Songfacts®:

• "The Grants" is a reflective gospel-influenced pop song where Lana Del Rey sings of carrying memories of her beloved ones into the afterlife. The title, which doesn't appear in the lyrics, comes from Del Rey's own family – her real name is Lizzie Grant.
• In the first verse, Del Rey wonders if her boyfriend will stick around long enough to be considered family.
  
  So you say there's a chance for us?
  Should I do a dance for once?
  You're a family man, but
  
  Del Rey wrote the song with director and producer Mike Hermosa, whom she dated in 2021. It's likely she's addressing him.
• In the pre-chorus, Del Rey contemplates the fate of our memories when we pass away. She recalls the words of a pastor who once told her that when we die, our memories are all that we take with us, leaving everything else behind. For Del Rey, the memories of her loved ones are the ones she cherishes and hopes will stay with her beyond death.
  
  This theme resonates with the message of her song "Yes To Heaven," where Del Rey pledges to make her love interest so happy, he'll feel like he is in heaven.
• The chorus finds Del Rey talking about her memories with her boyfriend. She tells him that even when she departs from this planet, she will bring her memories of him to Heaven.
  
  And I'm gonna take mine of you with me
  I'm gonna take mine of you with me
  
  In the second verse, Lana Del Rey sings about persevering through the highs and lows of life to pay tribute to those who have passed away, while upholding her family's heritage.
  
  Doin' the hard stuff, I'm doin' my time
  I'm doin' it for us, for our family line
• On the bridge, Lana shouts out some of the family members whose memory will stay with her through it all. She mentions her late uncle, David Grant, who died in July 2016 while climbing the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
  
  Like "Rocky Mountain High," the way John Denver sings
  
  Also, her niece Phoenix-Pickens Grant, who was born in August 2021, and her grandmother.
  
  My sister's first-born child
  I'm gonna take that too with me
  My grandmother's last smile
  I'm gonna take that too with me
  
  Phoenix is also the subject of "Sweet Carolina," the twinkling closing track of her previous album, Blue Banisters, which Del Rey wrote as a collaboration with her father and sister, Rob and Chuck Grant. The singer's late grandmother, Cynthia K. Grant, passed away in December 2021.
• "The Grants" is the opening track of Del Rey's ninth studio album, Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. She co-produced the song with Drew Erickson and Zach Dawes, who collaborated with the singer on Blue Bannisters.
• The song features backing vocals from Melodye Perry, Pattie Howard and Shikena Jones, who all appeared in 20 Feet from Stardom, a 2013 documentary that focused on the lives of background vocalists.
• The track opens with Perry, Howard and Jones recording the backing vocals for the song as they receive direction. "Once they were learning the chorus and they made that mistake in the beginning, I snap my finger and I was like 'Zach, snap that part where melody tells everyone that they messed up and put it at the top of the song, because that's how the top of the album should start,'" Del Rey recalled to BBC Radio 1's Clara Amfo. "'And then go right into 'Tunnel,' because I mean not only was it soulful, but also, so beautifully flawed, if you will, on their behalf just trying to learn it which of course on the second take they miraculously learned it perfect to me. There's so much symbolism there, because I liked the naturalness of it."
• Hermosa, Erickson and Dawes played all the instruments between them:
  
  Hermosa - acoustic guitar
  Erickson - piano, synthesizer, Hammond B3 organ, synth bass, strings, strings arrangement
  Dawes - bass guitar
• The theme of family origins permeates Ocean Blvd, a concept Del Rey sought to explore in Blue Banisters. On that album, she addressed criticism she'd heard that people don't know enough about her, but she kept it low-key.
  
  "In this album, I got to really finish my thoughts and get super specific, which I was not comfortable with completely before, Del Rey told Billboard about Ocean Blvd. "I do list my grandpa, my brother, my dad, my Uncle Dave."