Born to Die sort le 27 janvier 2012 en Suisse et le 30 janvier 2012 en France. Lana dit du titre que sa signification est de devoir « transcender son statut de mortel »
Quand ils découvrirent le style vintage de Lana Del Rey mêlant des références hip-hop à l'âge d'or hollywoodien, les critiques et les internautes lui reprochèrent d'abord de vouloir être une des icônes de cette époque, à cela elle répondit qu'elle n'en avait jamais eu la prétention, qu'elle n'était que fascinée par le sentiment de bonheur qui émanait de cette époque, et qu'elle n'avait que la simple ambition d'être heureuse. Les journalistes la comparent aussi parfois aux héroïnes des films de David Lynch. Elle s'autoproclame « Gangsta Nancy Sinatra » et qualifie sa musique de « Hollywood sad core ».

[Intro]
Why? (hey, man!)
Who, me? (alright!)
Why? (hey, man!)

[Verse 1]
Feet don't fail me now
Take me to the finish line
Oh, my heart, it breaks every step that I take
But I'm hoping at the gates, they'll tell me that you're mine
Walking through the city streets, is it by mistake or design?
I feel so alone on a Friday night
Can you make it feel like home, if I tell you you're mine?
It's like I told you, honey

[Pre-Chorus]
Don't make me sad, don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough
I don't know why
Keep making me laugh – Let's go get high
The road is long, we carry on
Try to have fun in the meantime

[Chorus]
Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane
Choose your last words, this is the last time
'Cause you and I, we were born to die

[Verse 2]
Lost, but now I am found
I can see, but once I was blind
I was so confused as a little child
Tried to take what I could get, scared that I couldn't find
All the answers, honey

[Pre-Chorus]
Don't make me sad, don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough
I don't know why
Keep making me laugh – Let's go get high
The road is long, we carry on
Try to have fun in the meantime

[Chorus]
Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane
So, choose your last words, this is the last time
'Cause you and I, we were born to die
We were born to die
We were born to die

[Bridge]
Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane

[Pre-Chorus]
So, don't make me sad, don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough
I don't know why
Keep making me laugh – Let's go get high
The road is long, we carry on
Try to have fun in the meantime

[Chorus]
Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane
So, choose your last words, this is the last time
'Cause you and I, we were born to die
We were born to die
We were born to die
(We were born to die)