As lush and haunting as it is fittingly jejune, “Young and Beautiful” — Lana Del Rey’s The Great Gatsby soundtrack contribution co-written with Rick Nowels — is just what you’d expect from the singer who fetishizes another literary master work, Lolita. Del Rey, in devotional child-bride pose, prays over funerary bell tolls and swollen strings, “Dear lord, when I get to heaven / Please let me bring my man.” The titular question, “Will you still love me when I’m young and beautiful?” speaks to Daisy (played by Carey Mulligan), for whom Gatsby constructed his artificially lavish West Egg lifestyle. Like the character, Del Rey has often, tragically, cast herself as the doomed fantasy object of an enigmatic man. Is his love real and enduring, a thing written in the stars? Or will it expire, alongside her youth and his power? Born to die, indeed.
The Great Gatsby hits theaters on May 10. Watch the trailer here. The official soundtrack, also featuring music from Florence + the Machine, Fergie, and Jack White, drops May 7 on Interscope Records. Find the full track list here.
