Lana Del Rey is back to bless us with a brand new single and a brand new album in the oven. The pretty lengthy title “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd” is also synonymous with the upcoming 2023 album. The song speaks of an actual tunnel in Long Beach, California, which has faded from the memory of most for a long time.
Lana Del Rey announced her upcoming ninth studio album titled ‘Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd,’ along with the release of the album’s lead single of the same name. The album is expected to drop in March 2023 and is her follow-up project to ‘Blue Banisters’ from 2021.
In the song, Lana Del Rey refers to the Jergins Tunnel in Long Beach, California. This manmade tunnel provided pedestrians with easy and safe passage to the beach. At its peak, the tunnel carried around 4,000 pedestrians to and from the beach per hour! In 1967, after 40 years after its construction, the tunnel was closed to the public. Since then, the once-famous tunnel has faded from the memory of many. Lana wonders if the same fate will meet her.
Listen to “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd” by Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
Diving into the song, Lana Del Rey talks about the Jergins Tunnel in Long Beach, California. She does not sing about the tunnel’s glory days when it provided safe passage to thousands of beach visitors a day. But she rather focuses on its current status, after it closed down to the public over half a decade ago.
The tunnel is not a natural tunnel. It was constructed in 1927. The insides were decorated elegantly and lively with merchants and passengers. Hence, the reason why Lana calls the tunnel ‘handmade’ in the song. She also references the closure of the tunnel in the lyrics “sealed up by two man-made walls.”
In another interesting lyric, Lana also says that oftentimes she feels as if her body impaired the beauty of her soul. While we can disagree with this statement, Lana might be referring to the fact that she has ‘handmade’ the beauty of her body while her soul is something pure and unspoiled.
There seems to be a disconnect between her physical self and her spiritual being. She might be inferring that the beauty construct of her body is more ‘manmade’ or even serving man’s desire than her own.
In the hook of the song, Lana Del Rey wonders when will it be her turn to feel whole. A good loving may be required for her to start loving herself again. Her soul might be feeling like the abandoned Jergins tunnel and might be in need of a good sexual healing to pump some life into it.
In the second and third verses of the song, Lana Del Rey references two classic songs that have made an impact on her life deeply.
She mentions The Eagle’s classic hit “Hotel California” and Harry Nilson’s “Don’t Forget Me” song. The former song has deep routes to California along with the mention of a fictional hotel that traps its guests in a haze of fictitious bliss. The latter song has a voice crack at the timestamp Lana mentions. The voice crack could be due to the extreme emotions Harry has poured into his song stemming from his deep connection to the partner he sings of.
Lana hopes to feel this way someday about someone–even maybe about herself. Most of all, her soul screams not to be forgotten like that one tunnel that we forgot.
Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Check out the complete lyrics on Genius.