Lana Del Rey: Her Best 10 Songs

8. Summertime Sadness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVjsGKrE6E8 First up - this is typical Lana; even the great sunshine can't quell her melancholy. Amidst all the debate about who Lana Del Rey is and what she stands for, two things are frequently overlooked - the beauty of the words and the sophistication of the music. The lyrics of her songs tell the stories of universal themes and 'Summertime Sadness' is a story of heartbreak, losing someone but still loving them. Anyone who has suffered heartache can listen to this and hear those feelings articulated perfectly. Second up - the Miley Cyrus cover is appalling, she just doesn't get it. We'll move on shall we? Musically the song uses a similar template to 'Blue Jeans', lovely twanging guitar, strings, bass and drums, and as with all of her songs, it's not an overstatement to say that the music brings the words to life wonderfully. There isn't an obvious musical influence here - there's elements of classical music, hip hop (with the wonderfully stuttered 'Su-su-su-su-sa-summertime, summertime sadness') the song features her only ever attempt at a middle eight and features a contender for her greatest lyric to date "I think I'll miss you forever, like the stars miss the sun in the morning sky, laters better than never, even if you're gone I'm gonna drive, drive, drive..."