Lana Del Rey has shared a spoken word poem titled ‘Patent Leather Do-Over’, taken from her upcoming poetry collection behind the iron gates – insights from an institution.
The piece, a reference to Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, comes accompanied with music composed by Norman Fucking Rockwell collaborator Jack Antonoff.
“Sylvia, I knew what you meant when you talked about swimming in the ocean and leaving your patent leather black shoes pointed towards it while you swam,” begins the piece.
Watch below.
behind the iron gates – insights from an institution is one of two collections Del Rey has on the way, the other being Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass.
Del Rey has most recently been in the news for a series of comments she made last week. In her first post (in which she also announced her new album will be released this September), Del Rey struck out against allegations her work “glamorizes abuse”. However, many saw the way Del Rey chose to begin the post as an attack on other artists, most of whom were women of colour.
“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??????”
Del Rey went on to respond to the backlash, clarifying her position in further comments and another post. “Despite the feedback I’ve heard from several people that I mentioned in a complementary way, whether it be Ariana or Doja Cat—I want to say that 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.”
