Swan Song

Album: Honeymoon (2015)
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Songfacts®:

  • A swan song is a metaphorical phrase for the final performance of a poet, actor or composer's career. It is derived from the ancient belief that swans sing a beautiful song in the moment just before death.

    This Honeymoon track finds Del Rey crooning of this being her "swan song" before she stops singing and moves onto the next chapter of her life with her lover.
  • Speaking in a 2022 interview, Lana Rel Rey said this song makes her cry.

    Put your white tennis shoes on and follow me
    Why work so hard when you could just be free?
    You got your moment now, you got your legacy
    Let's leave the world for the ones who change everything


    "It's the antithesis of hopefulness," Del Rey told Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele for W magazine. "It's about trying to find beauty in giving up. If I had my way, I would continue to persist in all areas of my life, but it can be quite challenging because I can be too trusting too soon. The burn that can come from that really can incinerate your whole thinking life and your daily processes. At the end of every album, I say goodbye and thank you - very Old Hollywood style - and yet I cannot help but just continue to write."

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