There's some moaning about how no one has "held me without hurting me," and half-formed thoughts about words she cannot speak. But then? There's a line about different colored pills, alluding to her sweetheart's addiction, and one about her frustration becoming like fire. The title's a mildly clever cop from a Neil Young classic, and the first line, "cinnamon in my teeth from your kiss," takes you somewhere. In her review of Norman Fucking Rockwell for NPR, famed critic Ann Powers gave the record a positive review, but was somewhat critical of "Cinnamon Girl", writing that: Music critic Ann Powers was called out by Del Rey for her criticism of her song, "Cinnamon Girl", in a review for NPR. Even if it’s only temporary, she reminds us, love can build shelter from the storm." Ann Powers controversy Lindsay Zoldaz of The Ringer praised Del Rey's ability to find the good in the bad: "Amid all the chaos and hurricanes, though, there is a radical kind of tenderness now present in Del Rey's music, a preserved innocence that once seemed irrevocably lost. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian praised the song's EDM influences, pointing out its instrumental differences to the majority of songs on the record which have more of a folk-rock and surf pop sound. Kitty Power of The Guardian cited "Cinnamon Girl" as a standout track compared to the rest of the record, due to its production being different than the rest of the album: " exists in some timeless, catgut-strewn place where 3am bar pianos and washes of keyboards serve as the tear-stained mat under Del Rey’s glass slipper of a voice – until, that is, a song such as Cinnamon Girl suddenly unspools an unexpectedly long, lyrical instrumental coda, in an electronic-tinged echo of Young’s famous meandering." called the song a "standout" and "fan favorite". Raisa Burner of Time gave the song a positive review, praising the song for Del Rey's "angelic falsetto even as she describes emotional devastation". Upon the release of Norman Fucking Rockwell, the song received acclaim from critics for the most part, with several calling it a "standout track" on the album.
Frequent critic aberrations include Del Rey's soft, almost shaky vocals on the song as well as the electronic beats used in the studio version of the song. Several critics reviewing the record made connections between the song and Neil Young's 1969 song of the same name, citing Del Rey's use of the title as possibly an homage to him. The outro of the song samples "Wild Heart" by the band of producer Jack Antonoff. Lyrically, the song speaks of a toxic relationship in which Del Rey hints at a lover trying to become estranged from her while being a prescription pill addict ("You try to push me out/But I just find my way back in"). "Cinnamon Girl" was written and produced by Del Rey and Jack Antonoff, while being mixed by Laura Sisk, mastered by Chris Gehringer with Will Quinnell and Jonathan Sher, while being recorded at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California. Sometimes you just have to step away without saying anything."įollowing a fan posting that quote online, Del Rey commented on the post that "The quote is a perfect quote to go along with cinnamon. I felt like everyone deserved a chance, but they don’t. I spent my whole life reasoning with crazy people.
I was not sure if I could step out of that box of familiarity, which was having a lot of people around me who had a lot of problems and feeling like that was home base. I had some people in my life that made me a worse person. While promoting her record Lust for Life (2017), Del Rey stated in an interview with Pitchfork:
The song was initially believed to be titled "Cinnamon", which was also the original name for Del Rey's Born to Die song " Radio", which features the line "Now my life is sweet like cinnamon/Like a fucking dream I'm living in". She shared a second snippet via Instagram on October 15, 2018, showcasing the chorus of the song. Del Rey first previewed the song on her Instagram account on October 12, 2018, deleting her post with the sample later that same day.