Songfacts®:

• "Alma Mater" is a layered and disjointed track, released as the second single from Bleachers' eponymous album. It blends electronic beats with Bleachers frontman Jack Antonoff's distorted guitar and vocals from Antonoff and Lana Del Rey.
• The lyrics are cryptic and full of imagery. The title "Alma Mater" could refer to a literal school Antonoff attended, a past lover, or even his hometown of New Jersey. Antonoff also references New Jersey places like Wawa (a chain of gas stations and convenience stores where you can get a hoagie), the New Jersey Turnpike, a green space, a movie theater, and an "old house."
• Antonoff and Lana Del Rey co-wrote this song with frequent Bleachers collaborator, Swedish producer Patrik Berger.
• Jack Antonoff and Lana Del Rey have a very close and fruitful musical collaboration. They have worked together extensively on several of her albums, including Norman F---ing Rockwell! (2019), Chemtrails over the Country Club (2021) and Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (2023).
  
  This song represents what it feels like to collaborate with Del Rey. "You can hear paper noise, a bit of us talking, breathing – it just feels like the room," Antonoff told The Guardian.
• The video, directed by Alex Lockett, shows Antonoff driving around New Jersey at night in a dreamy atmosphere. Singer-songwriter Clairo is seen holding a plant under a bus stop while Del Rey sings her lines in close-ups. The visual ends with a cameo from Antonoff's wife, the actress Margaret Qualley, who crosses the road in front of him.