Lana Del Rey Returns from a COVID Test and Covers George Gershwin in New Video for “Summertime”

In a new video, Lana Del Rey covered George Gershwin’s 1934 standard “Summertime” with the help of a nine-piece backing band and assured fans that the group had all tested negative for COVID-19 before recording. It’s the second standard she’s shared since announcing that she intends to release a full standards album.

“Summertime” is also the main sample used in the 1996 Sublime song, “Doin’ Time,” which Del Rey had previously covered on her highly successful 2019 record Norman Fucking Rockwell. The first standard she covered was “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. It’s an a cappella version she recorded for a documentary on Liverpool F.C., who list Gary and the Pacemakers’ rendition of the standard as the team’s anthem.

The new cover is slower than the Gershwin version and plays up a New Orleans-style blues tone, although arguably through a Hollywood filter. Del Rey confidently holds most of the long notes but repeats others to fit the rhythm. Three soulful vocalists, two guitar players, keys, piano, standup bass and a washboard complete the backing band, who get a chance to share the spotlight with an extended break between verses.

The group pulls up to an outdoor patio in an old car at the start of the video. Besides a brief flashback to them driving in the car and an outro where they wave goodbye, the rest of the video simply shows Del Rey and the band playing the song in the covered patio. After the music ends, the video closes with the words “Sending love to all the orchestras across the country as they continue to fundraise.” The song was recorded to support the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic orchestras.

Del Rey is also working on another release, a singer/songwriter album called Chemtrails Over the Country Club. She shared song from it called “Let Me Love You Like a Woman” in October. Her last full-length was a spoken poetry album titled Violets Bent Backwards Over the Grass, which came out in July along with an accompanying poetry book.

Photo credit: Sharon Alagna