Ballad Breakdown: Lana Del Rey Finds Peace in Reclusivity with Her "Bartender"

“Bartender” goes rather critically and commercially unnoticed as the 12th song on Del Rey’s 6th album Norman Fucking Rockwell!, and ironically that might be exactly what the indie darling intended with this piano-backed plea for serenity and normalcy.

Written by Sydney Meier

Photo courtesy of Chuck Grant

Lauded as Lana Del Rey’s best album by both fans and critics, Norman Fucking Rockwell! debuted on Aug. 30, 2019. This record — and many of her others — reflects on the songstress’ past relationships with men as well as her relationship with a public that is slowly consuming her. Sadly, in discussions of the album, the third to last track “Bartender” is consistently left out. Overshadowed by the other more metaphorically and instrumentally dense tracks on the record, it's considered the sleeper hit of Norman Fucking Rockwell!. Its placement on the tracklist serves as a romantic introspective palate cleanser, coming after the melodramatic cultural retrospective “The greatest” and before a retelling of yet another toxic relationship in “Happiness is a butterfly.” The audience is allowed to escape Del Rey’s emotional turmoil with her and her “Bartender.”

Del Rey is culturally known for her abundance of piano ballads, but what is so special about this specific piano ballad is the “music box” quality of the chorus. You cannot take your eyes off the New York native, who serves as the elegant ballerina spinning at the center of the song. However, a music box would be nothing without the plunking chords accompanying her. Rick Nowels, the piano player, co-producer and co-writer for “Bartender,” might sound familiar to the singer’s fans because he has collaborated with her on Ultraviolence’s “West Coast,” Born to Die’s “Summertime Sadness,” among others. It’s Nowels who softly keyes and holds the wistful, consistent piano chords that usher the listener into “Bartender,” and this repetition allows the singer a break from her celebrity lifestyle for a sense of normalcy and control.

The first verse sets the stage for Del Rey to stand and preach a declaration of her journey toward blissful stagnance. “Bartender” is filled with lyrical references to ‘60s Californian Americana, an era the indie icon looks back on fondly with unearned nostalgia throughout Norman Fucking Rockwell!. Calling back to a lyric — “Self-loathing poet, resident Laurel Can-you-know-it-all” — in the records title track “Norman fucking Rockwell,” Del Rey references Laurel Canyon once again with the opening line “All the ladies of the canyon / Wearing black to their house parties.” An area of Los Angeles, Laurel Canyon was the breeding ground for counterculture musicians during the ‘60s. One of the success stories of the Canyon was Crosby, Stills, & Nash. The songstress namedrops the folk-rock supergroup in the first verse of “Bartender” as the backing music to the Canyon ladies' “house parties.” Additionally, alcohol was incredibly prevalent in the music scene during the '60s, which the singer highlights with the lyric “wine is flowing with Bacardi” and by mentioning that the ladies are wearing black to symbolize the blemish that alcohol leaves on its consumers.

The chorus takes the audience with the then 34-year-old vocalist as she buys an unremarkable “truck in the middle of the night” to evade her reality of unwanted attention and scrutiny from the media and general public. She hopes that this vehicle will “buy [her] a year” of “photo-free exits” from her “baby’s bedside” because the paparazzi or the ambiguous subject of the song doesn't know “what car [she] drive[s].” This truck is Del Rey’s desperate attempt to keep her relationship private, therefore keeping it sacred and untouched. The songstress goes on to mention that she prefers “not drinking wine;” the titular bartender’s “Cherry Coke…is fine,” and their “love’s sweet enough” to fill the jaded hole that substances and public disparagement left in her. She repeats the tender element of the etymology of bartender — “Bar-t-t-tender” — to close out the chorus. This bartender allows her a tenderness and leniency that the public never gave her. The irony of seeking refuge with a bartender from alcohol-fueled fame is absolutely intended and not lost on the audience.

We see the same “ladies of the canyon” in the second verse, except now they are “wearing white for their tea parties” and “playing games of levitation” while “meditating in the garden.” This spiritual gathering where the ladies are wearing white to symbolize innocence while, most likely, playing the adolescent game “light as a feather stiff as a board,” and recentering themselves through meditation is a nod to the prevalence of spirituality within the ‘60s California music scene. Although Del Rey reconfirms that she loves “the little games that [they] play” in the second pre-chorus, she makes it clear that when her “day is done,” she is more than eager to “grab [her] keys” to see her bartender. The social parties Del Rey attends in an effort to bring herself peace leave her itching to be in the presence of the person who brings her inner and outer harmony.

The outro paints a peaceful, monotonous picture of Del Rey sporting red heart sunglasses, H&M blue jeans, and a leather jacket, hopping in her vintage cherry red Ford F-150 Bullnose, heading towards her bartender at “60 MPH on PCH [Pacific Coast Highway] Drive.” She picks up her bartender and the pair take on a 40-minute drive from “Long Beach” to “Newport,” cementing the dreamy Californian aesthetic of an absolutely mundane moment between two ordinary people in love. The wind is flowing through her hair, and with one hand on the steering wheel, she reflects that “they don’t yet know where [she] reside[s],” being able to comfortably breathe for the first time in so long. The lyric “Bar-t-t-tender” closes out the tune to allow Del Rey to appreciate this person and all they do one last time. 

Lana Del Rey mentioned the single on January 28, 2018, in an interview with Pitchfork at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards, "I've got a couple of other tracks. I've got this weird track called 'Bartender' that doesn't belong to a record yet," proving the placement of “Bartender” within Norman Fucking Rockwell! is entirely intentional and so unappreciated. It goes under the radar when fans and critics discuss the record, yet it’s so important when it comes to Del Rey’s personal rebirth away from the paparazzi, her reputation, drugs, and alcohol. “Bartender” exists within NFR! and Del Rey’s discography as a deliberately simplistic ballad — both in lyrics and instrumentals — for Lana and her listener to get away from an ever-complicating existence with a person that represents serenity in monotony.