Lana Del Rey - Dum Dum [Unpitched] (Unreleased)

“Dum Dum” is one of those Lana Del Rey songs that feels like it was made purely for the fun of being Lana Del Rey. It has the attitude, the Hollywood references, the exaggerated glamour, the reckless confidence, and that slightly ridiculous larger-than-life character that made so many of her early unreleased songs fascinating. What I like most about it is how unapologetically early-Lana it sounds. It doesn't have the emotional weight of something like “Video Games” or the darker atmosphere of some of her other Born to Die-era material. Instead, it feels playful, cocky, theatrical and almost cartoonish. She's basically playing a character who knows she's glamorous and wants everyone else to know it too. The production is probably my favorite part. It has that glossy early-2010s pop sound, but there's enough grit underneath it to keep it from feeling completely polished. Justin Parker's production gives the song a big, cinematic quality without making it sound like a full-blown pop single. And then there's the “dum dum” hook. It's ridiculously simple, which is both the song's strength and its weakness. It's catchy almost immediately, but after a while I can understand why someone might find it repetitive. The song leans heavily on its attitude rather than developing dramatically, so if the whole aesthetic doesn't click with you, there's not a huge amount underneath it to pull you back in. I also think some of the lyrics are much more interesting as imagery than as actual songwriting. The references to old Hollywood, Scarlett O'Hara, mink, cigarettes and being a “wild child” create this exaggerated fantasy version of Lana's persona. They're memorable, but they aren't necessarily profound. Sometimes it feels like she's throwing glamorous words into a blender and seeing what comes out. Somehow, annoyingly, it works. My biggest criticism is that “Dum Dum” doesn't have quite the emotional depth that some of Lana's best unreleased songs have. There are songs from the same period that feel genuinely vulnerable or haunting. “Dum Dum” mostly wants to be fun. That's not a bad thing, but it means I don't return to it because it moved me. I return to it because it has personality. I also think the demos are interesting because they make the song feel less like a finished pop product and more like a snapshot of Lana figuring out what kind of artist she wanted to become. The existence of multiple versions makes that especially noticeable. Overall, I'd put “Dum Dum” in the category of songs that aren't necessarily Lana's deepest or most sophisticated, but are incredibly entertaining. It's messy, glamorous, slightly ridiculous and very early-2010s Lana. And honestly, that is exactly why people still care about it more than a decade after it leaked. Rating: 8/10. Not a masterpiece. Not her most emotional song. But as a piece of early Lana Del Rey mythology? It absolutely does its job.