Lana Del Rey’s “Ride” Lyrics Meaning
The title (“Ride”) of this song alludes to the theme of the singer depicting herself as being akin to a drifter. In other words, she does not appear to have stability in her life. And the paths that she chooses often lead her “into trouble”. Moreover, she apparently picked up this type of modus operandi from her dad.
So she has apparently come to the conclusion that acquiring a certain type of lover would be in her best interest. This kind of person is referred to as a “daddy”. Such can be interpreted as being indicative of the singer’s desire to attract someone older and thus more-stable than herself. But more to the point, she wants someone who not only has ample financial resources but also the inclination to spend a significant portion on her. Or more to the point, she wants a man with money.
But again, lyrically she is not presenting herself as a gold-digger per se. Rather Del Rey comes off as someone who has grown weary of living a transient lifestyle and wants her current romantic interest, the aforementioned male, to actually commit to her. So until she does find such a man to fit the bill, she continues to “ride”.
Summary
The singer is caught up in a type of transient lifestyle that she feels a committed, well-to-do partner can rectify.
“Ride” Facts
Interscope Records in association with Polydor Records made the creation and release of this song possible. The song, which came out on 25 September 2012, served as the only single issued from Lana’s “Paradise” EP. And it was also part of “The Paradise Edition” of her first major-label album, “Born to Die”.
The multi-talented Del Rey wrote this tune alongside Justin Parker and the track’s producer, music legend Rick Rubin.
The music video to Ride was handled by director Anthony Mandler. In fact said visual has actually been classified as a short film as it is 10 minutes, 10 seconds in length and deals with a number of serious, controversial topics. It went on to be nominated for an MTV VMA in 2013. And a reader poll conducted by Rolling Stone in 2016 ranked it as number 6 of the “10 Best Music Videos of 2000s”.
Meanwhile the song itself charted in a dozen countries, performing most-impressively in Russia and Belgium.
There is movement , no stability , the song and video are more like an inner landscape of a wondering meloncoly mind, not actual reality.
The men are more or less wondering thought patterns , not real relationships , they don’t have any real personhood, more of a symbol of a multiple personality staying to work out their integration into one fixed personality but that is not achievable due to inner shifting.
Because everyone sees this song/video differently, it has an individual meaning for everyone.
No, the song’s true meaning is what the artist intended it to be.
and what is that?