"Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey from the 2023 studio album of the same name, her ninth album. It was released as the lead single from the album on December 7, 2022.[1][2] Del Rey wrote the song with Mike Hermosa and both produced it with Jack Antonoff, Drew Erickson, and Zach Dawes.
In an interview with Billie Eilish for Interview, Del Rey revealed that "Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd" was the first song written for its parent album of the same name. She also shared that the song and title were inspired by a sealed tunnel under the Jergins Trust Building in Long Beach, California, and a 1974 track by Harry Nilsson titled "Don't Forget Me". She had read that "the [tunnel's beautiful] mosaic ceilings were still perfectly preserved, but no one could get in", and was compelled to write a song inspired by Nilsson's track using her own metaphors.[5]
The Jergins Tunnel that was referenced in the song received renewed interest after the song was released.[7] In November of 2023, it was announced that the Jergins Tunnel will reopen as a speakeasy that will be part of a new Hard Rock Hotel. The project will be completed in 2027, one year prior to the 2028 Summer Olympics.[8]
Critical reception
Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork described the song as a "slow, dreamy ballad filled" with "incidental moments" and found the tunnel in the title to be "less a geographic focal point than a window into the potential she sees in the most familiar scenes and well-traveled routes".[3]
