Lana Del Rey Opens Up About the Meaning of Her 'Lust For Life'

Lana Del Rey is on the cover of Billboard‘s 2017 Year In Music issue, out on newsstands now.

Here’s what the 32-year-old “Lust For Life” singer had to say:

On the difference between her No. 1 album Lust For Life and her previous works: “I think a good word [to describe Lust for Life's shift in mood] would be ‘present’ – less from the outside looking in, and a more integrated perspective lyrically. I started writing the darker songs first: ‘Heroin,’ ‘Get Free,’ ’13 Beaches.’ Then, once I got to be cathartic in that way, I thought, ‘All right, now I want to invite my friends in.’”

On “Love”: It started as “Young and in Love,” but I didn’t really like that title; that wasn’t the point of the song. Then I worked with Sean Lennon. The Lennon legacy is so tied in to that one word. So I thought, ‘You know what? I just want to go for it.’ The whole record is pointing its little nose in that direction. And I liked that it was pretty literal — it felt nice and comfortable to not necessarily have layers to all of the singles. That one and ‘Lust for Life’ were kind of just about having fun.

On her creative process: “I wanted to see if [Lust for Life] would be heard for what it was really saying. Overall, from what I read, it was interpreted correctly. Which is a good sign for me: It means I’m not seeing things one way and the culture is seeing things the other way. That means you need to check yourself, and I don’t want to check myself. I want to stay in the flow.”

For more from Lana, visit Billboard.com.