 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. ...

and

Interscope Records 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 Mus ...

, as the third

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 ''Ultraviolence''. A music video, directed by

Francesco Carrozzini Francesco Carrozzini (born September 9, 1982) is an Italian-born director and photographer based in the United States. In 2016, he made his feature directorial debut at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival with the documentary '' Franca: ...

, was released on July 30, 2014.

Composition

According to Brenna Ehrlich of

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

, "Ultraviolence" tells the story of a "typical Lana Del Rey romantic relationship: broken, failed and painful". The song contains a reference of

The Crystals The Crystals are an American vocal group that originated in New York City. Considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era in the first half of the 1960s, their 1961–1964 chart hits – including " There's No Other (Like My Baby)", ...

’ 1962 single "

He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss) "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)" is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King for girl group the Crystals under the guidance of Phil Spector in 1962. Goffin and King wrote the song after discovering that their babysitter and singer "L ...

" in its chorus. Kevin Rutherford of Radio.com remarked that "Ultraviolence" maintained the theme of songs previously released from the album, it "ups the lilting, low-tempo, strings-heavy form" Del Rey had established in her earlier work. Sal Cinquemani of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' described "Ultraviolence" as a "laconic, string-laden

torch song A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affecte ...

". In the line "I can hear sirens sirens, he hit me and it felt like a kiss," Del Rey references the 1962

song "

He Hit Me (and It Felt like a Kiss) "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)" is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King for girl group the Crystals under the guidance of Phil Spector in 1962. Goffin and King wrote the song after discovering that their babysitter and singer ...

", and, according to Harriet Gibson of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', "appear to romanticise brutality". A writer for the Music Times commented that the "violins, lightly thumping drums and Del Rey's angelic singing" gave the song a " church-y" feel, pointing out that the track presented her "title sound".

Critical response

Nolan Feeney of ''

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 ...

'' criticized the song for its glorification of

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

, mentioning

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and i ...

's comment on Del Rey's music, "This sort of shirt-tugging, desperate, don’t leave me stuff. That’s not a good thing for young girls, even young people, to hear." However, Feeney also stated that Del Rey would "likely" not endorse the "screwed-up tales of vice and luxury" her character, Lana Del Rey, sings about. While noting that Del Rey did not offer a positive or negative opinion on domestic violence, Harley Brown 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 ...

'' said that the lyrics to the song could generate controversy, especially since Del Rey dismissed

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

in a recent interview with ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

'', saying "For me, the issue of feminism is just not an interesting concept. I’m more interested in, you know,

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...

and Tesla, what’s going to happen with our intergalactic possibilities. Whenever people bring up feminism, I’m like, god. I’m just not really that interested." By the end of 2014, ''NME'' named "Ultraviolence" the 32nd best song of the year.

Music video

A music video, shot entirely on an iPhone on the 8mm Vintage Camera app, was released on July 30, 2014 by Noisey (

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

). It was directed by

and filmed on July 3 in

Portofino Portofino (; ) is a ''comune'' located in the Metropolitan City of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The town is clustered around its small harbour, and is known for the colourfully painted buildings that line the shore. Since the late 19th century ...

, Italy. In the video, Del Rey can be seen wearing a white wedding dress with a veil and a bouquet of flowers in her hands, wandering around an outside setting and later entering a church (Cappella di San Sebastiano).

Track listing

*;Digital download #"Ultraviolence" – 4:41 *;Digital download (Hook N Sling Remix) #"Ultraviolence" (

Hook N Sling Anthony Maniscalco, better known by his stage name Hook n Sling, is an Australian record producer, songwriter and DJ currently residing in Los Angeles, California. Musical career In 2007, he received an ARIA Music Awards nomination, a DMC Buzz ...

Remix) — 5:29

Credits

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Ultraviolence.'' ;Performance credits *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

*Alfreda McCrary Lee – background vocals *Ann McCrary – background vocals *Regina McCrary – background vocals ;Instruments *Dan Auerbach –

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

*Collin Dupuis –

drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These mus ...

*Seth Kaufman – electric guitar *Leon Michels – piano, mellotron * Nick Movshon – bass guitar *Russ Pahl –

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

*Kenny Vaughan – electric guitar *Maximilian Weissenfeldt – drums ;Technical and production *Dan Auerbach –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, mixing *John Davis – mastering *Collin Dupuis – engineering, mixing * Robert Orton – mixing

Charts

Certifications

Live performances

Del Rey premiered "Ultraviolence" as part of her set at the

PNE Forum The Forum (also known as the Exhibition Forum, Vancouver Forum and PNE Forum) is an indoor arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada located on the grounds of the Pacific National Exhibition. Sports, Ice Hockey and the Canucks The building ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on May 25, 2014.

Release history

References

External links

* *
"Ultraviolence" lyrics
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{Lana Del Rey songs 2010s ballads 2014 singles 2014 songs Interscope Records singles Lana Del Rey songs Rock ballads Song recordings produced by Dan Auerbach Songs about domestic violence Songs written by Lana Del Rey Torch songs