“California” is a love song in which Lana Del Rey is singing to a romantic interest who has one clearly-identifiable characteristic. That is he does not appear to be from the United States. And in terms of their relationship, they are obviously physically separated at the moment.

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Thus she is telling him that when he does “come back to America” – and more specifically if he finds himself back in California – he should “hit her up“. That means that he should get in contact with her. And once he does so, in celebration, she is ready to paint the town red with him. In the course of celebrating, they would go the places (within California) he wants to go, chillin’ with his homeys, getting boozed and partying. And the reason she is reaching out to him in the first place isn’t necessarily in the name of romantic love but rather due to Lana discovering that said individual is suffering from some sort of depression.

And overall, Lana is expressing tender affections to this person. For example, she promises to embrace him, despite his apparent insecurities. And conclusively, the primary sentiment which can be ascertained is that the singer greatly misses this particular individual.

Are the lyrics of “California” biographical?

It has been hypothesized that who this song actually refers to is a Scottish musician by the name of Barrie-James O’Neil, whom Del Ray dated from 2011 to 2014. Meanwhile Lana herself actually lives in California. So if such is the case, then she is telling O’Neil that the next time he may find himself in the States, he should come to her ‘hood and get in contact with her. And after doing so, she will do everything she can to lift up his spirits.

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Lana Del Rey teamed up with American musician Zach Dawes of Mini Mansions fame to write this song. The pair also worked with Del Rey’s collaborator Jack Antonoff to produce “California”.

Del Rey teased this song for the first time via her official Instagram account on the 3rd of April, 2019. Interestingly enough, upon hearing the teased snippet, some fans mistook the title of the track to be “Stronger” whereas others assumed it was “You Don’t Ever Have To”. Some even referred to it as “Fast Car” (which BTW is the title of a 1980s hit by Tracy Chapman). But soon enough everyone got to know the song’s real title!

Del Rey released “California” officially on August 30th, 2019 as part of her Norman F Rockwell album. She didn’t release it as a single, though. Norman F Rockwell (NFR) was preceded by six singles, including “The Greatest” and “Doin’ Time“.