Lana Del Rey releases new song in response to US shootings in El Paso and Dayton

'I had a song on my mind that I wanted to write'

Roisin O'Connor
Music Correspondent
Tuesday 06 August 2019 08:12 BST
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Republican senator John Cornyn says 'no simple solution' to end mass shootings following El Paso attack

Lana Del Rey has released a new song in response to the spate of mass shootings in the US.

On Saturday, 20 people were shot and killed inside a Walmart in El Paso. Early the next morning, nine people were gunned down outside a popular Dayton bar. The suspects were identified as white males who used assault rifles to carry out the attacks.

Del Rey collaborated with producer and artist Jack Antonoff for the track, titled “Looking for America”, and shared a statement along with the song.

"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," she began.

“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."

Antonoff plays bass as Del Rey sings: "I'm still looking for my own version of America/ One without the guns, where the flag can freely fly/ No bombs in the sky, just fireworks, and you and I."

Del Rey also shared a cover of Donovan’s 1966 song “Season of the Witch”, which appears in the trailer for new horror film Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

The movie was directed by André Øvredal and produced by Guillermo del Toro – whose Hollywood Walk of Fame star will reportedly be presented by Del Rey today (6 August).

Lana Del Rey’s new album Norman Fucking Rockwell! is out on 30 August, with the supporting tour beginning in September.

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