It’s a Sad Girl summer: Lana Del Rey surprises fans with a song she wrote 10 years ago

The singer has released a version of ‘Say Yes to Heaven’ that was originally meant to feature on the album Ultraviolence in 2013.

2023 is seemingly becoming the year of Lana Del Rey. The singer’s ninth full-length album Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd dropped just weeks ago, and then she hit the headlines with her billboard promotions in her hometown Tulsa, her recent engagement to Evan Winiker and her input on her dad’s first album, which is set to drop in June. Now, Del Rey has gone back into her archives and given the sad boys and girls still emotionally recovering from her latest album an extra dose of old-school Del Rey. 

Surprising fans at midnight on Thursday, the singer released a full-length studio version of ‘Say Yes to Heaven’, a track that was intended to feature on Del Rey’s 2013 album Ultraviolence but never made the cut. Del Rey recorded her third studio album Ultraviolence in 2013, with the collection of songs featuring ‘West Coast’ and ‘The Other Woman’ being released in 2014 – the prime Tumblr sad girl era. The Lana Cult (a self-described fan name) maintains that the album is a classic, and 10 years later, fans are still pining for more. 

Co-written by the Songwriters Hall of Fame recipient Rick Nowels, the official release of ‘Say Yes to Heaven’ isn’t exactly a total surprise for fans, in fact, it has actually been doing the rounds online for a while, with multiple versions of the song being churned up by superfans. A sped-up version even went viral on TikTok last year in 2022 – the platform is either a cesspit or an ingenious laboratory for the weird and wonderful reworking of beloved hits.

Due to the headline at Glastonbury 2023 next month, fans are being treated well by Del Rey with these new releases and live performances, as she is also set to top the bill at the BST Hyde Park concert in London this summer.

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