Get Free (Lana Del Rey song)

According to Del Rey, the song was originally recorded under the title "Malibu" and was completely different in the original recording, being far more revealing about Del Rey and her life over the past 6 years.[2] Evidently, Del Rey scrapped that version of the song and decided to make a lighter record out of the original instrumental.[3] During a 2018 interview for World Cafe, Del Rey shared the sentiment behind the song: "It's about people who don't get to reach their full potential because they let controlling people stop them from being free".[4]

In January 2018, Del Rey said on Twitter that the band Radiohead were taking legal action against her for allegedly plagiarising their 1992 song "Creep" on "Get Free". According to Del Rey, Radiohead asked for 100% of publishing royalties instead of Del Rey's offer of 40%. She denied that "Creep" had inspired "Get Free".[5] Radiohead's publisher Warner/Chappell Music confirmed it was seeking songwriting credit for "all writers" of "Creep", but denied that a lawsuit had been brought or that Radiohead had demanded 100% of royalties.[6] In March, Del Rey told an audience that "my lawsuit's over, I guess I can sing that song any time I want".[7] The writing credits for "Get Free" were not updated on the database of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.[7]

In an analysis, The Guardian found that the chords used in "Creep" were rare in pop music and that the melodies bore an "uncanny resemblance".[8] Publications compared it to the dispute of similarities between TLC's "No Scrubs" and Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" and the Marvin Gaye estate's lawsuit with Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke over similarities between "Blurred Lines" and Gaye's "Got to Give It Up".[9][10] Prior to the suit, Radiohead were sued over "Creep"'s similarity to the 1972 song "The Air That I Breathe", written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood; Hammond and Hazlewood received cowriting credits and a percentage of the royalties.[11]

No video for the song was ever made, though a snippet of the song was featured in the Rich Lee-directed video for "White Mustang".

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Lust for Life.

Performance

• Lana Del Rey – primary artist

Instruments

• Lana Del Rey – production
• Rick Nowels – bass, keyboards, synth pads, organs
• Kieron Menzies – tape loops, percussion, synthesizer
• Dean Reid – electric guitar, synth bass
• Zac Rae – synthesizer, organ, Mellotron, guitar
• Mighty Mike – drums, percussion
• David Levita – electric guitar
• Trevor Yasuda – keyboards
• Aaron Sterling – live drums, percussion

Engineering

• Kieron Menzies – production, engineering, mixing
• Dean Reid – production, engineering, mixing
• Trevor Yasuda – engineering
• Chris Garcia – engineering
• Adam Ayan – mastering