"Never to Heaven" is a poem released by Lana Del Rey from her first poetry book Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass.
Background[]
On April 11, 2019, Del Rey shared the full poem on her Instagram account.[1][dead link] The poem was also featured in an article for Vogue Italia, along with "Bare feet on linoleum", that was released on June 2, 2019.
Cross-references[]
- Heaven is mentioned in "Television Heaven", "You & Me", "Match Made in Heaven", "Video Games", "Coachella - Woodstock in My Mind" and many other songs. A reference to heaven also appears in another poem "Past the Bushes Cypress Thriving".
- Angels are also mentioned in "Angels Forever, Forever Angels", "Gods & Monsters", "Don't Call Me Angel" and "Arcadia".
- God is also referenced in "Gods & Monsters", "God Knows I Tried" and "God Bless America - And All The Beautiful Women In It".
- Television is also mentioned in "TV in Black & White", "Trash Magic" and "Television Heaven", among many others.
- Joe is also mentioned in the album version of "How to Disappear".
Poem[]
[Stanza 1]
May my eyes always stay level to the horizon
may they never gaze as high as heaven
to ask why
May I never go where angels fear to tread
so as to have to ask for answers in the sky
The whys in this lifetime i've found are inconsequential
compared to the magic of the nowness- the solution to most
questions
there are no reasons.
and if there are- i'm wrong
but at least i won't have spent my life waiting
looking for God in the clouds of the dawn
or listening out for otherwordly contact
30 billion light years on
No. i'll let the others do the pondering
while i'll be sitting on the lawn
readin something unsubstantial
with the television on
I'll be up early to rise though of course-
but only to make you a pot of coffee
That's what i was thinking this morning Joe
that it's times like this as the marine layer lifts
off the sea from the view of our favorite restaurant
that i pray that i may
always keep my eyes level to your eyeline
never downcast at the table cloth
You see, Joe
it's times like this that the marine layer lifts
off the sea on the dock with out candle lit
that i think to myself
there are things you still don't know about me
like sometimes i'm afraid my sadness is too big
and that one day you might have to help me handle it
[Stanza 2]
but until then
may i always keep my eyes level to this skyline
assessing the glittering new development
off of the coast of Long Beach
never to heaven or revenant
Because i have faith in man as strange as that seems
in times like these
and it's not just because of the warmth i've found in your
brown eyes
but because i believe in the goodness in me
that it's firm enough to plant a flag in
or a
rosebud
or to build a new life.
References[]
- ↑ Del Rey, Lana (April 11, 2019). "but until then may I always keep my eyes level to this skyline assessing the glittering new development off of the coast of Long Beach never to heaven or revenant because I have faith in man as strange as that seems in times like these and it’s not just because of the warmth i’ve found in your brown eyes but because I believe in the goodness in me that it’s firm enough to plant a flag in or a rosebud or to build a new life.". Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BwG7HzODf2U/.