Yoo-hoo! Lana Del Rey released her third single off her new album Stove. “White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter” is noticeably different from the previous singles, “Henry, Come On” and “Bluebird.”
Produced by Jack Antonoff, one of Del Rey’s long-time collaborators, the song gives off a chilling, Disney villain-esque atmosphere. Some say it’s reminiscent of her early work as Lizzy Grant, and others say it’s one of the worst songs she’s ever made.
Here’s my opinion:
Upon hearing the first snippet she posted on Instagram, I was very hyped. I have grown tired of the stripped-back piano ballads she kept releasing; same songs, different fonts.
I don’t hate “Henry” and “Bluebird,” I have them on my Lana playlist. However, she’s been doing the piano and acoustic ballad thing since Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019).
I was stoked that we were getting a different production, something more experimental and dark. And when I heard the second snippet that sounded like “Tiptoe Thru The Tulips With Me” I was even more intrigued.
When 9:00 AM PST hit, the song was out. I immediately grabbed my AirPods and began listening. The beautifully unsettling intro kicked in and I was sitting at the edge of my bed. The beat sounded like the “Jimmy Jimmy” part of “A&W.” Then the odd strings came in, and the lyrics were…relatively confusing – confusing because I really couldn’t tell if I liked them or not.
“Positively voodoo, everything you do
did you know exactly how magical you are?
whoopsie-daisy, yoo-hoo, yelling, ‘I love you.’”
“Whoopsie-daisy” and “yoo-hoo” are repeated throughout the chorus. It’s nothing like Del Ray has ever written before. And maybe that’s because the lyrics are simply…simple.
One of the things that made me fall in love with Lana Del Rey’s music is the unique poetic lyricism. Nobody would’ve thought to write something like,
“Ive been tearing around in my fucking nightgown
24/7 Sylvia Plath
Writing in blood on the walls ‘cause the ink in my pen dont work in my notepad
Don’t ask if I’m happy, you know that I’m not
but at best I can say I’m not sad.”
(From “Hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have but I have it” by Lana Del Rey off of Norman Fucking Rockwell!)
It was perfectly chaotic and beautiful with deep symbolism. Going from the artistic and emotional writing in previous albums to “Whoopsie-daisy, yoo-hoo!” is quite a shock.
Even her other recent tracks like “Bluebird” have that poetic symbolic writing. To me, it doesn’t necessarily flow well. The main chorus almost comes out of nowhere with no build up.
The lyrics in the entire song include a lot of typical “Lana Del Rey” buzzwords like “summer”, “bummer”, “cherry”, “ribbon”, & “daddy”. If you were to ask someone to write a Lana Del Rey inspired song, they most likely would use all five of those words. And while it’s in her own right to use those terms that she coined, it still ends up sounding like a parody of herself, and I wish she would expand more.
If she wants to go the experimental route, she could definitely write something totally out of her comfort zone.
Besides the stripped back lyrics, I actually quite enjoy the overall dark mysterious vibe akin to the likes of Nicole Dollanganger. The cover art is beautiful, and it’s definitely a breath of fresh air after years of PicsArt covers.
Overall, I give the song a 5.5/10. While it’s not something I loved right away, and definitely something I have a few bones to pick with, I can still see myself coming back to it.
