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"Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman like Me to Have – but I Have It" (stylized in all lowercase, registered as "Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman like Me" and previously known as "Sylvia Plath" or "Sylvia") is a song by Lana Del Rey from her sixth studio album Norman Fucking Rockwell!. It was released on January 9, 2019, as the third single from the album.

Background and inspiration[]

It was recorded on January 29, 2018, in the same sessions as "Love Song".

Del Rey first mentioned the song as "Sylvia" on February 15, 2018, during the concert in San Diego, part of the LA to the Moon Tour.

On October 25, 2018, she posted a snippet of the song on her Instagram account, announcing that it will be featured on Norman Fucking Rockwell!.[1][dead link] She also tweeted lyrics to the song.[2]

On December 3, 2018, Elle magazine reported that the song would be the next single off the Norman Fucking Rockwell! album, although no official confirmation was given by Del Rey's team.[3]

On January 2, 2019, Del Rey announced the song would be the third single, changing its name from "Sylvia Plath" to "Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman like Me to Have – but I Have It", in an since deleted Instagram post featuring a slightly extended snippet.[4]

The song's producer, Jack Antonoff, revealed via Twitter that this song was one of two songs him and Del Rey recorded during their first session in the studio. He added that it was recorded without a click track in mostly live takes over felt piano.[5]

The song was inspired by Sylvia Plath, who was a famous American poet, novelist, and short-story writer.

Del Rey revealed in an interview for Vogue Korea that it took 3 years to finish this song.[6]

An extended version of the song was registered on PPL Repertoire. It lasts 5 minutes and 58 seconds.[7]

August 22, 2019, in her interview with Billboard magazine, she said this about the track: “It was staggered with references from living in Hollywood and seeing so many things that didn’t look right to me, things that I never thought I’d have permission to talk about, because everyone knew and no one ever said anything,” she says in a tangle of sentences as knotty as the lyrics themselves. “The culture only changed in the last two years as to whether people would believe you. And I’ve been in this business now for 15 years! So I was writing a song to myself.” She exhales deeply, sinking back into the sofa. “Hope truly is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have, because I know so much.” Del Rey pauses. “But I have it.”"[8]

Music video[]

Music video Information
Hope_is_a_dangerous_thing_for_a_woman_like_me_to_have Released August 25, 2021
Length 5:58
Director Lana Del Rey
Producer N/A
Filmed 2019
Location Los Angeles, California
Vevo views 88,294+


On August 25, 2021, Del Rey released a homemade video for the song on her UHaulJoe YouTube channel.[9][dead link] It is speculated to have been recorded in 2019.

Cross-references[]

Official versions[]

  • Album version — 5:25
    • Instrumental version — 5:24
  • Single version — 5:24
  • Extended version — 5:58

Lyrics[]

Physical version[]

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 
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 I’m not

I've been tearing around in my fucking nightgown
24/7, Sylvia Plath
Writing in blood on my walls
'Cause the ink in my pen don't work in my notepad
Don't ask if I'm happy
You know that I'm not but at best I can say
I'm not sad
'Cause hope is a dangerous thing
For a woman like me to have

I had fifteen year dances
Church basement romances yeah I've got
Spilling my guts with the Bowery Bums
Is the only love I've ever known
Except for the stage which I also call home when I'm not
Serving up God in a burnt coffee pot
For the triad
Hello it's the most famous woman you know on the iPad
Calling from beyond the grave, I just wanna say "Hi, dad"

I've been tearing up town in my fucking white gown
Like a goddamn near sociopath
Shaking my ass is the only thing that's
Got this black narcissist off my back
She couldn't care less
And I never cared more
So there's no more to say about that
Except hope is a dangerous thing
For a woman like me to have
Hope is a dangerous thing
For a woman with my past

There's a new revolution
A loud evolution
That I saw
Born of confusion
And quiet collusion of which
Mostly I've known

A modern day woman
With a weak constitution
'Cause I've got
Monsters still under my bed
That I could never fight off
A gatekeeper carelessly dropping the keys on my nights off

I've been tearing around in my fucking nightgown
24/7, Sylvia Plath
Writing in blood on your walls
'Cause the ink in my pen don't look good in my pad
They write that I'm happy
They know that I'm not
But at best you can see I'm not sad
But hope is a dangerous thing
For a woman like me to have
Hope is a dangerous thing
For a woman like me to have
Hope is a dangerous thing
For a woman like me to have

But I have it
Yeah, I have it
Yeah, I have it
I have

‘Cause I had you in- in my head. Are you real? Are you real? Yeah? Is there any chance that I’m just gonna wake up on the floor and the song won’t exist? I’ll be very sad. If I wake up, and you don’t exist, and the song doesn't exist... yeah, I hope you’re real.

Digital version[]

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 
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 I’m not

I've been tearing around in my fucking nightgown
24/7, Sylvia Plath
Writing in blood on my walls
'Cause the ink in my pen don't work in my notepad
Don't ask if I'm happy
You know that I'm not but at best I can say
I'm not sad
'Cause hope is a dangerous thing
For a woman like me to have

I had fifteen year dances
Church basement romances yeah I've got
Spilling my guts with the Bowery Bums
Is the only love I've ever known
Except for the stage which I also call home when I'm not
Serving up God in a burnt coffee pot
For the triad
Hello it's the most famous woman you know on the iPad
Calling from beyond the grave, I just wanna say "Hi, dad"

I've been tearing up town in my fucking white gown
Like a goddamn near sociopath
Shaking my ass is the only thing that's
Got this black narcissist off my back
She couldn't care less
And I never cared more
So there's no more to say about that
Except hope is a dangerous thing
For a woman like me to have
Hope is a dangerous thing
For a woman with my past

There's a new revolution
A loud evolution
That I saw
Born of confusion
And quiet collusion of which
Mostly I've known

A modern day woman
With a weak constitution
'Cause I've got
Monsters still under my bed
That I could never fight off
A gatekeeper carelessly dropping the keys on my nights off

I've been tearing around in my fucking nightgown
24/7, Sylvia Plath
Writing in blood on your walls
'Cause the ink in my pen don't look good in my pad
They write that I'm happy
They know that I'm not
But at best you can see I'm not sad
But hope is a dangerous thing
For a woman like me to have
Hope is a dangerous thing
For a woman like me to have
Hope is a dangerous thing
For a woman like me to have

But I have it
Yeah, I have it
Yeah, I have it
I have

Credits[]

Personnel
  • Lana Del Rey — songwriting, production, vocals
  • Jack Antonoff — songwriting, production, piano, synthesizer
  • Laura Sisk — engineering, mixing
  • Chris Gehringer — mastering
Technical
  • Mastered at Sterling Sound
  • Recorded at Rough Customer Studio, New York, United States / Sunset Banana Split, Los Angeles, United States
  • Mixed at Rough Customer Studio, New York, United States

References[]

  1. Del Rey, Lana (October 25, 2018). "SYLVIA PLATH from NORMAN FUCKING ROCKWELL 🎥". Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BpXYuXCAopb/. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  2. Del Rey, Lana (October 25, 2018). "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- smiling for miles in pink dresses and high heels on white yachts. But I’m not baby I’m not that". Twitter. Archived from the original on February 8, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200208084320/https://twitter.com/LanaDelRey/status/1055523725867593728.
  3. Tang, Estelle (December 3, 2018). "How Ariana Grande, Robyn, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Lana Del Rey Are Changing Pop Music". Elle. https://www.elle.com/culture/music/a25357389/best-female-pop-singers-2018/. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  4. Del Rey, Lana (January 2, 2019). "Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you enjoy the new song I’m putting out on the ninth it’s called ‘hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have- but i have it’ Also as of last week I finished a short book of poetry I’ve been writing over the last 13 months that I’ll be putting out later. In the meantime though I’d like to apologize in advance for upcoming cancellations of shows you’ll be hearing about– I wish I could fulfill those obligations but I won’t be able to Thanks L". Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/lanadelrey/videos/134513980802530/. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  5. Antonoff, Jack (January 10, 2019). "hope is a dangerous thing is one of 2 songs that happened the first day that lana and i were in the studio. recorded no click mostly live, felt piano + lana’s perfect vocal. sounded exactly like that in the room. this one means a lot. listen at night alone". Twitter. https://twitter.com/jackantonoff/status/1083508601409454080. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  6. Joo-Hyun, Lee (May 13, 2019). "자레드 레토와 라나 델 레이의 기묘한 여정 [The curious itinerary of Jared Leto and Lana Del Rey]" (in ko). Vogue Korea. http://www.vogue.co.kr/2019/05/13/자레드-레토와-라나-델-레이의-기묘한-여정/. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  7. ISRC Code: GBUM71903509
  8. Garvey, Meaghan (August 22, 2019). "Lana Del Rey on Finding Her Voice and Following Her Muse: ‘I Have Never Taken a Shortcut’". Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8527901/lana-del-rey-billboard-cover-story-2019. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  9. UHaulJoe (August 25, 2021). "hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have". YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehVVzS94Pbc.
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