Lana Del Rey’s “Watercolor Eyes” Lyrics Meaning

As we have pointed out in the past, Lana Del Rey songs tend to be relatively complicated when compared to the lyrics of other pop stars of the day. But with that established, “Watercolor Eyes” is one of her more easier-to-understand works. That is because, even though the lyrics are flush with metaphors, the wording also makes it abundantly clear that what we’re dealing with here is a narrator who is romantically frustrated. And the reason being is that she has found herself thoroughly in love with someone akin to a toxic partner.

For instance, dude has the tendency to sporadically break up with her and then reignite the relationship. Also in the second verse he is presented as sort of a general A-hole – or “brat” as Lana refers to him. He is the type of person who ‘plays the guitar while she’s sleeping’, with the implication being that he does so just to disturb her slumber.

And to note this is in fact a youth love Lana is speaking to, as inspired by a teenage drama series entitled Euphoria.

Meaning of “Watercolor Eyes”

In the aforementioned show, the lead character, whose perspective the song is theoretically being emitted from, is reportedly known to wear makeup and also, if you were to do a Google Image search of the series for instance, crying. So when you mix those two ideas, what we get is “watercolor eyes”. Simply put, it is referring to makeup that has been smeared by tears.

And by the looks of things, there is a lot more going on in Euphoria than just romantic beef. But such is the angle upon which this piece is set, and that fact perhaps would have something to do with the particular plot of the episode in which “Watercolor Eyes” featured.

Facts about “Watercolor Eyes”

This song was first teased on 10 January 2022. It eventually came out a couple of weeks later, on 21 January of 2022.

The tune is actually part of the soundtrack to the second season of Euphoria, which is a series concurrently running on HBO. More specifically, it is featured on an episode of the show entitled Ruminations: Big and Little Bullys. It premiered on 23 January 2022.

This track marks the first song Lana dropped in 2022, since those associated with her 2021 album “Blue Banisters”. And to note, the songstress actually put out two studio albums in 2021, the other being entitled “Chemtrails over the Country Club”.

Lana contributed to the writing of this song alongside Nasri. Nasri, a musician from Canada, also co-produced “Watercolor Eyes”. In producing it, he worked with Drew Erickson.

Does Lana Del Rey appear in “Ruminations: Big and Little Bullys”?

The answer to the above question is NO. Even though her song is prominently used in the episode, she doesn’t appear in it. That being said, the episode stars the likes of the following:

• Angus Cloud
• Zendaya
• Hunter Schafer