Evermore (band)

Evermore were a rock band formed in Feilding, New Zealand in 1999, made up of three brothers Jon (guitar, vocals), Peter (keyboards, bass guitar, vocals) and Dann Hume (drums, guitar, vocals). The band was based in Sydney from 2004 to 2007 and then Melbourne until they became inactive in 2014. Evermore released four studio albums: Dreams (2004), Real Life (2006), Truth of the World: Welcome to the Show (2009), and Follow the Sun (2012), as well as a self-titled compilation album (2010). Real Life and Truth of the World were their highest charting studio albums in New Zealand and Australia, while Dreams and Real Life received platinum certifications from Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).

Evermore's most successful singles were "Running", "Light Surrounding You" (both 2006) and "Hey Boys and Girls (Truth of the World pt.2)" (2009) – "Light Surrounding You" peaked at number one in Australia. They were nominated for seven ARIA Music Awards and won two New Zealand Music Awards. The group's members won an APRA Silver Scroll song writing award and the Channel V Oz Artist of the Year Award. Evermore have not performed publicly since late 2014 and each of the members has undertaken a solo career.

## History

### Background

Evermore were formed in Feilding, Manawatu, New Zealand in 1999 as Electro by three brothers Jon Cobbe Hume (born Jonathan Daniel Cobbe, Lismore, Australia) on guitar and vocals, Peter Elisha Hume (born Peter Elisha Cobbe, 1985, Whangaparaoa) on keyboards and bass guitar, and Dann Hume (born Daniel Benjamin Cobbe, 1987, Feilding) on drums, guitar and vocals. One of their ancestors John Cobbe (1859–1944) owned a general store in Feilding, became a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Oroua and later a sheep farmer. The brothers were introduced to music at a young age by their parents' record collection.

From 1994 all three brothers were partly home schooled in Feilding by their mother and were given piano lessons but taught themselves to play their other instruments. They were inspired by the Who, Led Zeppelin and Crowded House to pursue a music career. Electro entered the Rockquest competition for school groups in 1999. They changed their name to "Evermore", which references Led Zeppelin's song "The Battle of Evermore" (1971). Jon has said the trio's parents were supportive: "they always wanted us to do something creative... Nothing was too risky."

### Rise to fame (2000–2003)

In 2000 as Evermore with Richard Higham on bass guitar, the four-piece group won Rockquest. They used the prize money to help fund their home studio, Red Sky Studio. Dann observed, "It started as a little room and then we needed to fit the drum kit in so we had to bust down another wall... Our parents put up with a lot but they're very tolerant." This line-up issued an independent four-track extended play, On the Way in 2000. The title track and "Into the Ocean" were co-written by Jon with Martyn Hume Cobbe. After a year Higham left the band to become a farmer. Evermore had other short-term members during their early years.

At the 2002 NZ Music Awards (later known as the Aotearoa Music Awards), Evermore members met talent manager New Zealand-born Australian-based Rebekah Campbell, who then travelled to Feilding to hear their demos. Campbell, as their manager, conferred with her mentor John Woodruff who signed the group to his publishing company, Rough Cut. Woodruff travelled to Auckland to promote Evermore at the launch of the 2003 Louis Vuitton Cup in October 2002, fellow attendees included Woodruff's Canadian business partner Donald K. Tarlton. Evermore signed with Tarlton's record label, Aquarius Records, for Canadian releases. The group's first single, "Slipping Away", was released independently on 1 December 2002, with only 300 copies pressed. However, it received regular airplay on Australian national youth radio Triple J.

Evermore toured supporting American band Brad in early January 2003. While on that tour they met Barrett Jones (of Visqueen), who offered to produce their material. The New Zealand trio's five-track EP, Oil & Water, independently released on 13 January 2003, resulted in the band's first Australian concert tour – funded by Triple J. The EP reached No. 15 on the ARIA Heavy Rock & Metal singles chart and sold in excess of 5000 copies in Australia. Dann reflected, "[that's] the size of Feilding". Later in January 2003 they performed at the Big Day Out in Auckland. In the following month the Hume brothers established Fuze Music Limited with Martyn Cobbe.

The group performed at SXSW in March 2003, Rodel Delfin of Hits Daily Double, listed them as one of 50 acts to see. Then they travelled to Toronto to play four shows. In August of that year the trio appeared on the cover of New Zealand Musician, following success in "Project NZM" – a promotion by radio station ZM to gain awareness for up-and-coming bands. My Own Way EP, the band's five-track next EP, was released on 15 September 2003 via East West and Warner, which reached No. 11 on the ARIA Hitseekers Singles chart.

### Dreams (2004–2006)

Dreams, Evermore's debut studio album, was released on 27 September 2004 in Australia via East West and Warner. It peaked at No. 15 on the ARIA albums chart and No. 30 on the RIANZ albums chart. Three singles were issued from the album; "It's Too Late" (August), "For One Day" (February 2005), and "Come to Nothing" (May); with "It's Too Love" reaching the top 20 in Australia. It included a re-recorded version of "Into the Ocean". For the album the trio worked with Jones (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Whiskeytown) and John Alagía co-producing with Jon. Initially they wanted to use their home studio, however Red Sky Studio and parts of Feilding were flooded in February 2004, so they travelled to Jones' Seattle-based studio.

After recording Dream the trio relocated to Sydney in mid-2004. All three singles were used in New Zealand and Australian promotion of American TV show The O.C., with "It's Too Late" ultimately appearing on the show. A remixed version of "It's Too Late" with Dirty South, titled "It's Too Late (Ride on)", was also released, and was used on various artists' compilation albums. Dreams differed from Evermore's earlier "retro-sounding, riff-based pop-rock" works, and instead contained a more "spacious" sound according to Jon. He said he drew inspiration and was influenced by Silverchair and Muse, as well as Pink Floyd. Jon also noted that the band initially wanted to create a concept album, but stated that "we sort of had to tone it back a bit, because we wanted to make a double album".

Soundgenerator.com's reviewer Eleanor Goodman described Dreams as "clear rather than grungy, soulful rather than angsty". Greg Prato of AllMusic rated it at two-and-a-half out-of-five stars, felt it was too derivative and explained, "[the trio are] yet to find their own sound and approach, as evidenced by many tracks that sound like" Muse's Absolution (September 2003) or Radiohead's The Bends (March 1995).

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2005, held in October, Evermore received five nominations and performed at the ceremony. Into the Ocean (The Story So Far 1997–2005) was the trio's video album, which was issued on DVD in the following month. The title track is a 45-minute documentary on the history of the group, followed by a 70-minute live performance recorded at The Metro Theatre, Sydney and a selection of their music videos. The band released The Lakeside Sessions Vol. 1, an iTunes-exclusive live acoustic EP on 20 December 2005.

### Real Life (2006–2008)

Evermore's second album, Real Life, was released on 8 July 2006 by Warner. It peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA albums chart and No. 2 on the RIANZ albums chart, spending over half a year in both. It was certified 2× platinum for shipment of 140,000 copies in Australia in July 2007. Four singles were issued from the album; "Running" (June 2006), "Light Surrounding You" (October), "Unbreakable" (March 2007), and "Never Let You Go" . Of these, "Light Surrounding You" charted highest and is Evermore's only number-one single.

Real Life was initially recorded on the Central Coast, New South Wales, where the band spent three months. Production moved to Easton, Maryland for an additional three months, and continued recording with producer Alagía. Following recording and production, it was mixed by Tom Lord-Alge (blink-182).

Despite its favourable charting the album was negatively received by music critics. Michael Dwyer of The Age was unimpressed with Real Life, "a roller-coaster of intense gestures and hollow sentiments spiralling on an updraft of crashing cymbals and synthetic harmonies" which provides "sheer, overwrought drama... [that] aims for U2 but ends up Big Country." Sputnikmusic's DaveyBoy rated it at 2.0 and declared, "Three hit singles and pretty much nothing else on this lazy, uninspired & disappointing follow-up." Bernard Zuel of The Sydney Morning Herald found it lacked ambition and "you suspect this is exactly what it was meant to sound like". He complained about its lack of excitement compared with Dreams, by displaying "a palpable contrivance that instead of bringing craft to their undoubted talent brings a stifling limitation." The album's release was followed by a tour of New Zealand and Australia in September and October 2005 with support acts Bob Evans and the Vagrant City Scandal.

The trio opened for a reformed Split Enz on their tour of Australian state capitals in June 2006 starting at Brisbane Entertainment Centre (BEC) and included Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne and ended at Burswood Dome, Perth. Jack Langridge and Brett Collingwood of Rave Magazine caught their performance at BEC, "[their] affinity with Coldplay's stadium-friendly, atmospheric rock is instantly recognisable in this cavernous setting..." and found Dann's drumming to be a "major highlight". On 17 November 2006 Evermore performed at a charity concert: the Make Poverty History Concert, in Melbourne, covering Ben E. King's "Stand by Me". Early in 2007, the band played at the Big Day Out, as well as at the 21st Australian Scout Jamboree and on 29 April they appeared at the 2007 MTV Australia Video Music Awards to perform "Light Surrounding You". In mid-2007 the group relocated from Sydney to Melbourne.

### Truth of the World: Welcome to the Show (2008–2009)

The band's third studio album, Truth of the World: Welcome to the Show, was released on 20 March 2009, and debuted at No. 14 in Australia and No. 5 in New Zealand. Its lead single, "Between the Lines", was issued as a free download from the band's website on 10 November 2008. The second single, "Hey Boys and Girls (Truth of the World pt.2)", appeared on 3 February 2009, which peaked at No. 5 on the New Zealand charts and No. 4 on the Australian charts. Their single "Can You Hear Me?" was released to radio on 11 May, but did not reach the top 100 in New Zealand or Australia.

Truth of the World is a concept album about trash media, political propaganda, advertising and infotainment. It was recorded at the band's own Dragonfly Studio, Melbourne over a period of 18 months from July 2007 to January 2009. The studio had been built via the proceeds of their previous work. Otago Daily Times' Shane Gilchrist observed, they "mixed classic rock histrionics (perhaps minus the guitar solos) with the pulsating textures of modern electronica." Matt Gallant of theDwarf.com.au was unimpressed with the work, "[it] attempts to tell a dark and sinister story, rather than deliver a collection of engaging tracks... [they] attempt more than they can achieve".

In July and August 2009 Evermore supported Pink during the Funhouse Tour on the second half of the Australian leg. After the group's Australian tours in support of Truth of the World: Welcome to the Show and supporting Pink, the singer invited them as main support act for her subsequent European tour, from October to December. The band released their self-titled compilation album in October 2009 in Australia and New Zealand, which provided the single "Underground" (October).

### Follow the Sun (2010–2014)

Upon return to Australia in early 2010, Evermore took time off from touring, to start writing and recording their next studio album. Jon Hume built a new recording studio, The Stables Recording Studio, in 2011 in Macedon Ranges, Victoria. Early that year they took a portable recording studio on a round-the-world song writing trip.

On 12 October 2012 they issued their fourth studio album Follow the Sun, which reached No. 22 in New Zealand and No. 40 in Australia. Its lead single and title track "Follow the Sun", was used by HBO United States in promotion for the station's 2013 season and also appeared in the worldwide trailer for DreamWorks Animation's The Croods. Two Australia headline tours followed in 2012 and 2013, as well as support for Maroon 5's Australian leg of their worldwide Overexposed Tour and Matchbox Twenty's Australian North Tour with INXS.

In 2012 Dann stopped touring with Evermore to pursue his own singing and production career. He supported the Lisa Mitchell tour in 2012 as Danco. Meanwhile Evermore, without Dann, toured Australia from April to June 2013 to promote the album and its second single, "Hero" (January 2013). The group's last single, "One Love", appeared in August 2013 as a charity single supporting that year's Global Citizen Festival. In October 2014 Evermore performed as a duo of Jon and Peter Hume at the Precinct Hotel, Melbourne.

## Afterwards

Outside of their Evermore work each of the Hume brothers has pursued their own careers. While still a member of Evermore, Dann started working as a producer on Lisa Mitchell's first two EPs Said One to the Other (August 2007} and Welcome to the Afternoon (May 2008); he then re-recorded material for her debut studio album, Wonder (July 2009). Mitchell declared that working with Dann provided "versions [that] had more energy and were a lot lighter – they were positive and uplifting". He also produced her second album, Bless This Mess (October 2012), working at The Stables Recording Studio instead of touring with Evermore.

Dann is also credited on Matt Corby's debut album, Telluric (producer, engineer, co-writer, March 2016), Troye Sivan's debut album, Blue Neighbourhood (December 2015) and Kita Alexander's single "Hotel" (September 2017). He co-produced and co-engineered (with M-Phazes) the lead single, "I Said Hi" (April 2018) from Amy Shark's debut album, Love Monster (July). At that year's ARIA Awards they were both nominated for Producer of the Year (which they won) and Engineer of the Year. In the following year he won Producer of the Year again for his work on Corby's second studio album, Rainbow Valley (November 2018).

Jon worked on E^ST's third EP, Get Money! (July 2016) as producer, mixer and composer. He followed with Bliss n Eso's sixth studio album, Off the Grid (producer, April 2017), Starley's single "Arms Around Me" (producer, recording engineer, 2020) and Sheppard's EP Highest of Highs (engineer, mixer, producer, 2021). In 2017 he sold The Stables Recording Studio to Jan Skubiszewski and Ilaria Walker, who renamed it Red Moon Studios. Jon co-wrote "Be Alright" (June 2018) with the singer Dean Lewis, which appeared on APRA billion streams list in 2019.

Besides being a mult-instrumentalist and singer Peter provides artwork, photography, graphic design, music video direction, cinematography and other promotional material. At the 2022 ARIA Music Awards Peter was nominated for Best Video as director for Luude's cover version of "Down Under" featuring original singer Colin Hay.

## Members

- Jon Hume – vocals, guitars, percussion, piano, ukulele, drums (1999–2014)
- Peter Hume – bass guitar, keyboards, piano, vocals, mandolin, ukulele, guitar (1999–2014)
- Dann Hume – drums, percussion, vocals, guitars, piano (1999–2012)
- Richard Higham – bass guitar (2000–2001)

## Discography

- 2004: Dreams
- 2006: Real Life
- 2009: Truth of the World: Welcome to the Show
- 2012: Follow the Sun

## Awards and nominations

### ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards are a set of annual ceremonies presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987.

### New Zealand Music Awards

The Aotearoa Music Awards have been presented since 1965 under various names including New Zealand Music Awards.

### Other awards

#### Won

- 2005 MTV Australia Awards, Supernova Breakthrough Act for Dreams
- 2005 APRA Silver Scroll Award for "It's Too Late"
- 2007 Channel V Oz Artist of the Year

#### Nominated

- 2005 Jack Awards, Best Live Newcomer
- 2006 APRA Silver Scroll Award for "Running"
- 2010 APRA Awards, Most Played Australian Work and Rock Work of the Year for "Hey Boys and Girls (Truth of the World pt.2)"
- 2013 APRA Rock Work of the Year for "Follow the Sun" by Dann, Peter and Jon Hume.

New Zealand rock band


David Bentley Hart

David Bentley Hart (born February 1965) is an American writer, philosopher, religious studies scholar, critic, and theologian. Reviewers have commented on Hart's baroque prose and provocative rhetoric in over one thousand essays, reviews, and papers as well as nineteen books (including translations). From a predominantly Anglican family background, Hart became Eastern Orthodox when he was twenty-one. His academic works focus on Christian metaphysics, philosophy of mind, Indian and East Asian religion, Asian languages, classics, and literature as well as a New Testament translation. Books with wider audiences include The Doors of the Sea, Atheist Delusions, and That All Shall Be Saved. In addition to accolades and book awards, Hart has been criticized as heterodox by a variety of Christian scholars.

Born and raised in Maryland, Hart regularly references his family roots and the Baltimore Orioles in his writing. Hart graduated with a BA in interdisciplinary study from the University of Maryland, completed an MPhil in theology at Cambridge University, and then a PhD in religious studies at the University of Virginia. Hart received the Templeton Fellowship at the University of Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study in 2015.

Hart's translation of the New Testament was published in 2017 with a second edition in 2023. Five of his books have received awards or book of the year recognitions. Hart has written essays on diverse topics such as art, baseball, literature, consciousness, the problem of evil, apocatastasis, theosis, fairies, film, and politics. Hart maintains a subscription newsletter called Leaves in the Wind that features original essays and conversations with other thinkers.

## Early life

Hart notes that most of his ancestors lived in Maryland for generations since their arrival there in 1634. Born in Howard County and graduating from Wilde Lake High School in 1982 with classes in Latin and Greek, Hart was a National Merit Scholar. Hart grew up with two older brothers and writes that this "has always made me feel more like a creature of the 1960's and early 1970's than do some of my friends of roughly my age."

Hart writes that "regional pride dictated that the tender souls of schoolchildren be regularly exposed to the works of H. L. Mencken" and that this shaped his own writing style so that he would spend his life "striving to suppress my assassin's smile while heaping one elaborately vituperative subordinate clause atop another." Outside the high school curriculum, Hart took up French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and modern Greek. At the University of Maryland, Hart studied classics, history, world literature, religious studies and philosophy while also learning to read Chinese and Sanskrit. As a teenager, Hart started to read the early church fathers along with contemporary Eastern Orthodox theologians, converting to Orthodoxy at the age of twenty-one.

## Academic career

Hart earned a B.A. in interdisciplinary study from the University of Maryland, a M.Phil. in theology from the University of Cambridge, and a Ph.D. in religious studies from the University of Virginia. He taught at the University of Virginia, the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota), Duke Divinity School, and Loyola College in Maryland. He also served as visiting professor at Providence College where he held the Robert J. Randall Chair in Christian Culture. During the 2014–2015 academic year, Hart was Danforth Chair at Saint Louis University in the Department of Theological Studies. In 2015, he was appointed as Templeton Fellow at the University of Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study. As part of this Templeton Fellowship work, Hart organized a conference focused on the philosophy of mind. In an April 19, 2023 email, Hart noted that he is currently a collaborative research scholar at the University of Notre Dame. His primary areas of research have been philosophical theology, systematics, patristics, classical and continental philosophy, and South and East Asian religion with recent focus on the genealogy of classical and Christian metaphysics, ontology, the metaphysics of the soul, and the philosophy of mind.

Hart has authored eighteen books and produced two translated works. The New Testament: A Translation was published in 2017 with Yale University Press and a second edition in 2023. His translation in collaboration with John R. Betz of Analogia Entis: Metaphysics: Original Structure and Universal Rhythm by Erich Przywara was published in 2014 by Eerdmans. Hart's academic books include The Beauty of the Infinite: The Aesthetics of Christian Truth (Eerdmans, 2003), The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss (Yale, 2013), The Hidden and the Manifest: Essays in Theology and Metaphysics (Eerdmans, 2017), That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation (Yale, 2019), Theological Territories: A David Bentley Hart Digest (Notre Dame, 2020), Tradition and Apocalypse: An Essay on the Future of Christian Belief (Baker, 2022), and You Are Gods: On Nature and Supernature (Notre Dame, 2022).

## Literary writing

Since the late 1990s, Hart has published hundreds of essays on varied subjects including Don Juan, Vladimir Nabokov, Charles Baudelaire, Victor Segalen, Leon Bloy, William Empson, David Jones, The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies (1893), and baseball. These often provocative essays have appeared in First Things (2003 to 2020), The New Atlantis, Commonweal, Aeon, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and many other periodicals. Several of these have shaped future books such as The Doors of the Sea, Roland in Moonlight, and Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies (Yale, 2009). Since May 2021, Hart also writes regular essays for his Leaves in the Wind subscription newsletter. This newsletter also features conversations with other writers such as Iain McGilchrist, Rainn Wilson, China Miéville, Richard Seymour, Tariq Goddard, and Salley Vickers.

Ed Simon writing for the Los Angeles Review of Books in 2022 said that "Hart is often difficult for some people to categorize" with his "thousands of essays, reviews, and papers" but that "what's agreed upon is that he's wide-ranging and deeply read in his seemingly limitless interests, and loquacious in his refreshingly baroque prose style" as well as "the rare theologian" who can "poetically invoke" beauty with descriptions of color and light. In 2017, Hart was described by Matthew Walther (a columnist at The Week and later founding editor of The Lamp) as "our greatest living essayist." Hart's style has been praised for "its thought and humor and spleen" and called "extremely rude." Martyn Wendell Jones has said of Hart's style that, while it may "constantly verge on the immoderate" and rarely "make a point squarely without infusing a bit of accelerant," what might be seen as "needless indulgence" is also "an act of generosity toward his readership" because "his maximalist impulses ...enable him to consistently generate interest on the level of his individual sentences." His essays often mix humor and critical commentary as with one titled "A Person You Flee at Parties: Donald and the Devil" (about Donald Trump from May 6, 2011, for First Things). Hart's essays sometimes explored the boundaries between different religious traditions as with "Saint Sakyamuni" (2009) or the boundaries of orthodoxy as with "Saint Origen" (2015).

In 2012, The Devil and Pierre Gernet, a collection of his fiction, was released by Eerdmans. Two of his books, A Splendid Wickedness in 2016 and The Dream-Child's Progress in 2017, are collections devoted to popular and literary essays that also include several short stories. His short stories have been described as "Borgesian" and are elaborate metaphysical fables, full of wordplay, allusion, and structural puzzles. Hart added two books to his fiction works in 2021: Roland in Moonlight and Kenogaia (A Gnostic Tale). His book Roland in Moonlight has a largely autobiographical framework while consisting primarily of dialogs with his dog Roland as well as accounts of his fictional great uncle Aloysius Bentley (1895-1987). Hart had written previously about both Roland and Aloysius in essays for First Things, with two about Aloysius 2011 and six about Roland from 2014 to 2016. Reviewing Roland in Moonlight for a review in Church Times, John Saxbee (former Bishop of Lincoln) wrote that "sometimes, a book defies description or, rather, refuses to settle into a conventional genre" and compared Roland in Moonlight to Sophie's World meets Alice through the Looking-Glass or Don Quixote meets The Wind in the Willows.

## Reception

Hart's first major work, The Beauty of the Infinite (2003), an adaptation of his doctoral thesis, received acclaim from the theologians John Milbank, Janet Soskice, Paul J. Griffiths, and Reinhard Hütter. William Placher said of the book, "I can think of no more brilliant work by an American theologian in the past ten years." Geoffrey Wainwright said, "This magnificent and demanding volume should establish David Bentley Hart, around the world no less than in North America, as one of his generation's leading theologians." In 2020, Theological Territories: A David Bentley Hart Digest was named Best Religion Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly as well as winning Gold in the 2020 INDIES with Foreword Magazine. In 2011, Hart's book Atheist Delusions was awarded the Michael Ramsey Prize in Theology by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. It was also praised by the agnostic philosopher Anthony Kenny in The Times Literary Supplement: "He exposes his opponents' errors of fact or logic with ruthless precision." Oliver Burkeman, writing in The Guardian in January 2014, praised Hart's book The Experience of God as "the one theology book all atheists really should read." You Are Gods won Gold in the 2022 INDIES with Foreword Magazine for the Religion (Adult Nonfiction) category.

Roland in Moonlight was chosen by A. N. Wilson as his November 2021 "Book of the Year" for the Times Literary Supplement. Wilson described this "dialogue with the author's dog Roland, who turns out to be a philosopher of mind, with a particular bee in his bonnet about the inadequacy of materialist explanations for 'consciousness'" as "probably the dottiest book of the year" while noting that "I KEEP returning to it." In 2022, the Catholic Media Association awarded a first place prize to Kenogaia (A Gnostic Tale) in the category of "Escapism" for authors from other traditions.

## Criticism and heterodoxy questions

In addition to these accolades, Hart has been criticized by some scholars. New Testament scholar and translator N. T. Wright challenged Hart's translation of the New Testament in January 2018. Hart responded on a few of the points, including on the Eclectic Orthodoxy blog and with his essay "The Spiritual Was More Substantial Than the Material for the Ancients" in Notre Dame's Church Life Journal. Peter Leithart wrote a critical response to Hart's book That All Shall Be Saved called "Good God?" in October 2019 and posted a response from Hart five days later. Edward Feser claimed in April 2022 that Hart's book You Are Gods: On Nature and Supernature advocates pantheism. Gerald McDermott criticized Hart's book Tradition and Apocalypse in July 2022 for "a gnostic reading of Genesis and heterodox views of Christology, creation, and salvation." In late 2022 and early 2023, Fr. James Dominic Rooney wrote several articles for Church Life Journal (with the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame) that accused Hart of multiple heresies related to his books That All Shall Be Saved and You Are Gods. Hart responded to Rooney in an interview on the podcast Grace Saves All with David Artman as well as briefly on his Leaves in the Wind subscription newsletter. In a April 13, 2023 article for Notre Dame's Church Life Journal, philosopher Eleonore Stump argued against universalism and for the idea that "there are some people who never cease rejecting God." Stump did not name Hart but opposed several of Hart's ideas and cited Rooney's recent article in the same periodical that had accused Hart of being heterodox. In a note on his Leaves in the Wind newsletter, Hart wrote that he did not plan to respond to Stump, adding that "I do not care about Stump's arguments" because "we have all heard them many times before, and they remain essentially silly—even embarrassingly so" but that this is a "depressing truth" because "Stump is not stupid, and neither are many others who have made the same claims."

Although there are accusations of heterodoxy from some of Hart's Christian critics, especially after his 2019 publication of That All Shall Be Saved, a variety of prominent Christian scholars with strong commitments to traditional Christianity praised the book. Roman Catholic scholar Robert Louis Wilken wrote that "in this original and lively book, Hart shows, why most Christian thinking about eternal damnation is unbiblical," and Orthodox Christian scholar John Behr described the book as "a brilliant treatment—exegetically, theologically, and philosophically—of the promise that, in the end, all will indeed be saved, and exposing the inadequacy—above all moral—of claims to the contrary." Archbishop Alexander Golitzin of the Orthodox Church in America recorded a public interview on January 14, 2022, in which he named Hart's book That All Shall Be Saved and said that it "draws upon some very prominent and worthy and holy teachers" in the early church who held that the "love of God will ultimately overcome the capacity of the creature to say no to God." The archbishop went on to clarify that "we can't teach universal salvation as doctrine, but we can hope for it" which Golitzin identified as "my own attitude ... which I take from Metropolitan Kallistos Ware."

In February 2022, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (in collaboration with the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University) invited Hart to deliver a public homily for the Sunday of the Publican & the Pharisee as part of their "Orthodox Scholars Preach" series. In 2017, Hart served on a special commission of Orthodox theologians for the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople to help compose "For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church" and to coauthor the preface.

## Influences

Hart has cited a wide variety of inspirations and influences in his writing as well as across his various areas of scholarship in religious studies, philosophy of mind, and Christian metaphysics. With his essay style, Hart has often referenced H. L. Mencken as an influence. As literary influences, Hart and others have noted Lewis Carroll and Kenneth Grahame. As "exemplars" in writing English prose, Hart has noted: Robert Louis Stevenson, Sylvia Townsend Warner, J. A. Baker, Patrick Leigh Fermor, and Vladimir Nabokov.

An Anglican convert to Eastern Orthodoxy, Hart has praised Orthodox thinkers such as Kallistos Ware, Alexander Schmemann, John Meyendorff, and Olivier Clément. Hart has also called Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew "one of the hopes of Orthodoxy" and Sergei Bulgakov "the greatest systematic theologian of the twentieth century." Hart has expressed his admiration for sophiology and summarized his own understanding of it in his 2010 foreword to Vladimir Solovyov's Justification of the Good. Among American theologians, Hart has called Robert Jenson the theologian with whom it is "most profitable to struggle." Among contemporary thinkers, Hart's friendship and substantial intellectual common ground with John Milbank has been noted several times by both thinkers.

More broadly, Hart and commentators have noted many other influences and inspirations (some of whom Hart can also criticize severely in certain respects). Among New Testament authors, Hart most frequently references Paul. Greek fathers most often referenced by Hart include Gregory of Nyssa, Isaac of Nineveh, Maximus the Confessor, and Symeon the New Theologian. Among medieval thinkers, Eriugena, Meister Eckhart and Nicholas of Cusa are often extolled by Hart, especially in his 2022 book You Are Gods. Among more recent Christian thinkers, Hart has noted a high regard for George MacDonald. Russian religious philosophers such as Vladimir Solovyov and Nikolai Berdyaev are often praised by Hart along with Russian literary figures like Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Among Indian religious philosophers, Hart has most regularly referenced Ramanuja and Shankara.

In an August 2023 interview The Christian Century, during a series of questions related to German higher criticism and modern theology, Hart said that although the "early church fathers were in many respects historical critical readers, to the degree they could be", Hart himself is not engaging in demythologization along the lines of Paul Tillich or Rudolf Bultmann:

> I don't deny the historical reality of the resurrection, or even of the empty tomb. I'm not a modern rationalist. For starters, Tillich was a joke. He couldn't have made it as a philosopher, with his watery, middle-Schelling approach to things, and he wrote these huge, vapid books about a religion that he only barely knew anything about. And Bultmann's attempt to reduce everything down to apocalyptic inner illumination simply because the cosmology of the first century doesn’t match the cosmology of the 20th—I mean, it's just the Protestant principle reaching its reductio ad absurdum.

## Main interests and key ideas

As indicated by the wide range of topics covered in his essays, Hart has diverse interests such as baseball, comparative religious studies, Gnosticism, metaphysics, The Dreaming, philosophy of mind, theological aesthetics, and world literature. Hart writes often about fairies and has commented several times about his belief in them and related creatures such as mermaids.

### Monism

As an outspoken advocate of classical theism as seen, for example, in his book The Experience of God who is also, more generally, engaged with the schools of continental philosophy, idealism, and neoplatonism, Hart also affirms monism. He said in a November 17, 2020, interview about a pre-release reading of his book You Are Gods that "at the end of the day, I'm a monist as any sane person is" and that "we can play games with it, but any metaphysics that is coherent is ultimately reducible to a monism." In the text of You Are Gods, Hart describes variations of both dualism and monism that he calls grim and monstrous:

> An absolute dualism, of course, is a very grim thing indeed; but a narrative monism unqualified by any hint of true gnostic detachment, irony, sedition, or doubt—by any proper sense, that is, that the fashion of this world is horribly out of joint, that we are prisoners of delusion, that not every evil can be accounted for as part of divine necessity—turns out to be at least as monstrous.

During an April 2022 conversation with Hart about You Are Gods, John Milbank said we "agree that in fact neoplatonism and Vedanta and Islamic mysticism are monistic" and "that, actually, an emanationism, a monotheism, these are actually the more monistic visions and that, if we've got all these things in Christianity like Trinity, incarnation, grace and deification and so on, these aren't qualifying monism." Instead, Milbank said that Hart's book You Are Gods shows that Christianity is spelling out or expounding monism and monotheism.

### Universalism

Hart's book That All Shall Be Saved was published on September 24, 2019, and makes the case that universalism is the only coherent version of the Christian faith. Although grounded primarily in arguments from Christian metaphysics and moral philosophy, the book also considers biblical exegesis, systematic theology, and historical theology (with extensive references to universalist ideas among Christian patristic figures such as Gregory of Nyssa). Hart, with his characteristic rhetorical provocations, uses terms such as "infernalists" to describe his opponents. This grounding in Christian metaphysics, insistence on universalism being the only true articulation of the Christian gospel, and use of combative rhetoric all combine to make Hart's case for universalism more uncompromising than most previous Christian arguments, and this has led to the use of the term "hard universalism" to describe Hart's position.

### Atemporal fall

Hart refers to the idea of an atemporal fall (also called meta-historical fall) in his 2005 book The Doors of the Sea as well as in "The Devil's March: Creatio ex Nihilo, the Problem of Evil, and a Few Dostoyevskian Meditations":

> The fall of rational creation and the conquest of the cosmos by death is something that appears to us nowhere within the course of nature or history; it comes from before and beyond both. We cannot search it out within the closed totality of the damaged world because it belongs to another frame of time, another kind of time, one more real than the time of death.
>
> ...It may seem a fabulous claim that we exist in the long grim aftermath of a primeval catastrophe—that this is a broken and wounded world, that cosmic time is a phantom of true time, that we live in an umbratile interval between creation in its fullness and the nothingness from which it was called, and that the universe languishes in bondage to the "powers" and "principalities" of this age, which never cease in their enmity toward the kingdom of God—but it is not a claim that Christians are free to surrender.

Hart has recommended Sergei Bulgakov's 1939 book The Bride of the Lamb as the best exposition of an atemporal fall.

## Personal life

Hart is married and has one grown son, Patrick, with whom he co-wrote the children's book The Mystery of Castle MacGorilla (Angelico Press, 2019); his wife is British. He has two brothers: Addison Hodges Hart (also an author) and Fr. Robert Hart (rector of Saint Benedict's Anglican Catholic Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina).

As of 2022, Hart lives in South Bend, Indiana and is asked to serve and contribute by leaders in his Orthodox tradition such as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. He follows contemporary concerns in Orthodox Christianity such as the "Russian World" (Russkii Mir) teaching. During a September 16, 2022, conversation with Rainn Wilson, Hart shared briefly about an "indescribable" past experience of his own on Mount Athos:

> I was in this state of spiritual despair, and I also had an encounter. ...So I understand both the difficulty of explaining it and the impossibility of forgetting it, at once, and how it can change your life. But it doesn't come as a set of instructions. It sure as hell didn't turn me into a saint but did actually make me realize that the spiritual dimension of reality is reality.

Hart is a Christian socialist and a democratic socialist and has been a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. On August 8, 2020, Hart wrote:

> I'm basically an anarchist and communalist. I believe that all that lilies of the field nonsense that Jesus preached was more than a daydream; and I think the longing for strict social hierarchy ...as an antidote to modernity is simply a longing for a reprise of the same sins that created modernity.

With a few more specifics, Hart wrote on April 3, 2022:

> In my heart of hearts, I want to vote for someone whose entire political philosophy is derived from John Ruskin by way of Kenneth Grahame, with lashings of William Cobbett, Gilbert White, and William Morris; failing that, I want to enjoy the luxury of writing in Wendell Berry on every ballot. But the imminent collapse of the civil order of the entire world doth make pragmatists of us all. I long for the day, however, when I can return to my posture of airily insouciant disdain for the whole system and can again cast votes only for hopeless third party candidates with a clear conscience. But I suspect I will die before that day comes.

American philosopher and theologian (b. 1965)

21st-century Eastern Orthodox theologians

Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Anglicanism

Greek Orthodox Christians from the United States

Members of the Democratic Socialists of America

University of Maryland, College Park alumni


Aboriginal title statutes in the Thirteen Colonies were one of the principal subjects of legislation by the colonial assemblies in the Thirteen Colonies. With the exception of Delaware, every colony codified a general prohibition on private purchases of Native American lands without the consent of the government. Disputes were generally resolved by special interest legislation or war. Mohegan Indians v. Connecticut (1705–73), a lawsuit that proceeded for 70 years under special royal enabling acts only to be dismissed on non-substantive grounds, was the first and only judicial test of indigenous tenure.

Aboriginal title remained a central political and economic issue and was listed as one of the enumerated grievances in the Declaration of Independence. Regardless, colonial land law relating to indigenous peoples became the foundation for aboriginal title in the United States during the Articles of Confederation-era and after the ratification of the United States Constitution. The colonial-law prohibition was codified at the federal level by the Confederation Congress Proclamation of 1783 and the Nonintercourse Acts of 1790, 1793, 1796, 1799, 1802, and 1834.

Pre-Revolutionary land transactions remained the subject of political and legal disputes well after Independence. However, in sharp contrast to post-1790 transactions, no Indian tribe has yet succeeded in litigating or receiving compensation for a pre-1790 transaction. The prevailing view remains that the colonial governments, and the state governments that succeeded them during the Confederation era, had the power to authorize the alienation of indigenous lands within their borders.

## British law

The British monarchy made two attempts to regulate aboriginal land transactions in British North America by Royal Proclamation: first, the Royal Proclamation of 1622; second, the Royal Proclamation of 1763.

## Statutes by colony

### Connecticut

The Connecticut Colony (est. 1636) and the New Haven Colony (est. 1637) merged in 1662.

#### Connecticut Colony

In 1637, the Connecticut Colony authorized a military expedition to Pequot lands to "maynteine our right that God by Conquest hath given to us." Soon after, the colony decided to hold sachem's liable for the trespass of any Indian. The conquered Pequot land's were "dispose[d] . . . with lest prejudice to others that may hereafter succeed them."

The first prohibitions on transactions prohibited leases, either to or from Indians. The first prohibition on taking Indian property did not arise until 1660. This was explicitly extended to land acquisitions in 1663. The prohibition was strengthened in 1680. The penalties were increased again in 1687.

"Gold Hill" was the first Indian reservation in the colony, established in 1659 and confirmed in 1678. Indians were also explicitly permitted to use public lands for hunting. In other instances, the colony resolved land disputes between competing Indians. Other reservations were established for the Mohegans in New London in 1718 and others in 1726 (which were exempted from the application of adverse possession), including the Pequot's before 1731.

The power to purchase Indian lands was delegated to townships in 1702. In 1706, the colony offered amnesty for those who had purchased in violation of previous prohibitions as long as they provided a "true account." In 1717, the colony declared "all lands in this government are holden of the King of Great Britain as the lord of the fee," barred the introduction of private purchases as evidence, and established a committee to "settle this whole affair." Noting that the prohibition was among the most "ancient laws" of the colony, the fine was increased in 1722, and treble damages were imposed. No compensation was provided in the case of eminent domain.

#### New Haven

Prior to merging with the Connecticut Colony, the New Haven Colony also prohibited private purchases of Indian lands unless "in the name and for the use of the whole plantation."

### Delaware

Delaware appears to have passed no laws concerning Indian lands.

### Georgia

In 1758, Georgia passed a prohibition of private purchases of Indian lands:

> [I]f any person or persons whosoever shall attempt to purchase or contract for, or cause to be purchased or contracted for, or shall take or acept of a grant or conveyance of any lands or tracts of lands from any Indian, or body of Indians, upon any prtence whatsoever, (except for the use of the crown and that by permission for this purpose first had and obtained from his majesty, his heirs or successors, or his or their governor or commander in chief of the said province for the time being) every such purchase, grant, contract and conveyance, shall be, and is and are hereby declared to be null and void, to all intentts an purposes whatsoever . . . .

### Maryland

In 1639 Maryland codified separate prohibitions on land purchases from Indians and non-English Europeans, set to expire at the end of the next session of the general assembly; the latter provided:

> Neither Shall [a subject of the King] obteine procure or accept of any Land within this Province from any Indian to his own or the use of any other than the Lord Proprietarie or his heirs[,] nor shall hold or possess and land . . . and upon pain that every person offending . . . Shall forfeit and lose to the Lord Proprietarie and his heirs all Such Lands so accepted or held without Grant of the Lord Proprietarie under him.

This forfeiture provision was renewed in 1649. Indian reservations were established in 1666. Their boundaries were modified in 1698, and enlarged in 1711. Indian reservation boundaries were re-surveyed in 1721. The Nanticoke reservation was extinguished in 1768.

Unlike many colonies, Maryland provided limited legal remedies for the violation of Indian property rights. In 1704, the colony provided that non-Indians who took timber from Indian lands would be "lyable to Action or Actions of trespass[,] And the persons grieved shall and may recover their Damages accordingly." It later authorized specific proceedings for "Indian-English" disputes; in the third such authorization, jurisdiction was extended to "punishing Trespasses committed on their Lands," claims arising from the renting of Indian lands, and "Trespasses and Wastes on such of the said Indian Lands, which have not been granted to any of the Inhabitants of this Province."

### Massachusetts

The Plymouth Colony (est. 1620) and the Massachusetts Bay Colony (est. 1628) merged in 1691. After the combination of the two colonies, in 1701, a new prohibition was codified:

> [A]ll deeds of bargain, sale, lease, release, or quitclaim, titles and conveyances whatsoever, of any lands . . . within this province . . . had, made, gotten, procured or obtained from any Indian or Indians by any person or persons whatsoever at any time [since 1633] without the license or approbation of the respective general courts of the said late colonys [or the current colony for purchases after 1701] shall be deemed and adjuded in the law to be null, void and of none effect.

The law validated all titles in Martha's Vineyard and the Island of Nantuckett and all other titles preceded by a grant from the colony. Henceforth, any violator would be subject to a fine of twice the value of the land and 6 months in prison. In 1719, the Mashpee's lands were exempted, and their sale was authorized in 1777.

In 1723, the Hassanimscoe were exempted from property tax. In 1736, they were granted a 6 miles square reservation, whose borders were amended several times in 1737 and 1739. Indian lands within the township of Edgartown on Chappaquiddick were protected for 3 years in 1774.

#### Plymouth

A 1643 Plymouth statute acknowledged the "constant custome from our first beginning That no person or persons have or ever did purchase Rent or hire any lands . . . of the Natives but by the Majestrates consent" and proscribed:

> [I]f any person or persons do hereafter purchase or rent or hyre and lands . . . of any of the Natives in any place within this government with the consent and assent of the Court Every such person or persons shall forfait [fives times the value plus five pounds for every acre].

In 1652, the colony legislated an exception to this prohibition, for those who had failed to satisfy the conditions of their land grants resulting in the lands being re-granted to other non-Indians. The exception was only to last for 14 months from the end of the Court session, but was extended until June 1656. The colony later retroactively validated some purchases made in violation of this prohibition. In 1660, the prohibition was interpreted to apply to gifts of land. In 1663, the prohibition was extended to mere use. In 1668, the prohibition was extended to "mount hope or Cawsumsett necke or any other neckes or tracts of land as there is a body of Indians upon"; as amended, the lands would be forfeited to the colony if the purchaser could not afford the fine.

In 1674, the colony established a one-year statute of limitations "concerning Indian claimes that are or shalbe made to any lands within this Government; which are now orderly possessed by the English those which doe lay claime to them shall orderly comence and prosecute theire claime as farr as hee or they are able; wihtine one yeare after they be of age; and noe longer and that care be taken that the Indians have notice of it."

#### Massachusetts Bay

The Massachusetts Bay colony codified its first prohibition on private purchases of Indian lands in 1634: "[N]oe person whatsoever shall buy any land of any Indean without leave from the Court." The first land recording law, instructed Steven Winthrope to record, inter alia, "all the purchases of the natives."

The Code of 1648 codified the prohibition such: "It is ordered by Authoritie of this Court; that no person whatsoever shall henceforth buy land of any Indian, without licence first had and obtained of the General Court: and if any shall offend heerin, such land so bought shall be forfeited to the Countrie." A 10-pounds-per-acre forfeiture was ordered in 1687.

In 1652, the colony acknowledged aboriginal title, in a statute that made reference to several biblical verses:

> [W]hat lande any of the Indians, within this jurissdiction, have by possession or improvement, by subdueing of the same, they have just right thereunto, according to that Gen: 1: 28, chap: 9: 1, Psa.: 115, 16. And... if any of the Indians shalbe brought to civillitie... such Indians shall have allotments... according to the custome of the English in the like case.

Only if the Indians were evicted from "planting groundes or fishing places," were the Indians to "have reliefe in any of the Courts of justice amongst the English, as the English have."

In 1681, the Dedham Indians were confined to the towns of Nanticke, Punkapauge. and Wamesti. In 1685, the colony confirmed 5,800 acres of land to Indians in Marlborough and voided all deeds to the contrary.

### New Hampshire

New Hampshire codified a rather weak prohibition against private purchases in 1641: "[W]hoever buys the Indian Ground by way of purchase is to tender it first to the town [of Exeter] before they are to make proper use of it in particular to themselves." In 1677, the colony ordered the resettlement of the Piscataqua Indians. The colony's instructions to Edmund Andros in 1686 included instructions to purchase Indian lands.

New Hampshire codified a more serious prohibition in 1687:

> [H]enceforth noe person or persons whatsoever Doe presume to tamper or treat with any Indian or Indians about the purchase sale or Confirmation of any Land or Lands whatseover within this his Majesties Territory and Dominion of the New England NOR from them or any of them take or receive any Deed or Sale Gift Mortgage Conveyance Lease Contract or Confirmation whatsoever without Leave or Lycense first had and obteyned from the Governour for the tyme being under his hand and Seale On peanlty of Forfeiture of [20 pounds per acre] AND that all such... shall be utterly void and null.

In 1719, penalties were added, retroactive to violations from 1700: forfeiture, a fine of the value of the land, and 6 months in prison.

### New Jersey

In May 1683, the colony authorized a Commissioner to buy lands from Indians and resell the lands in plots not to exceed 5000 acres each. In September 1683, the colony codified a prohibition against private purchases:

> [N]o Person or Persons, shall presume to buy any Tract or Tracts of Land, of, or from the Indians within this Province, without special Order and Authority to him and them given by the Governor and Commissioners, or the major Part of them for the time being.

Any purchase to the contrary would be "null and void" and subject to a fine of 5 shillings per acre. The prohibition was included in the colony's instructions to Lord Cornbury. In 1703, the prohibition was made more specific, to include "Gift of Purchase in Fee, take a Mortuage or Lease for Life or number of Years"; the authorization method was changed to "Certificate, under the hand of the Proprietors Recorder"; the fine was raised to 40 shillings per acre; and the forfeiture provision was applied to "Purchasers, their Heirs and Assigns shall forever hereafter be incapable to hold Plea for the said Land in any Court of Common Law or Equity."

In 1758, the colony appropriated for the Commissions "such Sum and Sums of Money, as they may find necessary to purchase the Right and Claim of all or any of the Indian Natives of this Colony, to and for the Use of the Freeholders in this Colony, their Heirs and Assigns, for ever"; the maximum appropriation was to be 1600 pounds, no more than half of which was to go to the Delawares near Cranbury. As recounted by later, unrelated, judicial opinion:

> In 1758 the State of New Jersey purchased the Indian title to lands in that State, and as a consideration for the purchase, bought a tract of land as a residence for the Indians, having previously passed an act declaring that such lands should not be subject thereafter to any tax by the State, any law or usage, or law then existing, to the contrary notwithstanding. The Indians, from the time of purchase, lived upon the land until the year 1801, when they were authorized, by an act of the Legislature, to sell the land.

### New York

The Director and Council of New Netherland passed a law holding citizens liable for damages to Indian crops in 1640. In 1652, the colony legislated to ""hereby dissolve, annul and make void all claimed or occupied purchases, sales, patents and deeds signed." Previous purchases were confirmed in 1670.

The General Assembly of New York codified a prohibition on private purchases of Indian lands in 1684:

> [H]enceforward noe Purchase of Lands from the Indians shall bee esteemed a good Title without Leave first had and obtained from the Governour signed by a Warrant under his hand and Seale and entered on Record in the the  [sic] Secretaries office att New Yorke and Satisfaction for the Purchase acknowliged by the Indians from whome the Purchase was made which is to bee Recorded likewise with purchase soe made and prosecuted and entered on Record in the office aforesaid shall from that time be Vallid to all intents and purposes.

### North Carolina

North Carolina defined its boundaries with the Meherrin Indians in 1729. In 1748, the colony passed a prohibition on private purchases which applied only to Tuscarora lands, and imposed a fine of 10 pounds for every 100 acres:

> [N]o Person, for any Consideration whatsoever, shall purchase or buy any Tract or Parcle of Land, claimed, or in Possession of any Indian or Indians, but all such Bargains and Sales shall be, and are hereby declared to be null and void, and of none Effect.

The colony authorized the leases of Tuscarora lands in 1766.

### Pennsylvania

The colony passed its first prohibition on private purchases of Indian lands in 1683:

> [I]f anie person shall presume to buy any Land of the Natives in the Limits of this Province or territories thereof, without Leave from the Proprietary and Governor therof, or his desputy, Such person shall Lose the said Land, and pay [fine of 10 shilings per 100 acres].

The statute was abrogated by the crown in 1683, but re-enacted the same year. A similar law was passed in 1700 and supplemented in 1730 by more specific legislation (and exempted from any statute of limitations).

The colony passed legislation to clear title to all land grants from the colony in 1712; the act declared such grants "free and clear, and freely and clearly acquitted and discharged, or otherwise well and sufficiently saved harmless and indemnified by the said proprietary, his heirs and assigns, of and from all Indian claims, and all other [claims of non-Indians]."

In 1768, the colony proscribed violations of the Royal Proclamation of 1763; the punishment was to be "death without the benefit of clergy." In 1769, the punishment was set at a 500-pound fine, 1 year in prison without bail or mainprise, plus a moiety paid to the poor.

### Rhode Island

Early Rhode Island laws restricted Indians from certain areas. Later laws were also passed in this vein.

In 1651, the colony passed its prohibition on private purchases of Indian lands:

> [N]o purchase shall be made of any Land of the natives for a plantation without the consent of this State, except it bee for the clearinge of the Indians from some particular planatations already sett down upon; and if any shall so purchase, they shall forfeit the Land so purchased to the Collonie . . . .

A 20-pound fine was added in 1658. The wording of the prohibition was broadened and a 100-pound fine was added in 1727. The colony repealed its prohibition on private purchases of Indian lands in 1759. Certain sachems were prohibited from selling land in 1763.

A 1663 law purported to commemorate the "surrender of [the Narragansetts], their subjects and their lands" to the protection of the King. The colony authorized the acquisition of certain Narragansett lands in 1672. In 1696 and 1713, laws were passed to void the purchases of various Narragansett lands. Leases were permitted in 1718 and extended in 1738.

### South Carolina

The colony established the Palawanee Island as a reservation for the "Cusaboe" Indians in 1712. In contrast, the colony appropriated Yamasee lands in 1716.

In 1739, the colony passed its prohibition on private purchases of Indian lands:

> [N]o person or persons whatever shall buy, bargain or treat for, or by any way or means whatever, procure, hold, obtain, or get any lands . . . from any Indian or Indians whatever.

### Virginia

Early colonial laws removed or permitted settlers on Indian lands on an ad hoc basis. The first Indian reservations were established in 1649. A Totopotomoi reservation was confirmed in 1653; a "Wiccomocco" reservation in 1659; an "Accomack" reservation in 1660; a "Chickaominy" reservation in 1661 and 1662.

Prohibitions on private purchases of Indian lands were passed in 1649, 1652, and 1656. A new prohibition was passed in 1752. The right of pre-emption was delegated to Northampton County in 1654.

Title clearing acts were passed in 1660 and 1676. Reservation boundaries were tightened in 1705. Various sales ad leases were authorized or retroactively confirmed in the 1720s through 1770s.

## See also

- Indian barrier state
- Indian Reserve (1763)


West Coast (Lana Del Rey song)

"West Coast" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey for her third studio album, Ultraviolence (2014). Written by Del Rey and Rick Nowels, it is a melancholy love song about a woman torn between love and ambition, and as a dedication to the West Coast of the United States.

A psychedelic rock and soft rock ballad, "West Coast" was noted to be an evolution and more guitar-orientated in sound for Del Rey and was produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. Described as a two-in-one song, its shifting tempo transitions downward by nearly 60 beats per minute at the chorus, in a rhythmical shift reminiscent of the Beatles' "We Can Work It Out" (1965), introduced by the guitar lick that begins the Beatles' "And I Love Her" (1964). In the song, Del Rey's vocal comprises a more sensual and demented tone than in her previous discography, and are often sung in an anxious "breathy" style.

Released as the lead single from the album on April 14, 2014, "West Coast" received critical acclaim from music critics who commended its unconventional composition and Del Rey's uncharacteristic vocal delivery. Several news media sources went on to list it as one of the best songs of 2014, including Consequence of Sound, NME and Spin. "West Coast" debuted at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100, making this Del Rey's highest debut and third highest-charting single of her career, while also being her first single to enter the Rock Airplay chart where it reached number 26. The song marked Del Rey's eighth top 40 hit on the UK Singles Chart where it peaked at number 21.

An accompanying black-and-white music video, directed by Vincent Haycock, was released on May 7, 2014. Shot at Marina del Rey, California and Venice, Los Angeles, it uses a minimalist and melancholy approach to depict Del Rey torn between two love interests, one of which is portrayed by Hollywood tattoo artist Mark Mahoney. The clip was well received by critics and was nominated for a 2014 MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography. Del Rey promoted "West Coast" with live performances at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Austin City Limits Music Festival and Glastonbury Festival 2014. The song has also been covered by James Vincent McMorrow, Royal Blood, Missio (duo), KUNGS and Max Jury.

## Background

"West Coast" was written by Del Rey and her frequent collaborator Rick Nowels in California, with Del Rey composing its lyrics and melody, and Nowels its chords. In November 2013, Del Rey traveled to Electric Lady Studios in New York City, which she occupied for five weeks alone, and produced the track by herself from a guitar before later hiring session drummer Maximilian Weissenfeldt, while Nowels would come by "every now and then". Together, they produced the initial recording of "West Coast" as a classic rock-inspired song. Del Rey developed the track as a dedication to the West Coast of the United States, but with the intention of it being more psychological, which resulted in the track becoming distant from that of the verse–chorus form. She felt the song's slow, shifting tempo was important because it reflected her mental state during its writing. Del Rey initially completed her third studio album Ultraviolence in December 2013, but at the time was dissatisfied with a demo she had recorded for "West Coast". She then met Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys by chance at Electric Lady Studios and then again on a night out in Queens, New York, and realized she needed to re-record the track to incorporate his looser production techniques. That night Del Rey explained to Auerbach her interest to develop a song containing jazz undertones, "West Coast fusion" influenced by The Beach Boys and the Eagles, and a 1970s Laurel Canyon-type revival.

Subsequently, Del Rey traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to re-record "West Coast" and tracks from its parent album with Auerbach in a 3-week session at his studio, Easy Eye Sound. She invited him to add a more casual, California vibe to the song by recording in single takes, with a blues-like Shure SM58 microphone. According to Auerbach, the recording of "West Coast" was sung "99% live" by Del Rey in a room adjacent to one where a seven-piece band were recording the track's instrumentation. Auerbach produced the song's electric guitar, shaker, 12-string acoustic guitar and synthesizer instrumentation, while Nick Movshon was credited as a bassist and drummer on "West Coast". The track's strings were recorded separately from the main recording at a studio in Glendale, California called The Bridge.

Del Rey opined that the track's demo sounded very different to Auerbach's reproduction. When Del Rey first played "West Coast" to her record label, Interscope Records, they were dissatisfied with its chorus being slower in beats per minute than its verses. They responded to her, stating, "None of these songs are good for radio and now you're slowing them down when they should be speeded up". In an interview with The Guardian, Del Rey explained that she felt "murky" with her life during the song's writing, and it was that feeling which influenced it to sound disconnected from mainstream pop.

## Composition

A psychedelic rock and soft rock ballad, "West Coast" also contains elements of reggae, indie rock, Latin rock, 1960s music, 1980s "drive time," and "narcoticized" swing. The track's subversive sound is the result of its comprising jagged instrumentation and laid-back groove, similar to that of the Classics IV's "Spooky" (1967). The opening riff solicits a "wavy" sound reminiscent of The Black Keys' Turn Blue (2014), and is continued throughout the rest of the song. Described as a two-in-one track, its shifting tempo transcends downward during the chorus mark, following into a rhythmical shift reminiscent of The Beatles' "We Can Work It Out" (1965), Being more guitar-orientated than the singer's previous output, it is based around minimal, country-tinged, surf guitar, and "twangy" drum instrumentation. The track's slower second section opens with a descending blues riff reminiscent of The Beatles' "And I Love Her" (1964), in which the production switches between a half-mumbled baritone and layered choral symphony, among neo-noir motif. Its chorus scythes across juddering bass and off-kilter percussion instrumentation. Towards the end of the track's duration, a stray burst of G-funk shrill synth is solicited.

Incorporating an ease to her vocal delivery, Del Rey eased her vocal delivery by crooning the hook "Move baby, move baby / Ooh baby, ooh baby" throughout the chorus shift, in a style that recalls Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen" (1982). Del Rey uses an inexpressive, ventriloquizing tone in the song, with her voice being layered into the track's production by means of reverberation. In addition, her vocals use a more sensual and sinister tone than in her previous discography, and are often sung in an anxious and "breathy" style, and in an octave just above a whisper. She also sings the track's backing vocals which in part contribute to the song's ethereal feel, through distant, faraway moans. MuuMuse's Bradley Stern observed that Del Rey's voice skipped between "breathy franticness and slurred, drugged-out ecstasy". Throughout the song, she restrains her delivery during its verses, but sings in a sweeping, cinematic style in its chorus.

"West Coast" was noted to be a cross between the works of bands Portishead and Beach House. It was also highlighted that the track deviated from Del Rey's formula in Born to Die and Paradise (2012), as an evolution of their sound, though without doing so in its entirety. Harriet Gibsone of The Guardian described it as "side-stepping slowly from the Twin Peaks melodrama of Born to Die," while Tim Jonze of the same publication said the song "ditched the hip-hop trappings of Born to Die". Its eeriness, omnipresent in previous Del Rey tracks, takes on a full-on psychedelia sound, recalling The Turtles' "You Showed Me" (1969). "West Coast" is set in the simple time signature of , with a moderately fast tempo of 123 beats per minute in its verses, and a slow tempo of 65 beats per minute in its chorus. It is composed in the key of F minor, with Del Rey's vocals spanning the range from F2 to C5. The track has basic a chord progression of Fm-Fm-E-D-Fm-E-D in its first verse, and Bm-D-Fm-Fm-Cm-D-D-E in its chorus.

A melancholy love song, its lyrics depict a woman torn between love and ambition. "West Coast" also serves as a dedication to Del Rey's California hometown, and elicits imagery from its titular location. In the song, she sings about leaving a lover for the Californian promise of fame, and emphasizes on a gulf between a sweetly uncomplicated romance and a boozily dysfunctional relationship. Similarly to her previous works, the lyrics are both specific and vague, and complement the track's "dreamlike" sonics. "West Coast" sets up a disunity between form and content, and though a love song, its sound is more reminiscent to that of a breakup song. It was also noted that the lyrics depict a vivid picture of teenage summer memories and forgotten romance. Comparing the track's lyrical content to that of Sonic Youth's "Superstar" (1994), Grantland's Molly Lambert analyzed: "While Born to Die–era Lana often displayed a preening 'please notice me, Mr. Producer!' energy, the Lana of 'West Coast' sounds like a starlet struggling not to become disaffected with show business after feeling her way through a few too many casting-couch sessions, still hoping that big break might be on the horizon."

## Release

"West Coast" served as the lead single from Ultraviolence. The song's title was first announced by the singer on April 3, 2014, on Facebook and Twitter. On April 10, 2014, Del Rey posted the track's single art on Twitter with the lyric, "Down on the West Coast, they got a sayin'...", as its caption. The same caption was used in a promotional billboard which was put up in Los Angeles the same day. The heavily yellow artwork, which makes use of an Instagram filter camera lens, features Del Rey donning soft makeup while standing on a Californian coastline afront crashing waves. She has a forlorn facial expression in the cover, and is depicted with a subtle frown with her eyes staring straight into the camera. Del Rey sports a beach-inspired look with a wave-like hair style, denim jacket and white shirt. Some critics speculated that the artwork hinted that the sound of "West Coast" would continue in the laid-back style of Born to Die. "West Coast" was premiered by BBC Radio 1's Fearne Cotton on April 14, 2014, and the track's audio was uploaded to the singer's Vevo page later that day. The song was first solicited to contemporary hit radio in Italy also on April 14, 2014. It was later released as a digital download in Canada and the United States on April 22, 2014, and then in most international territories a day later. However, the digital release of "West Coast" was slated to May 25, 2014 in the United Kingdom, and May 30, 2014 in Germany. The song impacted modern rock radio in the United States on June 3, 2014.

A remix by Dan Heath—who produced Del Rey's "Blue Jeans" (2012)—was premiered by Vice on May 19, 2014. A shorter mix by Auerbach which featured stronger, clearer emphasis on Del Rey's vocals was designated as the radio edit of the song. Auerbach's new version solicited a significantly lighter sound than the original, and incorporates elements of Caribbean and tropical music. Several other remixes were commissioned for the release of "West Coast", including remixes by Alle Farben, Camo & Krooked, Four Tet, Jabberwocky, MK, Solomun, The Young Professionals and Zhu.

## Critical reception

"West Coast" received critical acclaim from contemporary music critics. Michael Nelson of Stereogum commented, "This is just a haunting, hypnotic piece of music that sends chills up and down my entire skeleton, especially when the tempo shifts downward on the chorus". Nylon writer Liza Darwin deemed the track "silky-smooth" and "total ear candy". Lauren Valenti of Marie Claire lauded the song as "a slice of retro heaven". The track was noted by Stern to be "revolutionary" in the sense that it sounded "entirely different from anything being offered in pop music at the moment" and deemed it "the very antithesis of everything radio in 2014". Kyle Fowle of The A.V. Club named "West Coast" as the album's most accomplished track and "the one song on Ultraviolence that gets the formula of Lana Del Rey right". AltSounds deemed the track as one of Del Rey's best works and one of the best singles released in 2014. The publication went on to opine, "when songs defy descriptions, and artists defy expectation, they tend to stick around long after the 'pop hits' and divas have suck back into obscurity". Oyster journalist Jerico Mandybur commented, "there's no denying that the song has excellent aural pulling power, especially if you like your odes to LA mysterious, darkly surfy and dripping in femme fatale".

Carolyn Menyes of the Music Times named "West Coast" as one of her favorite Del Rey songs to-date, highlighting Auerbach's influence as what benefited it most. In her review, she went on to opine, "Her voice plays off it well, too, and she actually feels passionate on this song, as opposed to her typical bored thing". While Caitlyn Carter, Joey DeGroot and Kyle Dowling of the same publication named it a stand-out on Ultraviolence. Kate Hutchinson of The Guardian called it "one of the finest pop songs of the last five years". While Kitty Empire of the same publication wrote, "The engaging West Coast improves on every hearing, a clever two-in-one track rich with detail, rhythm, atmospherics and class". Drowned in Sound's Robert Leedham said that with "West Coast", Del Rey developed a song to "trump" "Video Games" (2011), and a "new found guttural swagger". Leedham also commended Del Rey's key changes, "masterful" sway from tension, and reverberation in the song. Scott T. Sterling of the CBS Corporation opined that the track expanded the dimensions of Del Rey's sound, and that it was "one of the most distinctive hits of 2014". The Boston Globe writer James Reed commented, "'West Coast' has a noirish sensuality, which opens into a chorus that mimicks the heady rush of a first toke".

Caryn Ganz of Rolling Stone called the track a "striking departure" in sound for Del Rey, and said its groove transformed her "from chanteuse into frontwoman for a few glorious moments". In a review of Ultraviolence, Mike Diver of Clash said that in the context of the album, "West Coast" took on greater significance by serving as a fulcrum which balances the record into "leaving a better impression than it otherwise might". Consequence of Sound's Sasha Geffen described the song as "a counterintuitive gem" and "the sort of thing that rings beautifully from old car windows on hot summer evenings," while Marissa G. Muller of Vice called the track "one of the Golden State's best-ever anthems".

### Recognition

"West Coast" was listed as one of the best songs of 2014 by several news media sources. On The Village Voice's Pazz and Jop critics' year-end list in 2014, "West Coast" was ranked at number 49. Cosmopolitan placed "West Coast" at number 3 on its list of the 50 Best Songs of 2014. The staff of the Music Times also placed "West Coast" at number 3 on their list of the 25 Best Songs of 2014, with De Groot writing, "With the release of 'West Coast,' Lana Del Rey's music finally converged with the complexity and intensity of her persona, and it was glorious". Idolator ranked the song at number 5 on its list of 2014's Best Pop Singles. Bianca Gracie of the website stated that "nothing else on the album sounded quite like 'West Coast'" and described the song as the "soundtrack for endless summers to come". The single was named one of the 50 best songs of 2014 by NME (number 11), Consequence of Sound (number 25), and Stereogum (number 31). Spin ranked the track at number 29 on their list of the 101 Best Songs of 2014, while also deeming it "the lushest and most narcoleptic Top 40 hit of 2014". Joshua Ostroff of The Huffington Post placed "West Coast" at number 12 on his list of the Best Songs of 2014, calling it "perhaps too dark to win the song of the summer title it deserved".

## Commercial performance

Despite not being heavily promoted to radio in the United States at the time, "West Coast" debuted at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending May 3, 2014. It marked Del Rey's highest debut and her second-highest charting single on the chart, behind "Summertime Sadness" which peaked at number 6 in September 2013. 68% of the single's chart points in its opening week were attributed by digital sales of 118,000 copies, while the remaining 32% were attributed by 2.7 million streams. "West Coast" consequently debuted at number 6 and number 16 on the Digital Songs and Streaming Songs charts respectively. The song fell off the Billboard Hot 100 in its second week, but re-entered the chart at number 100 on July 5, 2014, following the release of Ultraviolence. "West Coast" became Del Rey's first single to chart on the Rock Airplay chart where it peaked at number 26 and spent a total of 9 weeks on the chart.

In Canada, "West Coast" bowed at number 26 on the Canadian Hot 100 issued for May 3, 2014. It marked Del Rey's second highest-peaking single in the country, after "Summertime Sadness" which peaked at number 7. In Oceania, "West Coast" entered the Australian Singles Chart at its peak of number 44 on May 4, 2014, and spent two weeks on the chart in total. While the song also debuted at number 31 on the New Zealand Singles Chart where it became Del Rey's third single to chart in New Zealand after "Summertime Sadness" and "Young and Beautiful".

"West Coast" entered the French Singles Chart at number 34 for the week ending April 26, 2014; it consequently became Del Rey's seventh top 40 hit in France, and spent 26 weeks on the chart in total. On the German Singles Chart, "West Coast" peaked at number 22, charting for a total of 14 weeks, while also marking the singer's fourth top 40 hit in Germany. In Ireland, "West Coast" bowed at number 31 on the Irish Singles Chart issued for April 17, 2014, becoming Del Rey's fifth top 40 hit in the country and spending 7 weeks on the chart in total. "West Coast" initially placed at number 14 in the midweek UK Singles Chart, but later debuted at number 21 on the chart issued for June 7, 2014, with first-week sales of 15,649 copies. Following the release of Ultraviolence in the United Kingdom, "West Coast" rebounded to number 36 with sales of 5,517 units. The song became Del Rey's eighth top 40 hit in the country and went on to accumulate a total of 6 weeks on the chart. Elsewhere, "West Coast" peaked within the top 10 in Greece and Israel, and the top 20 in Hungary, Italy, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland.

## Music video

### Development and release

The accompanying music video for "West Coast" was directed by Vincent Haycock, and shot at Marina del Rey, California and in Venice, Los Angeles, in early April 2014. Aside from Del Rey, the clip also features Hollywood tattoo artist Mark Mahoney who plays the singer's love interest in the clip's chorus segment, and American model Bradley Soileau who plays the same role in another scene. Del Rey described Mahoney as her confidante, lover and procurer in the video. In an interview with Clash, the singer mentioned, "Like the record, [the music video is] atmospheric, and you catch a directional vibe, but it's not that pointed, and it's hard to tell what is going on". She attained inspiration for the clip from the Chet Baker documentary Let's Get Lost (1988), and her love of the red dress effect. The singer also wanted the video to be mood-driven, and for its final scene, to transcend from black-and-white imagery to a "HD color dream scene".

Images from the music video first emerged online on April 7, 2014. The audio release of "West Coast" on April 14, 2014, was accompanied by a looped, black-and-white snippet from the music video of the singer embracing a leather jacket-clad man at the beach. On April 24, 2014, following the single's debut on the Billboard Hot 100, it was announced that the video would premiere "in the next few days". Del Rey later released a teaser of the visual on Instagram on May 2, 2014. The footage featured the same shots obtained for the audio loop, and Del Rey smoking and lighting a cigarette, Sunset Strip billboards and incomplete couplets. On May 6, 2014, Interscope prematurely uploaded an unfinished version of the clip, before promptly removing it and then premiering the finished version a day later. It was digitally released on the iTunes Store on May 12, 2014. The music video has since drawn in more than 100 million views on YouTube.

### Synopsis

The black-and-white music video was noted to have predominantly dark, brooding, hazy, mysterious and sun-stroked imagery, and portrays Del Rey evoking her distinguished personality. Using a minimalist and melancholy approach, it features several artistic shots of California scenery and cameo appearances by two men portrayed as bad boy archetypes. Del Rey engages in 1960s apparition, numerous swaying and twirling actions, and sings with her eyes closed throughout the music video. CBS Corporation writer Courtney E. Smith described the clip as "the yin and yang of youthful hope, the kind Hollywood lives by attracting, and cynical industry, the kind Hollywood thrives on but hides".

The video begins with rolling waves and shots of palm tree-lined roads, and gulls. A posse of skateboarders are also pictured in this scene. At first, the clip appears to function in small, romantic gestures, reminiscent to that of a fashion magazine advertisement. The singer is pictured in two visually different love affairs. In the first, Del Rey is shown clinging to a younger, long-haired blond, leather-clad man on a beach, where she narcotically flits around the Pacific Ocean shorefront, and splashes in its waves with him. At the 1:20 mark, the song and its visuals simultaneously switch up, with the singer being pictured donning diamond jewelry, sitting alongside a more mature and svengali-type man who wears sunglasses, as a chauffeured convertible barrels forward in slow motion. Del Rey's love interest in this segment recalls age disparity in sexual relationships, producer Robert Evans, and Scott Weiland. In another scene, the two are depicted nuzzling and smoking in the back seat of the car. Del Rey depicts a woozy and solemn persona in these segments, while the pair caress each other under passing streetlights. The clip then returns to the scene of Del Rey and her younger love interest on the beach. The aforementioned segments are intercut with scenes that appear to be shot on a low-quality camcorder.

A plot twist then occurs towards the clip's ending with the use of fire and technicolored imagery, where Del Rey gently brushes her hair off her shoulders in the middle of superimposed flames. The singer sports a red dress in the Sunset Boulevard-styled scene and sings "I'm in love" continuously while up in flames, until the music video fades out.

### Analysis and reception

The music video for "West Coast" was noted to share several similarities with Del Rey's previous videography. Its black-and-white, old-school imagery recall her video for "Blue Jeans" and the introduction to "National Anthem". While the home-recorded footage scenes were a technique previously used in "Video Games" and "Summertime Sadness", and its tattooed hand close-ups recall those of "National Anthem". One of Del Rey's love interests in the clip, Soileau, previously appeared in the same role in "Blue Jeans" and "Born to Die", while another shares appearance similarities to her love interest in "Ride". Del Rey's characteristic cat eye-make up and swaying actions were also highlighted. Speculation arose that her mature love interest in the visual was inspired by the "old man" character she sang of in "Off to the Races" and her then-fiancé, Barrie-James O'Neill. The clip garnered comparisons to Chris Isaak's music video for "Wicked Game" (1990).

The visual was well received by music critics and was nominated for a 2014 MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography, but lost to Beyoncé's music video "Pretty Hurts". Chad Saville of the Greenspun Media Group called the clip a "mysterious, yet artful celebration of all things California". Opining that the music video was "Lana Being Lana," Billboard journalist Jason Lipshutz commented: "Will she burn her past and head towards the west coast in search of stardom? In many respects, she's already there." Lipshutz's view was echoed by John Boone of E! who deemed "West Coast" Del Rey's "most Lana Del Rey-y video yet" and noted that it contained "the most glamorous smoking you've ever seen". Refinery29's Hayden Manders said the clip contained the three elements of a "perfect Del Rey video"; "cigarettes, a tragic Hollywood starlet and Bradley Soileau". Manders went on to write that "West Coast" contained "enough melancholy to give 'Summertime Sadness' a run for its moody money". Rolling Stone writer Killian Young felt that the clip evoked the style of old-fashioned Hollywood film noir. While HitFix's Melinda Newman felt the visual was a "time-told tale in Hollywood," but "so well-realized, [...] It could play out in Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice fashion".

Writing for Slant Magazine, Alexa Camp said the music video faithfully mirrored the song's lyrics and was understated by Del Rey's usual standards. Darwin who opined that the clip recalled Del Rey's short film Tropico (2013), deemed it "a total cinematic gem," and "a gorgeous mashup of retro glamour and modern independence". The visual was also lauded by Complex writer Lauren Nostro who called it a "stunning, cinematic" and "beautiful" video, and Anna Moslein of Glamour who deemed it "summer-perfect". Zumic's Bradley Bershad described the clip as "a slightly bizarre, very dramatic trip through time and space" and said its noir influences matched the track well, adding that its "old school meets new school" feel continued the musical persona Del Rey had crafted for herself. Bershad's view was shared by Smith who wrote, "It pretty well marries together her continuing play with female sexuality, Hollywood stereotypes and insistence that she is her own creation". While DeGroot commended the video's black-and-white photography and flame imagery which he opined were less pretentious than that of "Jeremy", which "West Coast" was compared to. Matthew Bramlett of TheWrap opined that Del Rey "perfectly encapsulates her 'vintage California rich kid' look" in the video and described the clip as "very chic, with just a twinge of the old Hollywood flair" the singer had embraced in her previous visuals. In a mixed review, Patrick D. McDermott of The Fader called the visual "classic, kind of sad [Del Rey] in romantic black and white", but felt it was confusing and "on-brand...a meticulous homage to nothing in particular". While Nelson wrote that the clip failed to enhance the song, but was understated enough not to detract from the music.

## Live performances

Del Rey first previewed a verse of "West Coast" in a live performance at a show in Las Vegas on April 11, 2014. She then premiered the song live in a performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 13, 2014. She performed the song afront a natural backdrop of palm trees while donning a sundress, and during the rendition descended from the stage to kiss audience members. The performance resulted in Del Rey becoming the most-mentioned artist at Coachella on Twitter during the festival's first weekend. According to Keith Caulfield of Billboard, the song's reception at Coachella largely contributed to its debut of number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. VH1's Meghan O'Keeffe said the rendition was met with rave reviews and that "the crowd ate it up". Lipshutz commented, "Del Rey's Coachella performance was so strong that [she] would have been forgiven if 'West Coast' proved to be a dud, but thankfully, the new single sounded like a winner when played live for the first time". On April 15, 2014, she performed the track as part of a once-off show at the Comerica Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. According to Jim Louvau of the Phoenix New Times, Del Rey's rendition received a "great reception," while Ed Masley of The Arizona Republic called it "a sultry majesty".

"West Coast" also featured in Del Rey's set list for her 2014 worldwide concert tour. At the tour's stop in Nashville on May 2, 2014, her performance of the track was viewed by the Nashville Scene as a "fitting rendition that hinted at the good things possibly to come from her forthcoming album". Del Rey's performance of the track at a date at the House of Blues in Boston on May 6, 2014, was viewed by Reed as "loose, freewheeling sensuality as sun-kissed as the California lifestyle [the song] evokes". Her rendition of "West Coast" at a date in Aragon, Georgia on May 17, 2014, was deemed "a sensual declaration" by Bob Gendron of the Chicago Tribune. Her performance of the song at the PNE Amphitheatre in Toronto on May 25, 2014, was criticized by Francois Merchand of the Toronto Sun who wrote, "'West Coast' lacked tonal control, and this is where the weakness of Del Rey's movements (limited to hand gestures and soft hip sways) couldn't mask the singer's lacklustre delivery".

Del Rey performed "West Coast" wearing kohl-smudged eye makeup, a tie-dye sundress and hoop earrings, as part of her debut set list for the Glastonbury Festival 2014 on June 28. The rendition was accompanied by visuals from the song's music video as Del Rey's backdrop. Hutchinson described the performance as "actionless loveliness" and commended its "burbling guitars, hazy atmospherics, perfect cooing, [and] epic drums". Mark Savage of BBC News said the rendition was "suitably dramatic". At a date of her promotional tour, in Cork on July 15, 2014, Del Rey draped herself in the flag of Ireland during her performance of "West Coast". Del Rey also sang "West Coast" at the Austin City Limits Music Festival on October 4, 2014. The track was later reprised during her two-date gig at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, beginning on October 17, 2014.

## Cover versions

Irish singer James Vincent McMorrow performed a "dreamy," high-pitched rendition of the track for Triple J on June 6, 2014. A remixed rendition of the track was released by American singer Travis Garland on July 10, 2014. Garland's version incorporated more sleek production with elements of trap. British band Royal Blood covered "West Coast" during their session for NPO 3FM on September 15, 2014. American duo Missio released a cover of the song on March 3, 2016.

## Formats and track listings

- Digital download

1. "West Coast" – 4:16

- Digital download – Remix EP

1. "West Coast" (Zhu Remix) – 4:24
2. "West Coast" (Ten Ven Remix) – 4:33
3. "West Coast" (The Grades Icon Mix) – 4:20
4. "West Coast" (MK Remix) – 5:26

- Digital download – Remixes

1. "West Coast" (Solomun Remix Dub) – 8:07
2. "West Coast" (Solomun Remix) – 8:07

- Digital download – The Remixes (France)

1. "West Coast" – 4:16
2. "West Coast" (Radio Mix) – 3:48
3. "West Coast" (The Young Professionals Minimal Remix) – 3:57
4. "West Coast" (Jabberwocky Remix) – 3:35
5. "West Coast" (Alle Farben Remix) – 7:08
6. "West Coast" (The Young Professionals Dark Remix) – 5:41
7. "West Coast" (Yavuz Ak & FevZee Remix) – 6:16
8. "West Coast" (The Grades Icon Mix) – 4:19
9. "West Coast" (Solomun Remix) – 8:09

- Digital download – The Remixes (Germany)

1. "West Coast" (Radio Mix) – 3:47
2. "West Coast" – 4:16
3. "West Coast" (Alle Farben Remix) – 7:05
4. "West Coast" (Yavuz Ak & FevZee Remix) – 6:16
5. "West Coast" (The Grades Icon Mix) – 4:17
6. "West Coast" (Solomun Remix) – 8:07
7. "West Coast" (The Young Professionals Minimal Remix) – 3:56
8. "West Coast" (Jabberwocky Remix) – 3:34
9. "West Coast" (The Young Professionals Dark Remix) – 5:39

## Credits and personnel

Recording locations

- Recorded at Easy Eye Sound, Nashville, Tennessee
- Strings recorded at The Bridge, Glendale, California

Personnel

- Lana Del Rey – songwriter, vocals, background vocals
- Dan Auerbach – electric guitar, production, shaker, 12-string acoustic guitar, synthesizer
- Collin Dupuis – engineering
- Nick Movshon – bass guitar, drums
- Rick Nowels – songwriter
- Maximilian Weissenfeldt – drums

Credits and personnel adapted from the Ultraviolence album liner notes.

## Charts

### Weekly charts

### Year-end charts

## Certifications

## Release history

2014 single by Lana Del Rey

Song recordings produced by Dan Auerbach