“Dealer” by Lana Del Rey (ft. Miles Kane)

As we have noted in the past, comprehensively analyzing Lana Del Rey songs requires a bit of creative interpretation. So some readers may agree with what we’re about to put forth, and some may not.  But for starters, well let’s first point out that even though he may be the featured artist, Miles Kane actually serves as the lead vocalist on this piece. 

And it would seem that the “dealer” being referred to is a literal one, i.e. a drug dealer or some plug who regularly supplies him with a product or service he needs or wants.

The “Dealer”

And to a limited degree as far as this narrative goes, it’s not even important what this individual supplies the vocalist with. The “dealer” is just one of a number of characters, including the singer’s “father” and “doctor”, who all serve the same purpose in the actual verses. 

And that purpose is being noted as individuals who, under normal circumstances, would be privy to the vocalist’s whereabouts or wellbeing. And what he is actually telling the audience or intended addressee(s) is that under the current circumstances, contacting any of these people in the name of trying to get in touch with him would be an act of vanity.

Now it does not seem that said assertion is necessarily a literal one. And this brings us to the main reason we have postulated that the titular character is in fact a drug dealer.

Thesis Sentiment

In the chorus the vocalist, in this case Lana Del Rey, can be said to be taking on the role of an addict. She depicts herself as a self-destructive person. And she is also letting the person she is singing to, who we will presume this time around is the titular “dealer”, know that after having already given him or her ‘all her money’, she no longer has a desire to practice such a lifestyle. 

Or as she deems it, she has gotten “nothing back” from this particular addressee, despite all of the money spent. And more macrocosmically, she even goes as far as to express a desire not to live anymore, as in suffering from a serious case of depression.

So what we are putting forth is that the vocalist is taking on the character of a drug addict, a motif that Lana Del Rey and Miles Kane utilized in a previous track they dropped together. And the reason why no one can reach him, well, he may not be talking about reaching in the traditional sense but more along the lines of not being able to get through to him. 

That is why for instance he notes that his doctor is “no f–king spirit healer”, because the cure to the issue the vocalist is stricken with, addiction (and depression), transcends the realm of traditional medicine. 

And the singer knows that he needs to break this modus operandi. But the thesis sentiment of “Dealer” would in actuality revolve around the notion that as it currently stands, he doesn’t really see any way out of this cycle but in the meantime is finding some type of relief in cursing the individual selling him the drugs and/or the substance itself.

When was “Dealer” released?

This track was made public, via Polydor Records and Interscope Records, on 22 October 2021. It is a part Lana Del Rey’s Blue Banisters album. 

More Facts

Lana herself contributed to its composition in both a writing and production capacity, as did the following:

• Loren Humphrey
• Zach Dawes

And the other co-writers of “Dealer” are Tyler Parkford and Miles Kane.

Miles Kane is actually part of a band known as The Last Shadow Puppets, as is Zach Dawes. Moreover, the aforenoted Humphrey and Parkford are affiliated with that group. 

And as the story goes, this track actually dates back to a collaborative album Lana was going to put out alongside The Last Shadow Puppets, that was recorded in 2017 but never released. Then, there were also talks of it being featured on Chemtrails over the Country Club, i.e. the LP Del Rey came out with earlier in 2021, just prior to Blue Banisters.

Lana has personally described this song as one in which ‘she is just screaming her head off’.

The first time Del Rey teased “Dealer” was apparently in late 2020. And it has also been noted that the song was leaked about a year later, during September of 2021.