"Paradise Is Very Fragile" is a poem released by Lana Del Rey for her first poetry book Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass.
Cross-references[]
- Paradise is also referenced in "Dark Paradise", "Angels Forever", the EP, and the two songs of the same name, among many others.
- Florida is also mentioned in "Florida Kilos", "Axl Rose Husband" and "Elvis".
- Hurricanes are also mentioned in "Noir", "Playing Dangerous" and "Resistance".
- LA is also referenced in the poem "LA Who Am I to Love You".
- Del Rey also talks about aviation in the song of the same name and the poem "Sportcruiser".
- The phrase "In my veins" also appears in "You're Gonna Love Me".
- Wildfires in California are also mentioned in "The Greatest" and in the poems "The Land of 1000 Fires" and "Bare Feet On Linoleum".
- '5150' is a California law code that states that a person might be held in a psychiatric facility against their will if they present a danger to themselves or their loved ones.
- The line "our leader is a megalomaniac" is a direct reference to US president Donald Trump. Del Rey has been vocal and open about her political and ideological views against him.
- Having dreams for the country is also a theme that appears in "Looking For America".
- "Lately I've been thinking" is a lyric that also appears in "Change".
- The biblical story of Adam and Eve that appears in one of the stanzas is the main theme of the 2013 short film Tropico.
- Tasting like a beach is also mentioned in "Watercolor Eyes".
- 'Kundalini' in Hinduism is a term that refers to a form of the divine feminine energy in Yoga.
Poem[]
Paradise is very fragile,
and it seems like it’s only getting worse
Down here in Florida
We’re fighting red toxic tides
Mass of fish kills
Not to mention hurricanes and rising sea levels
Back in Los Angeles, things aren’t looking much better
My treehouse that’d been standing for 60 years succumbed to the Woolsey fires
Who would’ve thought that this year at 33
You would’ve been taken out from under me
After all those years
Built from the ground up, by hand, by your very first owner
Quiet world war one, aviation pilot
I tried to save you but the horses and the german shepherds were more important
Paradise is very fragile,
and it seems like it’s only getting worse
Our leader is a megalomaniac,
And we’ve seen that before
But never because it was what the country deserved
My friends tell me to stop calling 911 on the culture,
but it’s either that or I 5150 myself
They don’t understand
I’m a dreamer
And I had big dreams for the country
Not for what it could do, but how it could feel
How it could think, how it could dream
I know
Who am I to dream for you?
It’s just that in my own mind
I was born with a little bit of paradise
I was lucky in that way
Not like my husband
Who was born and raised in hell
I always had something gentle to give
All of me, in fact
It’s one of the beautiful things about me
It’s one of the beautiful things about nature
But lately I’ve been thinking that I wish
Someone had told me when I was younger
More about the inhabitants that thrive off of paradise
That should they take too much,
There would be nothing left to give
Not everyone’s nature is golden and green
And you can’t fight what’s in your nature
I got to thinking about it as
We were fighting the fires in Agora
But I’m tired of fighting you
Paradise is very fragile,
and it seems like it’s only getting worse
And every time I think of that,
I think about the curse bestowed upon Eve, that fateful eve,
She took that bite of fruit from that fruitful tree.
And this summer night, you in front of me,
Makes me contemplate the origins of good and evil
Because you take and you take and take and you take,
But you taste like the beach and a kiss
Candy for my eyes
In my veins you run citrus
Watercolor images of serpents on orange trees
Arise in my midst
Kundalini, you breathe me
I could do this forever
But my heart is very fragile,
and I have nothing left to give