Lana Del Rey Shares New Spoken Word Piece ‘patent leather do-over’

    Lana Del Rey has unveiled a new spoken word piece titled ‘patent leather do-over’ from her upcoming poetry collection behind the iron gates – insights from an institution. Check it out below.

    The poem opens by paying homage to Sylvia Plath, referencing her novel The Bell Jar. Jack Antonoff, who produced her 2019 album Norman Fucking Rockwell, composed the music.

    This isn’t the first time Del Rey has made a reference to Plath in her music. On last year’s ‘hope is a dangerous thing for a woman to have – but i have it’, she sang: “I’ve been tearing around in my fucking nightgown/ 24/7 Sylvia Plath”.

    Earlier this week, Del Rey announced the album’s September release date in an Instagram post that stirred controversy. She wrote: “Now that Doja Cat, Ariana, Camila, Cardi B, Kehlani and Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, fucking, cheating etc. – can I please go back to singing about being embodied, feeling beautiful by being in love even if the relationship is not perfect, or dancing for money – or whatever I want – without being crucified or saying that I’m glamorizing abuse??????”

    In subsequent posts, she further explained her comments, stating: “I remain firm in my clarity and stance in that what I was writing about was the importance of self-advocacy for the more delicate and often dismissed, softer female personality.”

    She added that her forthcoming album would further explore those themes, and ‘patent leather do-over’ is the first taste of that. “Sylvia, Marilyn, Violet, Diana,” she intones, “all of the kind women that came before me, blonde/ I dyed my hair black for you/ I turn my back on that black pond.”

    In addition to behind the iron gates – insights from an institution, the singer has another spoken word album in the works, titled Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass.

    Konstantinos Pappis
    Konstantinos Pappis
    Konstantinos Pappis is a writer, journalist, and music editor at Our Culture. His work has also appeared in Pitchfork, GIGsoup, and other publications. He currently lives in Athens, Greece.

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