Released: 2019
“Cinnamon Girl” is Lana Del Rey standing up and voicing her own tale of a toxic relationship. The song reverberates with her trademark melancholy, but contoured with a brave confrontation of raw and painful truths.
In “Cinnamon in my teeth / From your kiss, you’re touchin’ me”, Lana paints a vivid picture of intimacy, but then throws in a bitter twist. “All the pills that you take / Violet, blue, green, red to keep me at arm’s length don’t work” refers to a lover’s addiction. The different colored pills symbolize the variety of substances they use to maintain emotional distance, but Lana makes it clear these attempts fail because she’s too entangled emotionally.
Her repeated lines “But if you hold me without hurting me / You’ll be the first who ever did” expose a painful history of damaging relationships. It’s a plea to be loved gently, something that has never happened to her before.
The lyric “Kerosene in my hands / You make me mad, I’m fire again” blends Lana’s frustration and the toxic dynamic of their relationship. ‘Kerosene’ and ‘fire’ are evocative images suggesting that the relationship’s deleterious nature, instead of discouraging her, fuels her passion and creativity.
Throughout the song, Lana oscillates between confrontation and retreat. She acknowledges there are things she wishes to say but decides to conserve her words. It mirrors the complexity of love entwined with pain, where communication is always a risk.
This song isn’t just about a troubled relationship, but Lana’s resilience within it. She’s not playing the victim but presenting her story with an empowering bluntness, ensuring it convincingly resonates with listeners who’ve walked the same rocky road.
