"Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman like Me to Have – but I Have It" (stylized in all lowercase and previously known as "Sylvia Plath" and "Sylvia") is a song by Lana Del Rey from her upcoming sixth studio album Norman Fucking Rockwell!. It was released on January 9, 2019, as the third single from the album.
Background and inspiration
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] She also tweeted lyrics to the song.[2]
On December 3, 2018, Elle magazine reported that the song would be the next single of the upcoming 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 songs 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]
Cross-references
- Mention of a debutante is also found in "Fake Diamond".
- "Writing in blood on my walls" is a line echoed from "Heroin".
- Del Rey also describes herself as a sociopath in "Serial Killer".
Official versions
- Single version — 5:24
- Extended version — 5:58
Lyrics
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
External links
- Buy/stream "Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman like Me to Have – but I Have It"
References
- ↑ Lana Del Rey. (October 25, 2018). Instagram. "SYLVIA PLATH from NORMAN FUCKING ROCKWELL 🎥" (Access date: October 28, 2018)
- ↑ Lana Del Rey. (@LanaDelRey). Lana tweets lyrics to new song. (October 25, 2018). Twitter. [Access date: January 8, 2019]
- ↑ Tang, Estelle. (December 3, 2018). "How Ariana Grande, Robyn, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Lana Del Rey Are Changing Pop Music". Elle. [Access date: January 8, 2019]
- ↑ Lana Del Rey. (January 2, 2019). Lana teases 2nd snippet of 'Sylvia Plath' as 'Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman like Me to Have – but I Have It". Facebook. [Access date: January 8, 2019]
- ↑ Jack Antonoff. (@jackantonoff). Jack tweets about Hope Is a Dangerous Thing. (January 10, 2019). Twitter. [Access date: January 10, 2019]
- ↑ Joo-Hyun, Lee. (May 13, 2019). "The curious itinerary of Jared Leto and Lana Del Rey". Vogue Korea. [Access date: May 13, 2019]
- ↑ ISRC Code: GBUM71903509
- ↑ https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8527901/lana-del-rey-billboard-cover-story-2019
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