pawn shop blues

Lana Del Rey Gave Us a Preview Of Her New Poetry Book—Plus, She Even Wrote Us a Little Something!
 
“Even at her plainest, she is opaque.”
“In this most present of moments, she was already living in the past tense.”
“It’s a multiple choice test with every answer scanned ‘C.’”
“The result is something like a dog that, when its leash is tugged, simply lies on the ground and shuts its eyes: basking in the sun, feeding off its warmth, never giving an inch.”
 
These are not lines from Lana Del Rey’s new book of poems Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass (Simon & Schuster), out on Monday, but snips from past New York Times reviews of the singer-songwriter’s work. Let’s call it the Lana-effect. The tendency for fans, critics, and writers (this one included) to deploy a string of campy descriptives in their attempt to do her justice. You could say everything Lana touches turns to poetry. You could say it’s high time she released a volume of it.
 
Though Lana Del Rey disciples have appealed to non-believers that her lyrics are poetry. And though Del Rey scatters Walt Whitman and Sylvia Plath references into her songs (a track from Honeymoon plays like a gauzy, haunting recitation of T.S. Eliot’s Burnt Norton), this is indeed the first time she has classified her own work as poetry.
 
The book, which features ripe citrus fruits in Hockney-esque colors on the cover, contains over 30 poems. If in her songs, Del Rey coos with a nostalgia for a bygone era she has not actually experienced, in Violet, the longing manifests via typewritten pages of her poetry, which are digitally scanned before being printed in the book. The rare typos are corrected in pen; some lines are askew, suggesting a crooked page placement; and one poem has what appears to be a coffee stain. Her poem titles are achingly romantic, you'd half-expect one of them to be tattooed in slanted script on her forearm: “Never to Heaven,” “The Land of 1,000 Fires,” “LA Who Am I to Love You?”, “Tessa DiPietro,” “Paradise Is Very Fragile,” “Bare Feet on Linoleum.” They contain in them love/hate letters to her current Los Angeles, and peace offerings to her past life in New York. (According to contemporary poets, Violet smacks of Allen Ginsberg.) 
 
Del Rey had dropped hints about Violet on her Instagram: There have been posts of her type-written poems, a tease of the book’s cover, and a description of the charity that proceeds from her book will benefit (The Navajo Water Project). One video has Del Rey reciting “Room 2”: The video is colored in shades of sepia, and a pair of red plastic retro sunglasses are affixed to her hair like a tiara. She also reads her poems aloud in Violet's audiobook, which was released in July and received a musical treatment courtesy of her frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff. Together, the pair crafted her highly lauded album Norman Fucking Rockwell! and this fall, they'll give us yet another record, Chemtrails over the Country Club.
 
Days ahead of the release of Violet, Vogue caught up with the singer-songwriter. She gives us insight into her writing process, a preview of two poems, and she even wrote us a little something special. 
 
 
How did you land on the idea of releasing a book of your own poems?
I had never planned to put out a book of poetry. It was when I stopped working on music completely and stopped working in the other fields I was interested in and took a big break that long-form poems started to come to me in the middle of the day. I was kind of surprised because I had no intention of being creative during my break. As the year and a half to two years went by, I started to realize that alongside the photos I had been capturing of the places where I spend most my time—from Vernon to San Pedro—I had a complete book. I planned on hand-binding it until Simon & Schuster asked if they could publish it. When I realized I could donate the entirety of the advance to the Navajo nation and downtown Los Angeles community, I felt it was the right thing to do. I made that my focus rather than what people would think of the actual poetry—considering I initially did it without any intention of selling it at all.
 
You’ve spoken about writing poetry long before Violet was born—what are your poetry writing habits?
Again my writing was somewhat accidental and as the year has gone on since I’ve finished the book, I’ve found that I’m getting better and better. The poems still come to me somewhat out of nowhere and mostly when everything in my life is calm. I never really sit down to write, but I’m often struck by something as I’m driving or walking.
 
Do you remember the first time a poem captured your attention? Is there an instance of a work or line leaving a lasting impression?
Absolutely. When I was in boarding school in 10th grade, my teacher Mr. Campbell focused on the beat poet era, and ‘Howl’ by Allen Ginsberg struck me probably as nothing ever has before. I didn’t necessarily have the inclination then to write poetry, but I knew that I had sort of found my crazy niche of people.
 
Your song lyrics are so poetic, how do you set out to write a poem versus a song? How does the process differ? Do you ever find yourself orchestrating soundtracks around the poems you write?
I would say the process of writing the poems is somewhat similar to my songwriting in that if I get lucky enough to catch that lightning in a bottle by hearing a melody in my mind or a phrase for a couplet in a poem, it seems to come out of nowhere. I definitely don’t ever find myself orchestrating music to the poetry. Because the way that the words come is very different. The cadence and structure of the poems seems foreign to me, whereas songwriting is very natural. I often wonder if that means that I’m not a very good poet or if the whole process is more like a channeling.  
 
Your lyrics are lush with literary influences, Whitman in particular, but are there any unlikely sources of inspiration you pull from?
I guess the best way I could describe an unlikely influence would be living by on the fray and with my ear to the ground. I’m never completely in the center of the mix of culture. I’m kind of somewhere to the side so I can have a lot of space to let my own muse direct my daily activities. … I don’t read much formal poetry anymore, although I had a long time where I did. I think a very heavy influence are the stories behind the writers I love rather than the works themselves. … Such as the life and death of F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck.
 
In a recent interview with Interview, Jack Antonoff mentions his favorite line in the book is “I can do that.” Could you also zero in on a line that resonates with you?
Yes, I would say that the line that resonates most for me is actually from the same poem—the very title and single line from that poem:
My bedroom is a sacred place now
there are children at the foot of my bed
telling me stories about the friends they pretend to hate
that they will make up with tomorrow
To me, that is the sweetest, truest line from the book—other than a line from the poem “salamander” about wanting my poems to be something that I forget about and then remember again casually or papers that my husband finds under the table. All of it is about a life of sentimentality, a wish for a healthy family, a nod to the turmoil of family, of origin, and the willingness to dig my hands and mind deep into all of those imaginings.
 
Some of your fans might be picking up their first book of poetry when readingViolet. What guidance would you offer? How are they meant to experience it?
Well, it’s a vulnerable thing in some ways to write a book of any sort. So it is truly meant to be found by those who just come upon it… And I think that’s the whole point for any fans of mine to remember that when you do things for fun and for yourself, it just might end up being one of the best things that you’ve ever done regardless of people’s opinions of them. Sometimes the most important thing to ask yourself is: What would I do if I was willing to be completely embarrassed? And by doing that, I often find I am taking my next right action.
 
How are Violet and Chemtrails meant to interact? Are there echoes between them?
I’m really not sure yet. Sometimes I see similarities in things I do at the same time in hindsight. I would say the connecting factors are probably trying to maintain my position in the center of my family and moving that unit around the country safely between the midwest to the south and back to California and in doing so staying connected with our dear friends. Sometimes there is a burden of being more recognized than others and a concern of safety on top of my younger self not having felt safe all of the time. So there is a bit of wistfulness but determination to figure things out in both the album and book.
 
Can you tell us about the cover art for the book?
Yes! I’m honored to have asked Erika Lee Sears for her painting of the oranges as my cover art. I think she is one of the most fantastically talented living artists and I can’t wait for other people to find her. Even as we speak her work is being shown in more and more art magazines. Symbolically of course, I love the aliveness and juiciness and vibrance that an orange or a tangerine suggests. I’ve used them as motifs many times.
 
Would you be able to write a quick line/verse for us?
Niko calls me Elizabeth,
he reminds me to take my medication every day at four and then when I say I’m still anxious
he says-
that’s what you’re here for.
And there’s something in the way he looks at me
a little bit too long
that makes me feel good about leaving my ex
makes me feel like a song
makes me feel like a poem that he’s reading
scanning me like paper
It hurts a little bit to watch him watch me
but it’s better than being led on
 
 
 
By Lilah Ramzi
Source: Vogue
 
 
 

And this is why Lana is fed up with the music industry establishment. She innovates, everyone else copies her. Everyone else gets the credit and Lana gets snubbed at the awards losing to people who copied her.
 
Anyway, Lana’s book comes out in one month! Looking forward to it! 

why did I actually look for lana help 

I wasn't sure what to expect but I think this is the only real way to cover Lana---just make it your own as much as you can. Lana's style is too specific to try and imitate. 

Yeah I love how she made it her own thing, that's how covers should be imho!
 
 
Yeah, same. I'm not that into Trixie's music (it's just not really my style) but I like her covers are great tbh, this one is not exception! Also, agree about the instrumentation, it's really beautiful. 

I wasn't sure what to expect but I think this is the only real way to cover Lana---just make it your own as much as you can. Lana's style is too specific to try and imitate. 

Lana looks like a 15 year old who just stole her parent's car and wants to post about how badass she is on instagram. This is embarrassing and it would be embarrassing even if she was 15, let alone 35. 
 
All that being said...damn she looks so good. That story is the best she has looked in a long time. Like seriously. 

Lana looks like a 15 year old who just stole her parent's car and wants to post about how badass she is on instagram. This is embarrassing and it would be embarrassing even if she was 15, let alone 35. 
 
All that being said...damn she looks so good. That story is the best she has looked in a long time. Like seriously. 

Lana looks like a 15 year old who just stole her parent's car and wants to post about how badass she is on instagram. This is embarrassing and it would be embarrassing even if she was 15, let alone 35. 
 
All that being said...damn she looks so good. That story is the best she has looked in a long time. Like seriously. 

Lana looks like a 15 year old who just stole her parent's car and wants to post about how badass she is on instagram. This is embarrassing and it would be embarrassing even if she was 15, let alone 35. 
 
All that being said...damn she looks so good. That story is the best she has looked in a long time. Like seriously. 

Lana looks like a 15 year old who just stole her parent's car and wants to post about how badass she is on instagram. This is embarrassing and it would be embarrassing even if she was 15, let alone 35. 
 
All that being said...damn she looks so good. That story is the best she has looked in a long time. Like seriously. 

i like this. it touches on intent, and the degree of the naturalness of things. like, more on design and culminations of them. I'd wanna get high and talk all philo existential w her how amazing would that be.

anyone else notice she said this in the interview magazine video as well? 

She followed elle on both her main and honeymoon out of nowhere so shes gone far enough to find out who owns this site and prolly followed her out of interest/to keep tabs on her

She's definitely been on this board because she knows the shit we say about her and that's why she loves mentally torturing us and delaying releases, keeping us in the dark, etc. At least half of the drawn out NFR pre-release period was just a fuck you from Lana to us because she read what we were saying about Lust for Life lol. 

The way this is easily her messiest, most chaotic era and we haven't even heard a full song yet. Blackout era confirmed. 

Lana looks like a 15 year old who just stole her parent's car and wants to post about how badass she is on instagram. This is embarrassing and it would be embarrassing even if she was 15, let alone 35. 
 
All that being said...damn she looks so good. That story is the best she has looked in a long time. Like seriously. 

Lana looks like a 15 year old who just stole her parent's car and wants to post about how badass she is on instagram. This is embarrassing and it would be embarrassing even if she was 15, let alone 35. 
 
All that being said...damn she looks so good. That story is the best she has looked in a long time. Like seriously. 

Lana looks like a 15 year old who just stole her parent's car and wants to post about how badass she is on instagram. This is embarrassing and it would be embarrassing even if she was 15, let alone 35. 
 
All that being said...damn she looks so good. That story is the best she has looked in a long time. Like seriously. 

I think what’s she’s doing is wrong. She should know better.  But how many of you here have done wreckless shit? Lana clearly isn’t an angel and is impulsive at times.  We have to live with the fact she has flaws and this is how she is. 

Lana looks like a 15 year old who just stole her parent's car and wants to post about how badass she is on instagram. This is embarrassing and it would be embarrassing even if she was 15, let alone 35. 
 
All that being said...damn she looks so good. That story is the best she has looked in a long time. Like seriously. 

Lana looks like a 15 year old who just stole her parent's car and wants to post about how badass she is on instagram. This is embarrassing and it would be embarrassing even if she was 15, let alone 35. 
 
All that being said...damn she looks so good. That story is the best she has looked in a long time. Like seriously. 

Lana looks like a 15 year old who just stole her parent's car and wants to post about how badass she is on instagram. This is embarrassing and it would be embarrassing even if she was 15, let alone 35. 
 
All that being said...damn she looks so good. That story is the best she has looked in a long time. Like seriously.