3 Lana Del Rey Songs That Foreshadowed Her Country Music Turn

Lana Del Rey finally released the first single from her upcoming album, The Right Person Will Stay. It’s the long-awaited country record from Del Rey, but for those already familiar with her music, it’s not a sweeping departure.

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“Henry, Come On” continues the cinematic Americana ballads she’s produced since her 2012 breakthrough album Born To Die. Originally called Lasso, Del Rey’s turn toward the Nashville sound follows a trend in pop music with Beyoncé and Post Malone leading the way with successful reinventions. But on “Henry, Come On”, Del Rey sounds like herself. She’s become a genre of her own, and her style has been recycled by many artists, including the world’s biggest pop star: Taylor Swift.

However, Swift’s career moved in the opposite direction. She began with country music before dominating the pop world. Still, Del Rey’s country turn isn’t so much a turn. It’s just another freewheeling road trip through America’s songbook as heard on the tracks below.

“Breaking Up Slowly”

Nikki Lane co-wrote and recorded this duet with Del Rey. It appeared on Del Rey’s Americana-leaning Chemtrails Over The Country Club. Superstar producer Jack Antonoff directs the sparse arrangement with ghostly echoes of Gram Parsons’ “cosmic” American music. Meanwhile, Lane croons about a life of regret. And she doesn’t “wanna end up like Tammy Wynette.”

“Let Me Love You Like A Woman”

In 2020, Del Rey taped a performance of another Chemtrails track for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Set in a dive bar, it’s the evolution of Del Rey’s self-made 2011 visuals for “Video Games” and “Blue Jeans”. Like the clips that put her on the map, “Let Me Love You Like A Woman” is earnest, provocative, and stunning. For the outlaw types, the electric guitar part recalls the 1970s phaser effect used by Waylon Jennings.

“Pretty When You Cry”

Del Rey’s longtime guitarist, Blake Stranathan, co-wrote this dusty slow burner. There’s a tinge of psychedelia to it that foreshadows Josh Homme’s (Queens Of The Stone Age) work with Nikki Lane on Denim & Diamonds. Also note the chord sequence and its similarity to The Eagles’ classic “Hotel California”—the defining song from one of the biggest-selling artists to ever mix country music and rock and roll.

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