“Get Free” by Lana Del Rey

In its original incarnation, Lana Del Rey’s “Get Free” was a more comprehensive, personalized piece meant to encapsulate the last few years in Lana’s life leading up to that point. The songstress then decided it was too personal and reworked the entire piece. 

And what we have instead is a track whose lyrical makeup is actually a lot more generally understandable than most of Lana’s songs we have studied thus far.

That is not to say that “Get Free” is devoid of its lyrical intricacies. The verses in particular are highly metaphorical, though it is still ascertainable therein that the vocalist is in some kind of less-than-ideal state psychologically and emotionally. 

And in the chorus it becomes a lot more evident that what the titular expression alludes to is a newfound commitment on the part of the narrative to live her life more fully instead of giving in to said depression or leaving the matter up to chance. And more to the intended point as far as this concept of ‘freedom’ is concerned is the inference that this condition has been caused by the vocalist’s weakness, if you will, when it comes to determining her own fate. 

In other words, up until now, she was more predispositioned towards letting others dictate how to run her life. But now having come to the realization that conducting herself in such a manner is a form of captivity, the vocalist has resolved to do otherwise and take the lead in securing her own edification.

Takeaway

And again, this song is relatively straightforward as far as Del Rey’s artistry is concerned. But that is not to say that it is simple per se. And at the end of the day, the thesis sentiment may not be about taking control of your destiny as much as it is not allowing yourself to fall into the habit of letting others stifle your freedom in the first place.

Facts about “Get Free”

“Get Free” can be found on “Lust for Life”, Lana Del Rey’s fifth studio album. This is a project that Polydor Records and Interscope Records released on 21 July 2017. 

It is the final track on the playlist of said album. Lana co-wrote and co-produced the song alongside Rick Nowels and Kieron Menzies, with additional production being handled by Dean Reid.

The working title of this song, in its original demo form, was “Malibu”.

“Get Free” was not one of the singles issued from “Lust for Life”, even though some fans have deemed this to be the best song on the album. However, the track still managed to break the top 20 of Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs list.

Beef with Radiohead

This song possesses a special history amongst Del Rey’s catalog, as she got into a bit of a conflict with Radiohead circa early 2018. This beef was due to noted similarities between “Get Free” and the latter’s signature hit, 1992’s “Creep“. 

That is to say that Lana reported that Radiohead was suing her for plagiarism. According to her, she offered the band 40% royalties from “Get Free” as compensation, but Thom Yorke and the rest of the gang rather demanded a solid 100%. 

The executives behind Radiohead promptly denied that claim. They rather asserted that what they were primarily seeking is songwriting credit for the members of the band (who are also amongst the credited authors of “Creep”). 

Apparently though the issue was resolved a couple of months after, according to a statement from Del Rey in late March of 2018. However, to note, by the looks of things none of the writers of “Creep” (i.e. Radiohead) have been credited on “Get Free”, even as of the writing of this post four years after said beef.