"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"."Ich will ich sein Lana Del Rey" (in German), Intro, Germany, June 2014. 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.
