Video Games

Video Games

Lana Del Rey

Considered Lana Del Rey’s breakthrough hit, “Video Games” served as the first single off the artist’s wildly successful sophomore studio album and major label debut, Born to Die. The song was notably certified 2x multi-platinum by the RIAA in 2021 — ten years after its release.

“Video Games” is a baroque, downtempo pop ballad in which Del Rey, although ignored by her significant other, resolves to love him anyway. The song’s lyrics refer to two broken relationships in the singer’s past. In a statement, the American artist said of the song’s meaning:

The verse was about the way things were with one person, and the chorus was the way I wished things had really been with another person, who I thought about for a long time.

It’s a song about letting go of my musical ambitions and settling down into a simple life with a person I loved. We had a mutual love for the community of New York, art and hard work.

The accompanying music video was directed and edited by Del Rey herself, combining scenes of her performing the song filmed on a webcam with clips of archive footage.