Why you always doing that?
Breaking up with me then making up just to make me mad…

Lana Del Ray’s ‘Watercolor Eyes’ is an outstanding song about young love which was featured in the fantastic show Euphoria, staring Zendaya. Euphoria’s music director has good taste as there are at least two songs on our top500 all-time songs that are featured on the show: Lorde’s Liability and Randy Newman’s “Same Girl”.

Watercolor Eyes explores a lot of the themes that you would normally find in songs about young love. The song will leave you feeling either nostalgic or seen—depending on where you are in your life.  Both powerful emotions, which is why it resonates so strongly.

The narrator’s descriptions are very sensual, as if she lacks the vocabulary to describe her complicated feelings in words, so she compares them to things she has experienced using simile and metaphor to get her thoughts out. Her love is sweet—like candy and beaches. But it is a young love that won’t last forever; at times the love stings like lemon and she feels the sandy remains of the beach rather than the sweet memories of the sunsets.

All of this leaves her with “watercolor eyes” which is a great description of a woman whose makeup has been ruined with tears. All the careful work that went into looking great is ruined when her tears blend the colors. But not all is lost, just as watercolor tends to be less permanent medium, we imagine that the narrator and her lover will probably reconcile just as quickly as things turned sour. Young love tends to be more volatile.

The sound of the song can best be described as dreamy and deliberate. Del Ray’s voice is purposely not quite so crisp which creates that unique vocal sound. (There is also an echoing effect on the vocal).  Also, the music signature flows pretty freely, and chords reverberate into each other lazily rather than distinctly changing. It effectively creates the perfect mood for a show featuring teenage love and drug use.

Watercolor Eyes Lyrics

Why you always doing that?
Breaking up with me then making up
Just to make me mad.

I think that you taste like rock candy
Sweet like beaches, leave me all sandy
Why do you leave me with watercolor eyes?
Young love don’t always last forever
Wild horses can’t keep us together
So what if you taste just like heaven
That don’t make it right
Hot summer and cold watermelon
Your love stings like blood and a lemon
Why do you leave me with watercolor eyes?

Watercolor eyes, watercolor eyes, watercolor eyes
That don’t make it right.

Why you always doing that?
Playing guitar while I’m sleeping
Acting like a brat.

I think that you’re sweet like rock candy
Warm like beaches that leave me sandy
Why do you leave me with watercolor eyes?
Young love don’t always last forever
Wild horses can’t keep us together
So what if you taste just like heaven
That don’t make it right
Hot summer and cold watermelon
Your love stings like blood and a lemon
Why do you leave me with watercolor eyes?

Watercolor eyes, watercolor eyes, watercolor eyes
That don’t make it right
Watercolor eyes, watercolor eyes, watercolor eyes
That don’t make it right.

Why you always doing that?
Breaking up with me then making up just to make me mad
Oh oh, hey hey, why?
That don’t make it right.

written by Lana Del Ray

That there’s someone out there who feels just like me
There is…

Box Car Racer is comprised of two-thirds of Blink-182, and not surprisingly, “There Is” sound’s similar to Blink.  Blink-182’s best songs are their serious songs, and Boxcar Racer, similarly, is at their best here discussing young love. The narrator is away on vacation and can’t stop thinking about his girlfriend. The song is written like a letter he is writing to her about all of his thoughts he is having on this lame vacation. He’d rather be spending time with his girl.

He reminisces about their time together and it makes him feel special. He wonders if she is thinking about him right now. Is she sleeping well at night? How lucky is he to have found someone who feels just like him? They sing about love earnestly.

The sound is that light punk sound from the late nineties: The melody sounds great but there is not much vocal variation beyond about a half an octave. That is their sound. The steady drum performance by Barker is also worth noting. The snare drums are mixed high and he has a couple mini-solos. There is an acoustic and electric guitar that almost provide background sound for the rhythm of the drums.

There Is Lyrics
this vacation’s useless
these white pills aren’t kind
i’ve given a lot of thought on this 13-hour drive
i missed the grinding concrete where we sat past 8 or 9
and slowly finished laughing in the glow of our headlights
i’ve given a lot of thought to the nights we use to have
the days have come and gone
our lives went by so fast
i faintly remember breathing on your bedroom floor
where i laid and told you but you swear you loved me more

do you care if i don’t know what to say?
will you sleep tonight, will you think of me
will i shake this off pretend it’s all okay
that there’s someone out there who feels just like me
there is

those notes you wrote me
i’ve kept them all
i’ve given a lot of thought of how to write you back this fall
with every single letter in every single word there
will be a hidden message about a boy that loves a girl
do you care if i don’t know what to say?
will you sleep tonight, will you think of me
will i shake this off
pretend it’s all okay that there’s someone out there who feels just like me
there is

do you care if i don’t know what to say?
will you sleep tonight, will you think of me
will i shake this off
pretend it’s all okay that there’s someone out there who feels just like me

do you care if i don’t know what to say?
will you sleep tonight, will you think of me
will i shake this off
pretend it’s all okay that there’s someone out there who feels just like me
there is

written: Tom Delonge, Travis Barker

I didn’t know just what to do/
So I whispered I love you.
He said that he loved me too/
And then he kissed me.

“Then He Kissed Me” is a beautifully crafted song performed by The Crystals. The verse leads into the chorus and they sound different but both so memorable. And the bridge is fantastic and fits in well with the rest of the song. This is a standard pop-theme of the 60s, “I love her”, “He kissed me”…the topics were simple but the lyrics still tell a great story: A guy and a girl go to a dance. He walks her home and “I kissed him in a way that I’d never kissed a boy before”. “I didn’t know just what to do…so I whispered I love you”. It is a charming story of young love.

The lead vocals are really good in this song and that is what makes the song. Maybe more so, it is the melody. The song is over-produced—it sounds like they packed in every instrument into the track, but somehow it works. For a slightly different take, check out The Beach Boys version. It is also very good, but they add a few more harmonies.

Then He Kissed Me Lyrics

Well I walked up to her and I asked her if she wanted to dance
She looked awful nice and so I hoped she might take a chance

When we danced I held her tight
Then I walked her home that night
And all the stars were shining bright
And then I kissed her

Each time I saw her I couldn’t wait to see her again
I wanted to let her know that I was more than a friend

I didn’t know just what to do
And so I whispered I love you
And she said that she loved me too
And then I kissed her

I kissed her in a way that I’d never kissed a girl before
I kissed her in a way that I hope she liked for evermore

I knew that she was mine so I gave her all the love that I had
Then one day she’ll take me home to meet her mom and her dad

Then I asked her to be my bride
And always be right by my side
I felt so happy that I almost cried
And then I kissed her
And then I kissed her
And then I kissed her

Songwriters: Jeff Barry / Ellie Greenwich / Phillip Spector