A review of Lana Del Rey’s new single, “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd”
Lana Del Rey has become something of a mythical figure; over the course of her decade in major-label production, she has generated a cult following punctuated with controversy and adoration alike. On her most recent track, “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd,” the lead single for her upcoming ninth album of the same name, Del Rey is keenly aware of her own dichotomous image, and ruminates about its inevitable downfall.
The track is a subtle blend of old and new; Del Rey makes near-constant reference to 1970s rock stars, a trope she has largely grown out of in her later work. When she croons about Harry Nillson—“Harry Nillson has a song, his voice breaks at 2:05”—or the Eagles—“There’s a girl that sings ‘Hotel California’”—she alludes not only to the music itself, but to the classic rock influences that gave her her start.
The song’s centerpiece—the elusive tunnel under Ocean Boulevard—is in fact a real tunnel. The Jergins Tunnel was built in 1927, but has since faded into relative obscurity after its closure in 1967. The tunnel is, once again, a fitting reference for Del Rey; its fall into oblivion as a slice of 1950s Americana is the ideal subject matter for a bonafide sad girl metaphor. Repeating the phrase, “There’s a tunnel under ocean boulevard,” Del Rey ponders her own inevitable fading out of the public eye, for better or for worse. When she describes “handmade beauty sealed up by two man made walls,” her antecedent is unclear: is this an overt reference to the building and ultimate destruction of a literal tunnel, or to the arbitrary construction and removal of public adoration?
Del Rey’s choice of a rather mundane, niche symbol as the commanding lyric on a lead single exhibits not only her prowess as a songwriter, but her willingness to diverge from the early hits that made her a star; despite her fear of being forgotten (“Don’t you, don’t you forget me,” she lulls in the song’s outro), she is unwilling to compromise her songwriting for prolonged mainstream fame. Where her music was once littered with poppy references and easy hooks, she now embraces ambiguity, eventual oblivion be damned.
Sonically, the song is not far off from those of her most recent albums, Blue Banisters and Chemtrails Over the Country Club, with subdued piano and strings eventually expanding into a crescendo gentle noise; and the shift is not jarring, the tone is steadily built over the course of her tunnel-themed choruses. Her vocal performance is also quite standard, a mixture of saccharine mumbles, breathy background vocals, and strong vibrato throughout the choruses. Though the overall production is largely nothing new, the noisy finale—complete with a full choir—is a welcome surprise.
“Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd” hones in on the old Lana to make more room for the new. The single may seem tired for fans of her old work, but it seems that the meditative, quietly melodic Del Rey is here to stay. If this single is any indication of the direction the album will head in, then I’m eager to hear more when it drops on Mar. 10, 2023.