The song was commercially released in 2012

It's increasingly difficult to find a good song playing on the radio. I don't mean a song with good rhythm, or that's catchy, I mean a song (or an artist) really, really good. For that reason, when from between so much reggaeton and so much urban music, an authentic song arises, it's necessary to celebrate it, comes from where it comes. And that's the case of "Ride" by Lana del Rey. The song, co-written by the singer, is melodious and carries a background of strings that gives it a melancholic touch; but those are just aspects of form that I will not go into in depth. I'm interested in talking about the background: the lyrics of the song. In the disc version, its duration is 4:12 enough time to leave us phrases like those of the chorus, or the bridge almost at the end. These are respectively:

Chorus:

Been tryin' hard not to get in trouble,
but I, I've got a war in my mind

Bridge:

I'm tired of feeling like I'm fucking crazy
I'm tired of driving 'til I see stars in my eyese
it's all I've got to keep myself sane, baby

It's the reflection of a soul in eternal conflict with itself. Those that don't fit, that feel or think too much, or with so much intensity, that try to do well according to the established canons, but fail again and again because they can't compress theirselves in the mold. Those people who often don't know how to act, or how to react to the world around them and who are tired of being judged, without at least an attempt to understanding or identification. And 'cause of that cluster of emotions, passions boiling inside, the answer is:

...I just ride...

The road as an escape

It's the road, the journey, as an escape from that overwhelming world that surrounds them, but at the same time as a vehicle for peace, for reunion with themselves, to feel free, even if that freedom lasts just a moment.
Now, what for me elevates this song to the status of poetry or anthem are the six additional minutes in the video version. The composers of the song added at the beginning and at the end of it, two fragments emotionally recited by Lana, who delve deeper into that conflictive soul and give us the gift of a poem. An anthem. Almost a creed.

Intro:

I once had dreams of becoming a beautiful poet,
but upon an unfortunate series of events saw those dreams dashed and divided
like a million stars in the night sky that I wished on over and over again
sparkling and broken

...no fixed personality
just an inner indecisiveness that was as wide and as wavering as the ocean...

...obsession for freedom that terrified me [...] and pushed me to a nomadic point of madness...

It talks about broken dreams, about stop dreaming, about stop thinking what can it be and start to see it like what it could have been but it couldn't; of the weight of defeat, of the unconquered top. People, mostly young people, who still don't find their north, who don't have that plan outlined to which many adults induce them. They feel strange, confused, prisoners in a world that doesn't understand them, that invites them to dream, but steals those dreams from them. And all this makes them want to flee, escape, travel on the road with the wind in their hair and without looking back. While traveling, they don't think about being. They simply ARE. And they feel free.

Lana del Rey

The Outro is a bit more hopeful. It talks about the encounter with those who are equals to them. And finally, together, they say: "We had nothing to lose, nothing to gain, nothing we desired more." It's the triumph of freedom over barriers; they have had everything and they have lost everything and that's why they feel fully free, they feel comfortable with themselves. The forceful "Live fast, Die young, Be wild and Have fun" as a flag for people who want to live intensely and fully because any conditioning, any measure, is simply not life. They're people who want to burn out. The song and the video have remarkable literary echoes. In his book "On the Road" Jack Kerouac wrote:

"[...]the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars..."

And after being judged and rejected, they say "I believe in the kindness of strangers" as a courageous act of faith, of confidence that love and kindness will prevail. "I believe in the person I want to become" because they know the freedom and the tranquility that allows them to continue being themselves after so many obstacles. Finally they make an invitation disguised as questions:

"Who are you? Are you in touch with all of your darkest fantasies?
Have you created a life for yourself where you can experience them?"

Scene from the video

They don't conceive existence with ties, with taboos, and for that reason they want to awaken others, they want them to know each other, to discover each other and not to be afraid of what they really are, because YOLO! (You Only Live Once). For me, it's a nostalgic song that evokes on one hand the consciousness of freedom and universal love of the sixties, missed in these days. And on the other hand it's the voice of a generation in the search of identity, an anthem for those who have been marginalized by living life intensely without thinking about the consequences. It's, in many ways, a song to life.

Ride - Lana del Rey (Song): the poetic in the anthem of a generation.

...I just ride...

Reviewed by @cristiancaicedo

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