“Mariners Apartment Complex” by Lana Del Rey

I found Lana Del Rey’s songs to be perfect to listen to while trying to write at 4 a.m.—that time of day when you’re most afraid of death. Somehow I came upon this song, and it took me a while to connect the song (which had entered my subconscious) with the title (which is something right up my alley). I woke up one morning from an extended dream about this song in which I decided I would write an entire novel based on it. So caught up in this dream was I, it wasn’t until I sat down and started typing a new document with notes on the project that I came to my senses. It’s a quiet, beautiful song, and I really like the arrangement—acoustic piano and guitar, subtle drums, and some kind of string synth, it sounds like, that really works. It feels epic, yet it’s only four minutes long. Some of the vocals are almost spoken, which is effective, but can be annoying. The first thing I noticed was the part where she says, “My, my, my”—dropped in, in contrast to her singing voice. I found it so off-putting to be almost repulsed by it—but, as you know, attraction and repulsion are two sides of the same coin—so I kept going back. What is this “Mariners Apartment Complex”—it sounds like an old Los Angeles motor hotel that’s been renovated into overpriced apartments. Only very desperate fuckers by the pool, and there’s at least one person living out the fantasy of oceangoing transient worker turned failed actor turned mid-level drug dealer. (That’s not in the song, but just imagined from the title!) It’s a great backdrop for nautical imagery. The lyrics are so good they work as straight text, as a poem—but even better as a song. The “Venice bitch” pun, while overused (even by LDR, on a single album!), still, is perfect. “Jesus” is invoked twice—the first time with reverence—the second time as an expletive. One of the most perfect pop song choruses I’ve ever heard, so I’m going to paraphrase. “You lose your way, just take my hand/You’re lost at sea, then I’ll command your boat to me again/Don’t look too far, right where you are, that’s where I am/I’m your man.” It gives me goose bumps just to type those words. And it’s much better—I shouldn’t need to add—to hear it—in the context of the song. And it’s even better because I don’t fully understand it—and the most powerful things are those things that are just beyond your ability to fully take in. The “Lana Del Rey” who is singing it seems both wise and confused—a sign of maturity—the more you’ve been around, the wiser you are—and the more confused you get. She’s speaking to a lover who’s at an entirely different level of consciousness. She’s trying to explain, to make it work, and it’s heartbreaking. “Catch a wave and take in the sweetness/Think about it, the darkness, the deepness/All the things that make me who I am.” When you have to go to such lengths, in a relationship, to explain, it’s most likely that you’re already doomed before you’ve left the port. But at least you’re left with—as you sink beneath the waves—a lovely artifact.