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Lana Del Rey - ‘Bluebird’
Release Date: Friday, April 18th 2025
Album: The Right Person Will Stay
Producers: Lana Del Rey, Luke Laird & Drew Erickson
Songwriters: Lana Del Rey & Luke Laird
The Background:
On Friday, April 18th, Lana Del Rey surprised fans with the release of her new single, ‘Bluebird’, which marks the latest instalment of her upcoming album, The Right Person Will Stay. Serving as her first country record, The Right Person Will Stay is looking to sit well with fans of Willow Avalon and Kacey Musgraves’ more recent work.
The Sound:
Echoing the floating, whimsical sounds of ‘Henry, come on,’ ‘Bluebird’ is quietly heartbreaking and beautifully tragic. Written with Luke Laird, the song explores a slightly darker narrative laced with hope.
The Meaning:
“Little bird, bluebird
Fly away for both of us
For you have wings
And I’ve no means
To fly
Little bird, bluebird
Find some strength, inside my head
Anything
To let you sing
Goodbye”
Here we are immediately introduced to the eponymous bluebird. It’s not clear what the bluebird represents, but with the swirl of music over which Lana Del Rey sings, it creates a dreamy image of an ethereal Del Rey with a bluebird in her palm. Towards the end of this first verse, we become acutely aware of some form of entrapment or inability to leave, tinging the otherwise delicate sonic quality of the song.
“For your thoughts are small
They can’t keep you from leaving
As the wake of my past crashes in
I hear the door slam
But the window’s wide open
We both shouldn’t be dealing with him”
Through this next verse, Del Rey and Laird have solidified the idea of a complex relationship through the addition of a third ‘character’ in the song. It feels that there is almost a paralysis of fear from Del Rey. Her only escape is through daydream and distant hope, shattered when she can ‘hear the door slam’ but the ‘window’s wide open’ – she can see her way out, but she can’t use it. The bluebird is her hope, and she knows that without hope, she is helpless. Encouraging that hope to break free, ‘we both shouldn’t be dealing with him,’ allows her to dissociate from her reality. Physically, she is there, but mentally, she can look to freedom.
“Find a way to fly
Find a way to fly
Just shoot for the sun
Til I can finally run
Find a way to fly”
The repetition denotes desperation, a sort of ‘get out any way you can’ feeling. ‘Shoot for the sun til I can finally run,’ suggests Del Rey’s desire to focus on brighter days until they become a reality. She is going to make it out.
“I’ve kept him at bay
But the horses are coming
They’re racing their way
Round the bend
Your crash land is over
But the evening is hummin’
Don’t make me say it again”
Use of ‘the horses are coming,’ is synonymous with anticipating a powerful climax. The thundering hooves galloping around a bend, their trajectory almost impossible to throw off course. ‘The evening is hummin’ suggests tension and it is at this point we are faced with the darkest part of the song. It lends itself to imagery of abuse, with Del Rey’s words laced with a sobering finality. She is encouraging her hope to leave because she cannot.
For the full lyrics to Lana Del Rey's ‘Bluebird’, see below:
“Little bird, bluebird
Fly away for both of us
For you have wings
And I’ve no means
To fly
-
Little bird, bluebird
Find some strength, inside my head
Anything
To let you sing
Goodbye
-
For your thoughts are small
They can’t keep you from leaving
As the wake of my past crashes in
-
I hear the door slam
But the window’s wide open
We both shouldn’t be dealing with him
-
Find a way to fly
Find a way to fly
Just shoot for the sun
Til I can finally run
Find a way to fly
-
I’ve kept him at bay
But the horses are coming
They’re racing their way
Round the bend
Your crash land is over
But the evening is hummin’
Don’t make me say it again
-
Find a way to fly
Find a way to fly
Just shoot for the sun
Til I can finally run
Find a way to fly
-
Just shoot for the sun
Til I can finally run
Find a way to fly”
For more on Lana Del Rey, see below:
