Brendan Stock STOCK1

Prof. Hunter

Eng. 1201-5A0

30 January 2022

Doin’ Time

Sublime is an electric rock band that was formed in 1988 with the explosion of punk

music in California. Lana Del Rey is a solo indie rock artist whose career took off in 2011 with

the release of a song titled, “Video Games”. With the rise of Lana Del Rey and the still popular

Sublime band, both artists have/had a strong music career. The song “Doin’ Time” by Sublime

was released in 1997, then in 2018 when Lana Del Rey released a cover of the song with the

same title, “Doin’ Time”. Both songs have almost identical themes of a significant other

maltreating them and making them feel like they’re “Doin’ Time” in jail. While both songs share

a theme, they differ in the audiences they are attracting.

The original “Doin Time” was written by Sublime and was released in their 3rd self-titled

album. The song's original title was “Summertime” but was changed last minute to “doin time”

which is not even in the lyrics. The song was written about the lead singer and guitarist, Brad

Nowell’s relationships. Nowell related his life with his cheating girlfriend to being locked in

prison as the title of the song implies ”Doin Time” which commonly refers to spending time in

prison. The music video shows the rock band performing with many different clips of summer

activities. With the repetition of “summertime,” the music video goes right along with lyrics.

Lana Del Rey’s cover of the song was released in her 2019 album “Norman F*cking

Rockwell”. The album was written for a soundtrack for a documentary about Sublime. Lana Del

Rey loves Sublime and has even been quoted saying, “Not a day goes by that I don’t listen to at

least one Sublime song”. She was also the perfect artist to cover songs by Sumblime. Both of

their music styles consist of the dark shadows of Las Angeles and their lyrics are almost
Brendan Stock STOCK2

Prof. Hunter

Eng. 1201-5A0

30 January 2022

indistinguishable. Looking at the lyrics in “Doin Time”, you really can not tell who wrote it due

to their very similar music styles. Lana’s music video is a very large version of herself walking

around a city. Later it cuts to a clip of herself at a drive in movie with a guy who ends up making

out with another girl. The bigger version of herself then shows up on the big screen and emerges

out of it. Lana’s giant self grabs the car that the guy is in and throws it to the ground. The whole

scene is placed in the summer, matching the lyrics and Sublimes music video as well.

Both songs have similar beats. Sublime is a punk rock band and Lana Del Rey follows

more of an indie rock genre. Sublime’s version is a bit slower and has more rock to it. The song

has more drums and more of a DJ effect to it. Lana’s approach to the song is a lot more indie.

She speeds up the song a little bit, but not on much where it’s not indie anymore. There is a

steady beat in the background and her voice is very smooth and continues throughout the song.

Lyrically, thong songs are identical. Lana kept the lyrics the same in her cover, but added her

spin on it with her indie rock style.

Overall, both artists kept the same theme in the songs. The song talks about relationships

and how sometimes being in one can seem like a prison. The song indicates the significant other

is evil and a cheater. Both artists have past relationship experiences and Lana covering the song

matches her personality as well as Newell’s personality.

The biggest difference the artists did with the song is the audience they were attracting.

With Sublime’s more punk rock style, the song appeals to more older teenagers with the liking of

punk rock. The theme of the song talking about relationships and girls would also be more

towards older teenagers especially guys who can relate to a cheating girlfriend trapping them in a
Brendan Stock STOCK3

Prof. Hunter

Eng. 1201-5A0

30 January 2022

relationship. The music video leans towards more of a mature teenager with parties and girls in

bathing suits being shown. Lana’s take of the song and the audience she is attracting seems to

differ. Lana is known for writing about love stories and taking a spin on them. The audience she

is trying to attract is teenage girls going through heartbreaks and rough times. Her song lies in

the indie genre which is popular today especially amongst teenage girls. She takes a twist on the

song because the lyrics are talking about being trapped in a relationship with a girl, but the music

video is about her and a guy. The music video also attracts more teenage girls with the guy being

the one messing up in the relationship and the whole beach and drive in movie vibe. Both songs

appeal to teenagers, but the gender, maturity, and genre are where the songs attract different

types of people.

The songs both use pathos to appeal to their audiences. They use emotion to attract their

audience trying for people to relate to the song. Talking about relationships, especially bad ones,

can help many relate to the song because many people go through rough relationships and feel all

alone even though it happens to many people which is more of an audience for the artists.

Sublime and Lana Del Ray both had amazing songs. The songs had their similarities

between the theme, beat, and using pathos to appeal to their audiences, but had differences as

well. Both songs had different audiences they were trying to attract with their music and the

video they created.

Prof. Hunter

Eng. 1201-5A0

30 January 2022

Works Cited:

Del Rey, Lana. Lana Del Rey - Doin' Time - YouTube. 29 Aug. 2019,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qolmz4FlnZ0.

Gershwin Blog Team. “Who Could Ask for Anything More.” The Gershwin Initiative Website,
10 Sept. 2013, https://smtd.umich.edu/ami/gershwin/?p=8556.

Songfacts. “Doin' Time by Sublime - Songfacts.” Song Meanings at Songfacts, n.d.,

Sublime. “Sublime-Doin’ Time.” YouTube , 16 Nov. 2020,

https://youtu.be/2yT8RsCarJA.