Lana Del Rey brings listeners into her lover’s world of blue in “Shades of Cool.” She expresses a strong sense of lament and pain, as well as powerful desire to understand and fix his flaws.
“Shades of Cool” is characterized as a slow/mid-tempo “waltzy” rock song. As the song progresses, it builds...
[Verse 1]
My baby lives in shades of blue
Blue eyes and jazz and attitude
He lives in California, too
He drives a Chevy Malibu
And when he calls, he calls for me and not for you
He lives for love, he loves his drugs, he loves his baby, too
[Pre-Chorus]
But I can't fix him, can't make him better
And I can't do nothing about his strange weather
[Chorus]
But you are unfixable
I can't break through your world
'Cause you live in shades of cool
Your heart is unbreakable
[Verse 2]
My baby lives in shades of cool
Cold heart and hands and aptitude
He lives for love, for women, too
I'm one of many, Bonnie's blue
And when he calls, he calls for me and not for you
He prays for love, he prays for peace, and maybe someone new
[Pre-Chorus]
But I can't help him, can't make him better
And I can't do nothing about his strange weather
[Chorus]
'Cause you are unfixable
I can't break through your world
'Cause you live in shades of cool
Your heart is unbreakable
[Bridge]
Your hot, hot weather in the summer
High, high, neglectful lover
Hot, hot weather in the summer
High, neglectful lover
You're crumbling, sadly
You're sadly, crumbling
[Chorus]
You are unfixable
I can't break through your world
'Cause you live in shades of cool
Your heart is unbreakable
[Outro]
Pa pa da pa
Pa pa da ah, oh
Oh, oh
Oh
Shades of Cool was written by Lana Del Rey & Rick Nowels.
Shades of Cool was produced by Dan Auerbach.
Lana Del Rey released Shades of Cool on Mon May 26 2014.
Like in most of the songs in this album, Lana never mentions the name of her man. In the music video, he is shown to be an older man, possibly her sugar daddy as he lives in a modern house, but no name is confirmed in any of her songs.
According to Songfacts, Lizzy declared to newspaper The Sun:
“Shades Of Cool” is inspired by a person I met and just living here and being a real California baby. He made a strong visual impact on me.