Lana Del Rey – “The Grants” [Song Review]

In the lead-up to her anticipated ninth album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, due March 24th via Interscope and Polydor, Lana Del Rey has released the record’s third single, “The Grants.”

Anticipated to be track one of the forthcoming album, “The Grants” manages to take listeners to church with the aid of little more than a piano and subdued choir.

The song opens with an unedited peek into its recording process, with a conductor working to polish up a performance with a small choir. The song kicks off officially with a solitary piano churning out a subtly Radiohead-esque chord progression.

Del Rey’s voice floats above the music hauntingly, making the verse almost cinematic.

The pre-chorus creates the perfect setup for the chorus as Del Rey ponders life and the afterlife. “Do you think about Heaven?/ Do you think about me? / My pastor told me / ‘When you leave, all you take is your memories’/ And I wanna take mine of you with me.”

This moving ode to life itself peaks during the bridge, where Del Rey recites a highlight reel of some of her precious family memories. “My sister’s first-born child/ I’m gonna take that too with me/ My grandmother’s last smile/ I’m gonna take that too with me/ It’s a beautiful life/ Remember that too for me.”

It’s at this point that it becomes clear why Del Rey (birth name Elizabeth Woolridge Grant) decided to give this track her family namesake.

At last, the choir crescendos and eventually falls, making for a heavenly finale.

Run Time: 4:55
Release Date: March 14, 2023
Record Label: Interscope Records / Polydor Records