according to brenna ehrlich of mtv news, "ultraviolence" tells the story of a "typical lana del rey romantic relationship: broken, failed and painful." the song contains a reference of the crystals’ 1962 single "he hit me (it felt like a kiss)" in its chorus. kevin rutherford of radio.com remarked that "ultraviolence" maintained the theme of songs previously released from the album, it "ups the lilting, low-tempo, strings-heavy form" del rey had established in her earlier work. sal cinquemani of slant magazine described "ultraviolence" as a "laconic, string-laden torch song". in the line "i can hear sirens sirens, he hit me and it felt like a kiss," del rey references the 1962 the crystals song "he hit me (and it felt like a kiss)", and, according to harriet gibson of "the guardian", "appear[s] to romanticise brutality". a writer for the music times commented that the "violins, lightly thumping drums and del rey's angelic singing" gave the song a "church-y" feel, pointing out that the track presented her "title sound".