References Īlongside her social commentary and political references in the "Bartender" section, Del Rey also references other videos from her NFR! era. This section features CGI lightning and cartoon butterflies, as well as real ones.
The video takes place on the side of a busy street in Los Angeles, with Del Rey and her same two friends from "Bartender" walking around the pavement, singing the lyrics while laying on a doc, and playing with butterflies in front of a chain mill fence. The usage of the war imagery is believed to be indicative of the political tensions occurring internationally, with the clueless cops being representative of governments and their officials turning a blind eye to what's going on in the world.įollowing a brief 30-second-long black and white time lapse of moving traffic, the final song, "Happiness is a Butterfly" begins. The only section in the film to feature non-music audio, the group laugh as they throw slurpees and donuts at the cops as they chase them around, all while fighter jets fly overhead and explosions are set off in the background.
In the next segment, set to the song " Bartender", Del Rey and her friends are roaming around in a truck through an abandoned parking lot, harassing two comedic cops. Del Rey's friend, Emma Elizabeth Tillman, makes a brief cameo in a scene in which Del Rey and her dancers are meditating in a national park with Disney wildlife wandering around them. Intercut with shots of Del Rey shining on a hammock and singing in front of roses, the song ends with Del Rey singing in front of a pool of CGI jellyfish. Del Rey then proceeds to walk outside, wearing black sunglasses that feature cinematic imagery and home movies. Set in Los Angeles, Del Rey sings along to her album's title song, " Norman Fucking Rockwell" while playing along at her piano. The music follows Del Rey's summer releases of "Doin' Time", "Don't Call Me Angel", and "Fuck It, I Love You"/"The Greatest". After teasing the release for several days on social media, Del Rey released the 14-minute-long video on December 20, 2019. Going without a proper release for several months, Del Rey announced in October that she would be releasing a triple-feature for three songs from her album. Del Rey later teased a music video for the title track from Norman Fucking Rockwell! by posting a snippet of it following the release of the album in August. On January 10, 2019, Del Rey previewed a clip of a then-unreleased song titled "Happiness is a Butterfly" and a visual for the video. Believed to be from her upcoming album, the clips were both directed by Del Rey's sister Chuck Grant and filmed solely on an iPhone in a vintage style, achieved through post-production filters. In 2018, Del Rey released videos for two songs, "Mariners Apartment Complex" and "Venice Bitch".