Carmen

Album: Born To Die (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This cautionary tale of a doomed woman who sells her body on the streets is littered with Coney Island references. Del Rey told The Sun: "Carmen is a song I can't say too much about because it's so close to my heart. It's the song on the record I relate to most closely. It's set partly in Coney Island, a place that's been important to me throughout my New York City career."
  • Coney Island is a peninsula in southernmost Brooklyn, New York City, USA, with a beach on the Atlantic Ocean. As well as containing America's one time largest amusement park, it was America's original Sin City, decades before Las Vegas, and was rife with prostitution.
  • For those of you who skipped your French lessons at school, Lana's French spoken part translates as "My love, I know that you love me too/You need me, you need me in your life/You can't live without me/And I'd die without you/I'd kill for you."
  • The song's 17-year-old protagonist suffers from substance abuse. Del Rey admitted in 2012 that she had a problem with alcohol when she was a teenager, but hasn't drunk for a number of years.
  • The song came about in a natural way. Del Rey recalled to Complex magazine: "I was out really late and walking to the tempo of my own rhythm, and then I just started singing, 'Carmen, Carmen doesn't have a problem lying to herself cause her liquor's top shelf.' And it was an easy cadence. The whole thing just came, and I think I was in a really good place then, so it was like things... it was really easy to channel."

Comments: 6

  • Ira from Algeria I love Lana, she is amazing and so special, she sings things she felt, she tell the world her story not like others singers, I can not compare Lana with any singer, she is the best.
  • AnonymousI love this song and I love you so much Lana Del Rey I hope to see you one day love you bye!
  • Lisarowe from UsaCorrections on some of these lyrics:

    It's

    "Famous and dumb at an early age
    Lying, I'm lying"

    "Looking for fun, getting high for free"

    "Tying cherry knots, smiling, doing party favors"
  • Dinosaur I love this
  • Anna from RussiaI thought that the song was about young, but famous girls that are very pretty and seem rich and happy (fooling everyone that she's having fun, liquor on a top shelf), but actually they need to sleep with required men in exchange for their fame and money (street walk at night, star at day). Just my opinion.
  • SakHmm also Carmen was an opera about a woman that was very popular so I thought maybe it could mean that everyone wants her but her life is not as perfect as it's portrayed? Idk man
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Jonathan Cain of Journey

Jonathan Cain of JourneySongwriter Interviews

Cain talks about the divine inspirations for "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Faithfully."

Zac Hanson

Zac HansonSongwriter Interviews

Zac tells the story of Hanson's massive hit "MMMbop," and talks about how brotherly bonds effect their music.

Shawn Mullins

Shawn MullinsSongwriter Interviews

"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."

Weezer

WeezerFact or Fiction

Did Rivers Cuomo grow up on a commune? Why did they name their albums after colors? See how well you know your Weezer in this Fact or Fiction.

Who's Johnny, And Why Does He Show Up In So Many Songs

Who's Johnny, And Why Does He Show Up In So Many SongsSong Writing

For songwriters, Johnny represents the American man. He has been angry, cool, magic, a rebel and, of course, marching home.

Richard Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Richard Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Psychedelic Furs lead singer Richard Butler talks about their first album since 1991 and explains what's really going on in "Pretty In Pink."