Arcadia

Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, about 13 miles (21 km) northeast of downtown Los Angeles. Lana Del Rey moved from her native state, New York, to LA in 2012. During this piano ballad, she sings of her love for her adopted city. In Arcadia, Arcadia All roads that lead to you as integral to me as arteries That get the blood flowing straight to the heart of me But, Del Rey is a small-town girl from Lake Placid, New York, and she's going to have to move on. I'm not from the land of the palms, so I know I can't stay here I'm not native, but My curves, San Gabriel all day Why does she want to get away? Critics have trashed Del Rey throughout her successful music career with accusations of white fragility, flaying her for lyrics they feel glamorize abuse. They built me up 300 feet tall just to tear me down So I'm leavin' with nothing but laughter, and this town Arcadia Lana wants to start again somewhere else calmer and simpler.

Del Rey previously sang of the need to escape LA in the Chemtrails Over The Country Club track "Let Me Love You Like A Woman." There, she asks her lover to come with her to live a simple life away from the big city.

Before Del Rey released "Arcadia" as a single on September 8, 2021, she wrote on her Instagram: "listen to it like you listened to 'Video Games.'" Lana Del Rey's breakthrough single "Video Games" was inspired by two broken relationships in her past. The implication is that "Arcadia" is a breakup song with an industry that has criticized and ridiculed her persona. The once-promised land of Arcadia is a metaphor for her music career going sour.