Ultraviolence

The title track of Lana Del Rey's third album, the term "Ultraviolence" comes from Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange. Clare Preston-Pollitt of the International Anthony Burgess Foundation told MTV News that the word "ultraviolence" may have been inspired by a passage in Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita novel. "It could be that Burgess had been influenced by a passage in Nabokov's Lolita where the narrator examines the word 'violence' and notes that the word exists next to the word 'violet' and 'violin' etc. in the dictionary," she said.

The song finds Del Rey exploring the close distance between love and pain. I can hear sirens, sirens He hit me and it felt like a kiss I can hear violins, violins Give me all of that Ultraviolence The lyrics references The Crystals' controversial tune "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)." Carole King and Gerry Goffin wrote the song after their babysitter Little Eva told them about her relationship with an abusive boyfriend who beat her almost on a regular basis.

Del Rey told Grazia that the song was inspired by her time spent with an underground group that was dominated by a charismatic leader. "I used to be a member of an underground sect which was reigned by a guru," she said. "He surrounded himself with young girls and he had this insane charisma I couldn't resist as well. So I was in this, I'll call it sect, because I was longing for love and security." "But then I found out that this guru wasn't a good but a bad person," she added. "He thought that he had to break people first before he could build them up again. At the end I left the sect."