Watercolor Eyes

Album: Euphoria: Season 2 (An HBO Original Series Soundtrack) (2022)
Charted: 87
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Lana Del Rey recorded this slow-burning ballad for the soundtrack of HBO's teen drama series Euphoria. The song plays during the "Ruminations: Big and Little Bullys" episode, which premiered on January 23, 2022. Del Rey follows the likes of BTS, Labrinth, and Billie Eilish in having music premiered or featured on the show.
  • Watercolor eyes mean teary eyes. Here, Del Rey sings of how her lover's continual breaking up and making up distresses her.

    Hot summer and cold watermelon
    Your love stings like blood and a lemon
    Why do you leave me with watercolor eyes?


    Del Rey uses two types of fruit to symbolize the mixed nature of the on-again, off-again romance.
  • Del Rey continues to use her familiar summertime imagery to describe the turbulent relationship.

    I think that you taste like rock candy
    Sweet like beaches, leave me all sandy

    In the run-up to Del Rey's eighth studio album, rumor had it she would name the record Rock Candy Sweet. Instead, the LP arrived with the title Blue Banisters. Either this is the original planned title track, which Del Rey later scrapped, or she just reused the lyrics for "Watercolor Eyes."
  • Del Rey wrote "Watercolor Eyes" with Nasri Atweh, the singer from Magic! of "Rude" fame. The Canadian musician is also one half of the songwriting and production duo The Messengers (Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never," Chris Brown's "Next 2 You," Pitbull's "Feel This Moment"). This is Del Rey's first collaboration with Nasri.
  • Nasri also co-produced the lilting guitar ballad with Del Rey's frequent collaborator Drew Erickson. He contributed to six Blue Banisters tracks, including the single "Arcadia."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Harold Brown of War

Harold Brown of WarSongwriter Interviews

A founding member of the band War, Harold gives a first-person account of one of the most important periods in music history.

Jethro Tull

Jethro TullFact or Fiction

Stage urinals, flute devices, and the real Aqualung in this Fact or Fiction.

Rush: Album by Album - A Conversation With Martin Popoff

Rush: Album by Album - A Conversation With Martin PopoffSong Writing

A talk with Martin Popoff about his latest book on Rush and how he assessed the thousands of albums he reviewed.

The Punk Photography of Chris Stein

The Punk Photography of Chris SteinSong Writing

Chris Stein of Blondie shares photos and stories from his book about the New York City punk scene.

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."

Rock Revenge Songs

Rock Revenge SongsMusic Quiz

John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?