“California” is the ninth track on Norman Fucking Rockwell!.

The lyrics are scattered with romance, regret, nostalgia and personal references to an unnamed person that Del Rey has shared an intricate bond with. The song has a recurring motif of patriotism and devotion to the state of California, with Lana desperately yearning for her traditional American love story.

During an interview with NME, Lana stated that at a certain point, she started a rock band with Alex Turner, Arctic Monkeys' frontman, and The Last Shadows Puppets members, including Zach Dawes who produced and co-wrote the song.
“We had a little rock band on the side. We were very messy! But it’s cool ‘California’ made it on there – I feel like it’s a little piece of our friendship band.”

Sonically, “California” is one of the slower tracks from NFR. A somber, melodic piano makes up the majority of the beat, with Lana switching between her deep, crooning voice with softer, higher-pitched vocals all the way through.

On April 3rd, 2019, Lana shared a snippet of the track via Instagram. At the time, fans were referring to the song as both “Stronger” and “You Don’t Ever Have To.”