By DONNA BALANCIA
Lana Del Rey shared a new song tentatively titled “Looking for America” in response to the tragic mass shootings that have deeply impacted the nation over the last two weekends, and the last several years.
The lyrics to the new song don’t play around and in her own delicate fashion, Del Rey makes some strong statements about reality that most Americans still face, despite repeated mass attacks and demands for more stringent gun laws.
Del Rey shared the dreamy lullaby-like track in a post to her Instagram account. Jack Antonoff plays guitar and engineer Laura Sisk records.
“… I watch the children in the park / used to only have to worry about them after dark / I’m still looking for my own version of America one without the gun where the flag can freely fly / … it’s just a dream I had in mind… So many things I think twice about before I do …”
Del Rey wrote on her Instagram: “Hi folks came back early from Montecito with my brother this morning and asked Jack Antonoff to come into town because I had a song on my mind that I wanted to write.
“Now I know I’m not a politician and I’m not trying to be so excuse me for having an opinion- but in light of all of the mass shootings and the back to back shootings in the last couple of days which really affected me on a cellular level I just wanted to post this video that our engineer Laura took 20 minutes ago. I hope you like it. I’m singing love to the choruses I recorded this morning. I’m going to call it ‘Looking for America.'”
On Saturday, 20 people were shot and killed inside a Walmart in El Paso by a gunman. In Dayton, Ohio in the early hours the next day, nine victims were killed by a gunman. Last weekend in Gilroy, Calif., three people were killed and others were injured during by a gunman during the closing hours of an annual festival.
Del Rey has stepped to the forefront with her new album Norman Fucking Rockwell! which is available for pre-order and will be released on Aug. 30.
Read more about Lana Del Rey here.
She will go on a world tour in the fall to support the new album Norman Fucking Rockwell! and plays The Hollywood Bowl on Oct. 10.