Over muted piano, Lana Del Rey muses on the expectations of being a celebrity and the desire for inner peace. The title is a reference to the 1994 movie The Shawshank Redemption when Tim Robbins' character Andy describes to Red (played by Morgan Freeman) how it was hope that got him through his time in time in solitary confinement. Red dismisses the comment, saying, "Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane."
The minimalist ballad finds Lana Del Rey comparing herself to Sylvia Plath. 24/7 Sylvia Plath, writing in blood on the walls The troubled American author and poet, who committed suicide in 1963, has long been an influence on Del Rey. Like Plath, the singer has always had a flair for the melancholic; in 2018 Clash Books published a volume titled Tragedy Queens: Stories Inspired by Lana Del Rey & Sylvia Plath.
Del Rey also references classic celebrity photographer Slim Aarons. I was reading Slim Aarons and I got to thinking that I thought Maybe I'd get less stressed if I was tested less like All of these debutantes Smiling for miles in pink dresses and high heels on white yachts But I'm not, baby, I'm not Aarons was noted for photographing socialites, jet-setters and debutantes in the 1950s and '60s. People expect Del Rey to behave like the sort of smiling celebrity he was renowned for snapping, but that's not her style.
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