Lana Del Rey’s ‘BBM Baby’, An Unreleased Song About Her Blackberry, Finally Delivered
Few things inspire as much personal joy as a pop song about obsolete technologies and services. (Destiny's Child's "Bugaboo," anyone? Throw that pager out the window...) Oh, and also high up there on the personal joy list? The myriad Lana Del Rey demos and outtakes that pour out onto the Internet on what is seemingly a weekly basis.
As we impatiently await a Honeymoon follow-up, the Lana Del Floodgates have opened yet again, this time revealing "BBM Baby," a song penned prior to the release of Born To Die, co-written and produced by "Don't F--k with My Money" synth-pop prince Penguin Prison, who also remixed Lana's own "Blue Jeans."
In fact, he'd even name-dropped "BBM Baby" in an interview at the end of 2011 with FILTER:
I also heard that you were recently in the studio with Lana Del Rey, what was that experience like?
Well the studio as in my home studio. She came over and we worked on a song a while ago. It was called BBM Baby, I guess it was about her Blackberry Messenger. I also did a remix to one of her songs called Blue Jeans which came out recently and people seem to like that one. Out of all the remixes I’ve ever done, the first one was for Marina and the Diamonds’ song I am Not a Robot and I like that one the best, but I also like the new one I did for Blue Jeans. I think those two are the best remixes that I’ve made. I met her like 2 years ago and hung out with her a bunch in London and New York. She’s funny, she’s a very entertaining person to hang out with, and she has a wonderful singing voice.
Indeed, the song is about her Blackberry Messenger — and using it to innocently sext with her bad baby, basically.
"I be BBMing you, telling you / All the things I'm gonna do to you / When you get home baby," she playfully teases above a retro synth-pop beat. "He signs XO, hugs, hey / I know it's true love 'cause my heart goes yayyy."
It's a far cry from the usual cinematic lushness you'd expect to hear from the Ultraviolence Queen of Coney Island. And while Lana would almost surely be mortified by the existence of this cutesy production these days (and lyrics like "I heart you"), it's actually pretty adorable. And catchy! Plus, it's fun to hear something not-so-serious from the "Black Beauty" singer, recalling the girlish "Lolita" we first met on her debut LP.
"Be my BBM baby / I don't wanna fight / You're the one I like."
Consider your message delivered and read, Lana.
You can BBM, text, tweet, swipe, woof or straight-up call me anytime you want.
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