Violets Bent Backwards Over the Grass by: Lana Del Rey book review

    Violets Bent Backwards Over the Grass is a book full of unreleased songs and poetry written by the one and only, Lana Del Rey. In this collection of poetry she writes about her simple day to day interactions with people and just random things she wants to talk about. Although this doesn't seem like the most interesting book to read it does show a very enlightening perspective on where she gets her music inspiration from. There are various images in the book that show a little more about what the poems are about and what they mean to her, which I feel, adds a special touch and is what makes the poems unique. My favorite poem of hers happens to be one of the first poems in the book titled "Violets Bent Backwards over the grass."  My favorite line of this poem is "I decided to do nothing about everything forever" which is accompanied with an image of a dandelion in a patch of grass. Real. 

    When I found out she had written a book, I was very excited but also confused that it wasn't going to be a biography about her life. Lana Del Rey has a very interesting backstory to how she got to where she is now and only talks about it through music. However, I realized the relationship through her poetry if you dig deep enough, shows the full story. In a poem titled "Sports Cruiser" she explains how she took a bunch of classes on how to become a pilot and a sailor to distract herself from a person she used to know. She would go on to explain that every instructor that was there guiding her told her she didn't trust herself. By the end of this poem she realized all this time she was trying to be something she wasn't, she always had been a writer and felt the most herself when in the element writing. "I thought of mentioning it but I didn't. Because captains aren't like poets. They don't make metaphors between the sea and sky. And as I thought that to myself I realized- that's why I write. All this circumnavigating the earth was to get back to my life. 6 trips to the moon for my poetry to arise. I'm not a captain, I'm not a pilot I write I write." 

    In Violets Bent Backwards  there are many parallels from her albums like NFR and her most recent album Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. These albums are a lot like this book because they follow Lana through her journey of self discovery but with the dark reality of loosing your sense of self in the beginning before it gets better. I hope you guys enjoyed this book review and I greatly suggest listening to Lana! If you need suggestions for songs or albums lmk!! 💪💪😻🙏🔥🔥🔥