Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass

Lana Del Rey

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781982167288
• eBook ISBN: 9781982167301
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Music Biographies
• Index: Literature

The New York Times bestselling debut book of poetry from Lana Del Rey, Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass.

“Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass is the title poem of the book and the first poem I wrote of many. Some of which came to me in their entirety, which I dictated and then typed out, and some that I worked laboriously picking apart each word to make the perfect poem. They are eclectic and honest and not trying to be anything other than what they are and for that reason I’m proud of them, especially because the spirit in which they were written was very authentic.” —Lana Del Rey

Lana’s breathtaking first book solidifies her further as “the essential writer of her times” (The Atlantic). The collection features more than thirty poems, many exclusive to the book: Never to Heaven, The Land of 1,000 Fires, Past the Bushes Cypress Thriving, LA Who Am I to Love You?, Tessa DiPietro, Happy, Paradise Is Very Fragile, Bare Feet on Linoleum, and many more. This beautiful hardcover edition showcases Lana’s typewritten manuscript pages alongside her original photography. The result is an extraordinary poetic landscape that reflects the unguarded spirit of its creator.

Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass is also brought to life in an unprecedented spoken word audiobook which features Lana Del Rey reading fourteen select poems from the book accompanied by music from Grammy Award–winning musician Jack Antonoff.

Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass

I went to a party

I came in hot

made decisions beforehand

my mind made up

things that would make me happy

to do them or not

each option weighed quietly

a plan for each thought

But then i walked through the door

past the open concept

and saw Violet

bent backwards over the grass

7 years old with dandelions grasped

tightly in her hands

arched like a bridge in a fallen handstand

grinning wildly like a madman

with the exuberance that only doing nothing can bring

waiting for the fireworks to begin

and in that moment

i decided to do nothing about everything

forever.

Bare feet on linoleum

Stay on your path Sylvia Plath

don’t fall away like all the others

Don’t take all your secrets alone to your watery grave about

lovers and mother

The secrets you keep will keep you in deep like father and Amy

and brother

And all of the people you meet on the street will reiterate lies

that she uttered

Leave me in peace I cry

late at night on a slow boat bound for Catalina for no reason

tiny beads of sweat dot my forehead

could be mistaken for dewdrops if this were photo season.

But alas this is a real life - and it’s been a real fight just to

keep my mind from committing treason.

Why you ask?

Because she told the townspeople I was crazy and the lies they

started to believe them

But anyway - I’ve moved on now

And now that I’ve gone scorched-earth

I’m left wondering where to go from here.

To Sonoma where the fires have just left?

South Dakota?

Would standing in front of Mount Rushmore feel like the Great

American homecoming I never had?

Would the magnitude of the scale of the sculpture take the place

of the warm embrace I’ve never known?

Or should I just be here now

In the kitchen

Bare feet on linoleum

Bored - but not unhappy

Cutting vegetables over boiling water that I will later turn

into stew.

What happened when I left you

Perfect petals punctuate the fabrics yellow blue

silver platters with strawberries strewn across the room

In Zimmerman with sandals on one summer dress to choose

Three girls

eyes rolled

loud laughter

dust specks lit by afternoon

My life is sweet like lemonade now there’s no bitter fruit

eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

no thought of you

My thoughts have changed

my voice is higher

now i’m over u

No flickering in my head movies

projected in Bellevue

Because I captured the mood of my wish fulfilled

and sailed to Xanadu

The grief that came in waves that rolled I navigated through

The fire from my wish as wind to a future trip to Malibu

now everything I have is perfect

nothing much to do

just perfect florals

green embroidered chairs

one dress to choose

LA Who am I to Love You?

LA, I’m from nowhere who am I to love you

LA, I’ve got nothing who am I to love you

when I’m feeling this way

and I’v...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• 1. Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass
• 2. Bare feet on linoleum
• 3. What happened when I left you
• 4. The Land of 1000 fires
• 5. Never to Heaven
• 6. Tessa DiPietro
• 7. Past the bushes Cypress thriving
• 8. SportCruiser
• 9. Quiet Waiter Blue forever
• 10. In the hills of Benedict Canyon
• 11. Happy
• 12. Sugarfish
• 13. Ringtone
• 14. In the flats of Melrose
• 15. Thanks to the Locals
• 16. Paradise is Very Fragile
• 17. Salamander
• 18. Haikus
• Notes for a Poet
• A Note on Images
• About the Author
• Copyright