Is there a better way to enter the new year than with a reflective Lana Del Rey song in which she likens herself to talented, troubled poet Sylvia Plath? We think not. The well-named and very beautiful hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have — but I have it is taken from her forthcoming Norman Fucking Rockwell album, a much-anticipated Jack Antonoff collaboration.
“I was reading Slim Aarons and I got to thinking that I thought / Maybe I’d get less stressed if I was tested less like all of these debutantes,” it opens. “Smiling for miles in pink dresses and high heels on white yachts/ But I’m not, baby, I’m not / No, I’m not that.” She first teased the confessional musings on Twitter back in October, before eventually sharing the full track last night.
It feels more honest, more her, than ever before, peaking with the heart-hurtingly relatable line; “don’t ask if I’m happy / You know that I’m not / But at best I can say I’m not sad”. Speaking of poetry, Lana has suggested that she’s just finished writing a book of the stuff. Something for Gucci perhaps.
Takeaway: life is tough and it’s hard to be happy, but it’s so important that we try. Or, as one fan commented on YouTube, “I think my tears are crying my own tears.”
