"Brooklyn Baby" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Lana Del Rey discography, Her music is noted for its melancholic exploration of Glamour (presentation), glamor and Romanc ...

for her third studio album '' Ultraviolence'' (2014). It was written by Del Rey, and Barrie O'Neill, while production was handled by

Dan Auerbach Daniel Quine Auerbach (; born May 14, 1979) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer, best known as the guitarist and vocalist of The Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. As a member of the group, Auerbach has ...

. The song was released on June 8, 2014, by

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

. The song's lyrical content is notable for its satirical elements targeting the New York hipster subculture: its chorus highlights "a stable of cliches about hipsters, Brooklyn, millennials and other things Del Rey herself is known to idolize".

Composition

Miriam Coleman of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' described Del Rey's vocals as "breathy" and called the melody of the song "reminiscent of 1960s girl-group hits". In the song, Del Rey pokes fun at New York City and celebrates

hipster subculture The 21st-century hipster is a subculture (sometimes called hipsterism). Fashion is one of the major markers of hipster identity. Members of the subculture typically do not self-identify as hipsters, and the word ''hipster'' is often used as a pe ...

, referencing several cliches about them,

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, and

Millennials Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s a ...

. Del Rey said that she wrote the song with

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

in mind. She was supposed to work with him and flew to New York City to meet him, but he died the day she arrived. He is referenced in the line "And my boyfriend's in a band/ He plays guitar while I sing Lou Reed".

Critical response

The song received widespread critical acclaim. Miriam Coleman of ''Rolling Stone'' described it as a "dreamy song... with a breathy vocals and a melody before moving into Del Rey's typically languid, dreamy soundscape". Duncan Cooper of ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

'' stated that "Brooklyn Baby" is the standout track of ''Ultraviolence'', pointing out the "uncharacteristically self-assured gem", "Yeah, my boyfriend's pretty cool/ But he's not as cool as me." Sharan Shetty of ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

'' complimented the melody of the song, however disliked the lack of "big, chewy vocal hooks". The song was placed at number twenty two on ''

''s 50 Best Songs of 2014 list.

Track listing

Digital download #"Brooklyn Baby" – 5:52

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Ultraviolence''. Performance credits *

– vocals,

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

*Seth Kauffman – background vocals Instruments *

– electric guitar *Seth Kauffman – electric guitar, percussion *Leon Michels –

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

, percussion,

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

Nick Movshon Nicholas Anthony Movshon (born March 17, 1982) is an American bass guitarist, drummer and songwriter, best known for his considerable contributions to the New York funk and soul revival. A frequent contributor to the recorded output of Brooklyn- ...

–

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

, drums *Russ Pahl –

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

, acoustic guitar *Kenny Vaughan – acoustic guitar *Maximilian Weissenfeldt – drums Technical and production *Dan Auerbach – production *John Davis – mastering *Collin Dupuis – engineering * Robert Orton – mixing

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

"Brooklyn Baby" lyrics
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{Authority control 2014 singles 2014 songs Interscope Records singles Lana Del Rey songs Satirical songs Song recordings produced by Dan Auerbach Songs about New York City Songs written by Lana Del Rey Hipster (contemporary subculture)