Pretty When You Cry (song)

After the release of the Ultraviolence album, which included the song, Del Rey gave an interview to National Public Radio , where she talked about the song “Pretty When You Cry”: “The version you hear is freestyle . I just accidentally created it with my guitarist and left it the way it was. Vocals have their own story. In this song, the emphasis is not on the text, it was very important for me to leave some moments untouched. The fact that I didn’t return and didn’t try to perform it better is the history of this composition, it shows that I exposed my essence: I don’t worry that it is not perfect ” ^[2] .

In an audio interview for MTV magazine, Del Rey also spoke about the song: “One of the most beloved songs on the album, it features the play of my guitarist Blake. And the reason I love her is because we recorded it at Electric Lady Studios from our very first attempt. That is why in it I am strangely rhyming words. The tension of the voice is not special, and I thought about how my voice sounds. And I really like how organically it sounds, in my understanding ” ^[3] . Guitarist Del Rey and co-author of the song, Blake Stranathan, in an interview for Strymon, told about the history of the composition ^[4] :

I visited my family in New York, and Lana invited me to the Electric Lady Studios, which for me was always a dream during my musical career. Just being there and working there seemed unrealistic. We stayed there for 8-9 days, mostly only together. I played a guitar part for a couple of songs that were almost finished, but one morning I came to the studio very early, just to work on some tones and play in this wonderful place. While I was making some progress, Lana came and we immediately recorded “Pretty When You Cry”. It was recorded using the Neve 8078 , which sounds incredible. None of this was planned, which undoubtedly affected the mood of the composition ^[4] .

Original text

I was in New York visiting family, and Lana invited me down to Electric Lady Studios, which was always a dream of mine being a Hendrix nut. It was surreal being and working there. We wound up being there for 8 or 9 days with basically the entire place to ourselves. I had played guitar on a couple tracks that were pretty much finished, but one morning I came to the studio super early just to work out some tones and play in that amazing live room. As I was coming up with some progressions, Lana walked in and we came up with "Pretty When You Cry" on the spot. It was recorded through a Neve 8078 which just sounded unreal. None of it was planned which certainly added to the vibe.

On June 16, 2014, in her Instagram account , Del Rey published an excerpt of a music video for a song that she shot on her own, but it was never released ^[5] . In an interview for the American newspaper The New York Times , the performer said that she did not plan to return to the studio and correct the track, because, according to her, “if you know the story of the song that is behind it, then you can understand why I am so she performed it ” ^[6] .

The track was named one of the best in 2014 by The New York Times ^[7] . Anton Felitz from the Russian edition of Apelzin called the song “another ballad of love”, “a wonderful tear-extractor that can touch even the most callous music lover”, and also reacting positively to the song, compared it with the song Miley Cyrus “ Wrecking Ball ”, saying: “I want to laugh , so theatrically and unnaturally it comes out with the former Disney Princess Cyrus. We can observe the opposite situation in Lana’s creative research. The singer looks absolutely harmonious in the role of a heartbroken woman living her last minutes. She wants to believe and share her universal misfortune with her ” ^[8] . Maxim Sentyakov from BritishWave said that the track contains “sobbing vocals and a groaning guitar that combine in a single sound,” adding that the song well emphasizes the “status” of the Ultraviolence album as “pro-cinematic” ^[9] .

Data taken from Discogs website ^[1] .

• Lana Del Rey - vocals , author , producer
• Brian Griffin - drums
• Phil Jolay - mixing
• Blake Stranathan - guitar , producer
• Robert Orton - information
• Lee Foster - Producer
• The mastering was conducted by John Davis at the Metropolis Studio , London, Great Britain
• Song recorded at Electric Lady Studios , New York, USA
• The composition is mixed at Hot Rocks Studios, Santa Monica , California, USA
• The track is published on Copyright Control / Sony / ATV Music Publishing

• Lyrics "Pretty When You Cry" . Lana Del Rey. - List of songs on the AZ-Lyrics website. Date of appeal May 27, 2017.
•   Audio video for the song “Pretty When You Cry”