Mollie Porter

Professor Johnson

English 1201 K15

12 February 2024

Doin’ Time

“Doin Time”, originally sung by the reggae punk rock band, Sublime. The song was

sampled from jazz flautist Herbie Mann's cover of George Gershwin's "Summertime" from the

opera Porgy and Bess. Sublime released this song on November 25, 1997 on the deluxe edition

of their album called “Sublime”. On May 17, 2019, the alt-pop singer, Lana Del Rey, decided to

release her version of “Doin’ Time” on her new album “Norman F***ing Rockwell”. On

August 29, 2019, she released the music video.

Sublime’s music video adaptation of this song is quite random. There is no setting. The

main character is just the main singer of the band, who randomly appears to sing the lyrics.

Throughout Sublime’s music video, it goes back and forth between clips of girls in bikinis and

“summer” pictures. Which makes sense because the lyrics contain the word “Summertime” and

the song is sampled from the song “Summertime”. However, Sublime sings this song very

differently than Lana. They sing it faster with a little bit of a reggae sound to it. This completely

changes the audience. Even just the color pallet of the video definitely changes the vibe. It is

yellow with black and white tinted clips. Towards the middle of the music video, a kid goes up to

an ice cream truck and a creepy clown hands the ice cream to the kid but refuses to let go. This

could be a reference to how the singer is in a relationship with his girlfriend who cheats on him

or makes him feel like a “clown”, yet he doesn’t want to let go of her. So, instead he gets treated

badly. The only difference in lyrics is that Sublime says:

 Take a tip, take a tip,

Take a ti-ti-ti-tip

From me

This is the band reaching out to the audience to essentially warn them that relationships can be

uneasy and you should look out for yourself. Others say that this song has to do with substance

abuse. These lyrics could be referencing drugs like heroin:

Me and my girl, we got this relationship

I love her so bad, but she treats me like shit

Then, a picture of a woman pops up with fire behind her. She is supposed to be represented as

“evil”. Sublime’s music video uses pathos.

Lana Del Rey’s adaptation of the song had a similar message, but it was expressed in a

different way. Her music video starts off with her as a giant. This is a reference to Attack of the

50 Foot Woman. This giant parades around town, casually picking up trees and water towers.

She drinks from the water tower, which has very little water in it. This is significant because in

the lyrics it says:

Me and my girl, we got this relationship

I love her so bad, but she treats me like shit

On lock down like a penitentiary

She spreads her lovin' all over

And when she gets home, there's none left for me

The water is essentially representing how in her relationship, her partner isn’t giving her

what they give everyone else. The giant continues to walk around and walks over to Venice

Beach. She walks in the ocean and splashes the water. This is revealed to be a movie that a
couple is watching at the Drive-In Movie Theater. The lady, who is also Lana Del Rey wearing a

wig, asks her boyfriend to get her another drink. Minutes pass and her boyfriend hasn’t come

back. Del Rey goes up to another woman and asks if she’s seen him. They start walking and find

her boyfriend kissing another girl in a car. Then, all of a sudden the giant Lana steps out of the

movie screen and grabs the car where the boyfriend is. She shakes the car and then drops it,

killing the cheating boyfriend and the girl he cheated with. Wigged Lana and Giant Lana

exchange smiles. Giant Lana steps back into the movie. The audience for this music video is a lot

different than Sublime’s original. This video could relate to people who have been cheated on or

just likes alternative pop music. Lana Del Rey sings the song a lot slower than Sublime does.

Which gives it the more “pop” genre. This music video uses pathos. This is because when

Wigged Lana gets cheated on, it makes us, as humans, feel bad for her. So, when Giant Lana

kills the cheating boyfriend, the audience is happy she got her revenge.

While the lyrics and message behind the videos are pretty similar, the audience is the

biggest difference between these two videos. Sublime’s career is mostly based in the 90’s. This

was a different era for music. The audience for this version of Doin’ Time is aimed towards men.

The band characterizes women to be “cheaters” and “evil”. Lana Del Rey’s version is pop music

and the audience for her is aimed towards women. In her scenario, she is being cheated on and he

is shown as “evil”.
 Works Cited

Del Rey, Lana. Lana Del Rey - Doin’ Time. 29 Aug. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?

v=qolmz4FlnZ0.

TheofficialSublime. Sublime - Doin’ Time (Official Video). 25 Nov. 1997,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yT8RsCarJA.