the worst part is, hayden (ethels creator), has stated that ethel is an unreliable narrarator. why does this matter? because the real story behind thorouhghfare is that isaiah kidnapped ethel, and the stockholm syndrome made her remember it in a sweet way. this is not a happy story. also you two are awesome
@@tjarlie6731basically Ethel Cain runs from her small town after 1 boyfriend and the most recent died and faces the fact her father abused her as a child she then meets a man who in her own word she willingly comes with on a road trip to California but in her missing person report it says she was forced in a strange man’s car. Later on the man she went with who’s name was Isahiah drugs her and sells her body for drug money. Later on she gets killed by him and cannablized and the last few songs are her going to heaven and saying goodbye to her loved ones from beyond
@@Croquette832 So the album is basically a made-up story and none of this actually happened to her? sorry I don't know anything, I only know some songs
@@mobaobaeEthel is so traumatized and unable to process all the abuse she’s been through that she has begun to romanticize her kidnapper Isaiah. And because the album is from her perspective, the lyrics point that way, but the materials surrounding the album make you realize that her experiences might not be the way she’s describing them.
@@leowoodwind7723 true, but she still had hand and creative direction in all of them, and some of the best songs on the album she completely self produced !! crazy bro she’s so underrated
men reactions are like "oh, this is scary" ladies and trans folks, we really get the song, we connect with that level of fear only a man can bring, we scream and cry with Ethel
in strangers, she says “how funny, i never considered myself tough” which means like she always saw herself as weak but also her flesh is tough cause she’s been in a freezer when he tried to eat her 🤢
Just a little clarification about strangers: the last acoustic verse is all about her mom, it’s not addressing Isaiah (the guy that kills/cannibalizes her). This was very intentional because Hayden (the artist behind Ethel Cain) is planning a trilogy of albums with Preacher’s Daughter being the first, and the next being about Ethel’s mother (Preacher’s Wife). Also, near the end of Strangers when the guitar comes in and she repeatedly asks “am I making you feel sick?” To me is kind of Ethel coming to the realization of the treatment she’s endured, and almost finding some sort of justice in the fact that Isaiah is having a breakdown and getting sick from eating her flesh. In the story, the police are also basically outside Isaiah’s house ready to arrest him as he eats Ethel. So although it’s kind of perverse and twisted, Ethel still finds satisfaction in breaking free from her abuse and getting the last laugh so-to-speak.
yes!! The “am I making you feel sick”’s feel like a shift from disappointment/being nervous that she AGAIN wasn’t good enough into a twisted satisfaction seeing just a piece of retribution being served let alone it being caused from her own body
@@koenahs9974 Hayden drops little bits of lore in live streams and such so she mentioned the part about the police during one of those. But she also has a tendency to back track so that might not end up being the final event of the story. But as of now it seems to be the case that the police know Isaiah killed Ethel and will arrest him. There might be a clip about it on TikTok.
@@florencewelchsguccidress6973 She was wrong about August Underground being a snuff film (it's pseudo-snuff film or else it would've been a crime scene evidence, never distributed, locked behind the law), but since the album's story is fictional, perhaps it is a real snuff film in this universe? Idk just a small tidbit I found out.
One thing that i love to tell people about this album is that the singer Hayden Annhedonia originally wrote this concept as a screenplay for a movie, but she could never afford to go to film school and pivoted the project to an album and book that is currently in the works. I believe it took her four years to compose this album too.
I love that thoroughfare is such a big bait and switch cause we can finally feel happiness for ethel which makes the final moment of 'happiness' in sun bleached flies so much bigger because we have been rooting for her so long
ugh i just seeing people fall in love with this album lol this video is so cool here’s a little summary of the lore for you guys as well as some recommendations of more of her songs :) if you have any questions about it feel free to ask too The singer’s real name is Hayden Anhedönia. Ethel Cain is from Shady Grove Alabama and is the daughter of Joseph (the preacher) and Vera. The album takes place in 1991 when Ethel is 20, and her dad died 10 years before the events of the album in a house fire. Family Tree (Intro) sets up the themes of the album and American Teenager is a fake pop song that’s about her frustration with the ideal American teenager and the American dream that are both impossible to achieve. The guitar at the end is also sampled from Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey. The man she’s singing about in House in Nebraska is named Willoughby Tucker, who was her highschool sweetheart (as she says in the song), but they broke up because of Ethel’s actions/behavior. The house isn’t actually in Nebraska, but an abandoned house that they would imagine was there. Western Nights is about another man named Logan Phelps, who is a criminal and in the lore later dies in a police shootout. Her father was also abusive to her, as shown in Family Tree and Hard Times. She then runs away to Texas where, in Thoroughfare, she meets Isaiah Abram. While it seems like a happy song, there’s a missing poster Hayden made that says Ethel was last seen being forced into a black truck, so Ethel could be an unreliable narrator. Then in Gibson Girl, they’ve reached California and Isaiah has began pimping her out and giving her drugs. Ptolemaea is her hallucinating. Ptolemy is also the ninth layer of Hell in Dante’s Inferno where traitors go. This could be referring to Ethel betraying her family and home by running away or Isaiah betraying Ethel. August Underground and Televangelism is her dying (from being killed by Isaiah) and her soul going to heaven, respectively. Hayden has said they’re kind of two parts of the same song, with AU being Ethel’s physical death and TV being more of her spiritual death. Televangelism is also improvised! Sun Bleached Flies is her reflecting on her life after she’s died and thinking about how she still finds comfort in the church even though she hasn’t had the best experience with it. And finally, in Strangers, Isaiah has some kind of mental break and eats a piece of her body which then poisons him. Then the slower part at the end is her talking to her mom :) Her next project is an EP of the b-sides of this album that will focus on Ethel’s teenage years and her relationship with Willoughby :). then her next two albums after that will focus on Ethel’s mom, and then her paternal grandmother making it a trilogy. she also plans to write 3 books (of which she’s currently writing the first, called Diary of a Preacher’s Daughter) and make 3 movies recommendations: albums (neither of these are part of the Ethel Cain story): Inbred - 2021 album Golden Age - 2019 Album songs: Famous Last Words (An Ode to Eaters) - released as a collab with a radio station, was written after watching Bones and All Dying Star - an Ashnikko song, but Ethel is featured Everytime - a cover of Everytime by Britney Spears some demos: Homecoming - inspired by Carrie Wrestling in Dirt Pits - i’m personally hoping this one will be on Preacher’s Wife, but it’s unknown Waco, Texas Dust Bowl - W,T and DB are both going to be on the EP and are about Willoughby Earnhardt Long Unfortunate While concrete/xxxxxxxxxx louisiana - hoping this one is on Preacher’s Wife as well Lead Poisoning
Ptolemy is not the name of the ninth circle, it's Cocytus. Ptolemaea is one of the regions of that circle, named *after* Ptolemy, who killed his own father-in-law and sons after they were invited to his home for a banquet and betrayed their trust of being well received - which connects to Ethel's story with Isaiah, that in her own vision, she trusted Isaiah and fell in love with him, even though he kidnapped her, killed her and ate her, making him a traitor. Ptolemaea could also be about Ethel hallucinating and seeing herself inside Hell's ninth circle due to the song's extremely haunting ambience.
I think "Strangers" is a very sincere and at the same time very ironic song. I like to imagine that, with death, come a different sense of self, one in which Ethel can see Isaiah as he is but, beyond that, also as a reflection of her father: a man that commited a hideous crime against her, but that she loved notheless. With that also comes the vengeful tones of the song, where she find irony and relishes in the fact that she's literaly food-poisoning him. I absolutely love the bridge where she let's out all anger she feels for what he did. This imagery of Ethel being poisonous is first stated in Hard Times when she talks about feeling like poison in the water. I feel like the guittar-stricken angry "AM I MAKING YOU FEEL SICK?" repeated over and over is directed to Isaiah AND her father. After all that she suffered, did her at least made them sick? Good, then. At least that. I also feel like after that part the song only adresses her mother, asking her to not think about her daughter's fate too much and move on, because they'll meet again someday. (that part honestly breaks me everytime omg)
@@Fhilfaith I saw her sing it live and it was almost painful to listen to it. I cried so hard that I almost wanted it to stop because how emotional it was, I loved it though. Almost everyone in the audience cried
Absolutely go deeper with it because there is so much to this album but here is some more context to this album and each song: Ethel Cain is a character created by Hayden Silas Anhedonia who is a transgender artist who grew up in the South and writes partly about her experience in the americana church through the character of Ethel (the event of Ethel Cain's life do not directly reflect what Hayden went though and Hayden is now in a good place with supportive family and friends). Hayden wrote, sang and produced the entire album herself. Hayden has also announced that there will be another 2 albums about this storyline from the perspective of her mother and possibly grandmother as Hayden likes to explore the impact of intergenerational trauma and how it is passed down. Family tree (into) The intro is just setting the stage for how Ethel is affected and traumatised by her family upbringing from religion to her relationship with her father and that no matter how much she can try, she cannot escape it. We can also note that her father (the preacher and highly respected member of the local community) died about 10 years prior to this album. American Teenager This song is an ode to the idea of the 'American Dream' which is fed to the youth of America to grow up on as the goal and future for them should they die trying for it. However this idea is actually wholly unattainable and in reality you need your neighbour more than your country needs you. This song is an expression of Ethel's frustration with all the things the 'American Teenager' is supposed to be but never had any real chance of becoming. In the song Ethel also talks about her role leading the church preaching sessions (idk if that's the right term) in place of her father after his death but doing it all while loosing her own faith and drinking all the time to cope. A House in Nebraska The name of Ethel's ex is Willoughby Tucker. Her relationship with Willoughby was also not perfect (but a whole goddamn better than the rest of this album). Another common theme in this album is that Ethel is an unreliable narrator so here she remembers Willoughby in only good light and yerns for him back. The 'House in Nebraska' was actually an abandoned house in their town in Shady Town, Alabama but they used to go there together and pretend it was their own house together in Nebraska where they were away from everything. We are unsure why the relationship ended; whether Willoughby left or died we are unsure but it's connoted that it is Ethel's fault (or at least she feels as though it was). Western Nights Ethel's next (but not final) lover is Logan Phelps who was worse than Willoughby, at times violent and yet Ethel was hopelessly in love with him in spite of it. These songs were context for Ethel's bad habit for choosing the wrong people as a result of her trauma. Family Tree Said trauma is revealed to us in Family Tree. After Logan is killed in a police shootout following a bank robbery Ethel goes on the run from the cops and come to learn of a disturbed family secret. Hard Times This song closes Act 1 of the album which is the context and her past. Hard times presents the trauma she endured of her father who used to sexually abuse her for a few years from the age of 9 until he died. His actions were kept a secret to the wider community and he continued to be respected and valued throughout the community which led to complicated feelings for Ethel towards him and how Ethel still looked up to him as her father thus growing to learn that that is what love looks like. Thoroughfare Opening Act 2 of the album, this song is the start of the current events in the present time. Once again we must knowledge the fact that Ethel is an unreliable narrator. The songs suggest that when Ethel is on the run she meets a charming Isaiah who offers her a ride and together they road trip to the West Coast during which time they fall in love. In reality Ethel is experiencing Stockholm Syndrome and Isaiah actually kidnapped her in the back of his truck and forced her to come along with her by his side. Gibson Girl After kidnapping Ethel and arriving in California, Isaiah begins to pimp her out in the back of strip clubs feeding her drugs on the regular. As a result Ethel looses her sense of reality hence the distorted production. The title refers to Charles Dana Gibson and the women he famously drew who were often depicted as the pinacol of American beauty standards. Ptolemaea Named after Alighieri's Divine Comedy - specifically Dante's Inferno (Hozier fans rise up), Ptolemy is a circle in hell reserved for traitors. This can be taken either as Ethel abandoning her family and faith or of Isaiah's betrayal to Ethel. In this song Ethel is still heavily drugged and begins hallucinating. She confronts the darkness and escapes Isaiah momentarily before he begins to run after her. This song is Isaiah chasing Ethel with the intent of killing her for escaping. August Underground Titled after the famous snuff film 'August Underground' this song represents the act of Ethel physically dying wasting away in the attic of an abandoned shack after Isaiah catches up to her and kills her. Televangelism Hayden has said that Televangelism actually happens simultaneously at the same time as August Underground. In the abandoned attic Ethel is reminded of her and Willoughby's 'house in Nebraska' which has her reminiscing and accepting her end and ascending into the afterlife (not heaven as some suggest as Ethel's faith is lost and knows no heaven/hell) Sun Bleached Flies In the afterlife Ethel makes peace with her death, forgiving Isaiah despite his actions. She reflects on her life, her family and on Willoughby who she never stopped loving. She still yerns for her father as a father figure and someone who (should have) loved her with a connection she never had. Strangers Looking down on her body from the afterlife Ethel watches Isaiah cannibalise her apologising for the fact that her body makes him sick as still wishes that she was with him as she is so in love with him that she forgives him even still. She closes the song addressing her mother who she loves and misses feeling bad for running away and leaving her and says she looks forward to the day when she sees her again in the afterlife. All in all a truly incredible album and there is still so much more lore to it so I highly recommend you do a deep dive into it should you wish. Ethel's earlier EPs and also incredible but are canonically not word for word true / necessarily part of the main storyline. Hayden has talked about and explained parts of the story in various interviews etc but there are some parts she is still leaving unexplained as these will be addressed in the later two albums she is set to release to complete the trilogy as well as a book trilogy and possibly a film as well (though don't quote me on that one as I can' remember where I heard that from) :)
What I truly find heartbreaking about this story is that even though it’s fictional, many aspects of this story are a reality for so many young people. Domestic abuse (in this case women being abused by their male partners because emotionally volatile men are all to common), child sexual abuse by members of the clergy, Women (and trans women in this case) running away from home because there’s no place for them where they came from, only to be kidnapped and left in a ditch somewhere or worse… This particular story may be fiction but its main elements are NOT fiction, too many to name have unmarked graves and untold stories throughout the years. THATS what breaks my heart experiencing this masterpiece.
I believe those last few verses after the guitar break in Strangers are all dedicated to her mom. Saying she doesn’t blame her for never stepping in during her abuse from her dad because she was also broken. And telling her not to think about all the things that could’ve happened to Ethel since she will never actually find out what happens to her daughter (eluded in the earlier verse about her in the dairy aisle). This album is a masterpiece and your reactions are so on par with what mine were!
Favorite hobby is seeing people react to this album but your friendship is just so beautiful and pure. I love it and all my love to the both of you!!! ❤❤❤
I'm addicted to watching first time reactions to this album and yours is top tier - a visceral, emotional reaction to a down-right iconic piece. I manage to hold it together until 'Momma just know that love you' and then I literally sob every time.
august underground is an allusion to the snuff film august underground, where some people just target random people to kidnap and torture (like making them eat their own feces, cutting body parts off) them throughout the film. (i could barely skim thorugh it).
Preachers Daughter follows the storyline about Ethel Cain, some of her life and her eventual death. Ethel is currently taking a break after being on tour and she is now moving, but the b-sides will be out next year and they will expand the storyline. Mostly about herself as a teenager, her relationship with Willoughby Tucker, her First boyfriend (A House in Nebraska guy) and him leaving her town. Also about Logan (Western Nights guy) and her whole family situation. There is some more work from Ethel before PD. I recommend you starting with Inbred, an EP from 6 songs (and 4 more scattered throughout YT). Its worth saying that any work before PD is not connected to the actual Ethel Cain storyline.
@@liaundercover0 When Inbred was released phsycially in 2021 it contained 4 more songs. Earnhardt, Crying During Sex, Michelle Pfeiffer Solo Version and Age of Delilah. Two Children in a Motel is not oficially part of Inbred but you could connect it because of obvious reasons
Ethel is actually dying in August Underground (The Gunshots at the end) and therefore it transitions intro Televangelism because it happens quite at the same time
I know that this was from a year ago but I needed to say I think this is my favorite reaction video of this album. You guys really got it and I was crying with you loll
It looks like y'all drove out to the middle of nowhere to listen to the album and I'm so jealous hahaha I live in a big city but I'm from rural Canada and I just KNOW listening to preachers daughter with nobody around in the woods would HIT!!!! Loved the vid it felt cathartic to listen with you guys💌
You should DEFINITELY do a reaction to "Sinner Get Ready" by Lingua Ignota. Seeing how much you loved and reacted to this, I can't recommend that album enough.
This reaction screams friendship. A true unadulterated bond. You guys are so wholesome. I don't know you, but I feel like I've known you for years through this reaction.
I think it’s important to mention that in the last few verses of Strangers, she’s talking to her mother - “Don’t think about it too hard or you’ll never sleep a wink at night again.” For me, this speaks to parents, specifically mothers, whose babies go missing and never return home. The not knowing what happened, if they’re still alive, the unspeakable - it’s more than enough to keep the mothers awake, driven insane… {makes me immensely sad to think about} Also wanted to mention, when she’s repeating, “Am I no good?” and “Am I making you feel sick?” it’s a plea for her to be desirable to at least one man, a plea for acceptance, validation. She’s concerned that even her flesh wasn’t satisfying to him and it torments her. I also get very strong visuals of like a housewife setting down a dinner plate in front of her husband and the minute he shows dissatisfaction, she’s asking, “is it not good? Is it too salty? Is the meat not done?” Etc. Such a fantastic reaction. You both felt and understood all of it. Thank you for this.
i love watching people listen to this album for the first time and this is like my favourite one of those ever i literally felt like i was there with you omg u guys seem so cool
This is one of my favourite album reactions on youtube, I come back to it a lot!! Your reactions are so earnest and reflective of this astounding album, and you're both so so beautiful!!
23:57 That talk is really "Ya'aburnee" by Halsey summarized lol Btw you should react to the album where its from! (If I Cant Have Love, I Want Power) its really good and i think you would LOVE it!
in august underground, you can actually hear isaiah walk away. if you listen close enough, you can hear it. he knocks on the attic door, walk towards her, and after she’s str@gled, you can hear footsteps walking away from her body.
I discovered this album a couple weeks ago and I was beautifully devastated and I actually loved how you guys felt the same and picked up what I did with the album, I think the only thing I think of is at the end of strangers I think she’s talking to her mom saying not to worry or you won’t sleep and she doesn’t blame her mother for loving her the way that she did. :) also I subscribed!
i was crying during strangers and then you screamed WINNDIXIE and i lost it, this album is such a masterpiece and im so glad it's finally getting the recognition it deserves
To add to the convo around Strangers, something that I've begun to consider after many listens is that much of the yearning in the chorus might not be necessarily directed at Isiah, but at ALL of the men in her life. Ethel's life and the PD album are largely shaped around a series of men from who she had sought love and approval, and all of them had let her down in some way, whether it be her father, Willoughby leaving town, Logan's physical abuse, and eventually Isiah. When she says "I just wanted to be yours", I feel like this could apply to any or all of them in total, and isn't necessarily a sign that she still wants them, but that their love and acceptance was all she'd wanted from the start. Similarly, the "turning in your stomach, making you feel sick" could read differently directed at each man. Almost like she's interrogating them to determine just what about her was so lacking that they each ultimately treated her the way they did. This album and the Ether Cain lore is my Roman Empire and I'm never not thinking about it lol
this album is literally legendary it actually changed my life coming from a small community where most people are toxic Christians that whole thing caused a lot of religious trauma and she describes that feeling perfectly in a indescribable way also since I’m a male I will never know the pain it would cause to face all this as a female but Ethel literally portrays female power and rage in a crazy way (btw love this reaction so much and glad to see some more fans discover Ethel for the first time cus once you do you can never see the world the same way 😭❤
Hahaha I listened to this album for the first time a few months ago and it's been my fav of all time ever since ❤️ I'm pretty deep into the lore so I thought I would share some of it + some theories. This is gonna be long and probably full of spelling mistakes because I'm writing it in the middle of the night so I'm sorrryyyyy. Also if anyone has any opposing ideas, please let me know!! A lot of this is just my interpretation so don't take anything I say as god's word. I'm also not super knowledgeable about religion, everything I share here is stuff I've read online so it may not be 100% accurate. First, one of the most important underlying messages in this whole story is about intergenerational trauma and how people who have experienced abuse (in this case, Ethel's mother) can perpetuate the cycle of abuse. I've read a lot of people say that the lines "Jesus can always reject his father, but he can not escape his mother's blood" in Family Tree (Intro) refers to the abuse Ethel faced at the hands of her father, but I think it's more about how she sees her mother as a victim of abuse who has doomed her daughter to the same fate. Hayden is actually making albums from the perspective of Ethel's mother (and grandmother I believe) and I'm super excited for them. I'm not sure if this is confirmed or not but I'm a believer of the theory that Ethel actually killed her father. He died in a fire when she was 10 and in my opinion, some of the lines in Family Tree allude to this. "Christ forgive these bones I've been hiding" and "Heaven hath no fury like a woman scorned." And the line that (to me) is a dead give away that she caused his death: "I've killed before and I'll kill again, Take the noose off wrap it tight around my hand" insinuating that she's using the noose as a weapon, and where was hanging mentioned before??? "Swinging by my neck from the family tree." Plus the whole song is about the washing away of sin, and while there have been countless sins committed against her, she could also be referencing the biggest sin she (might have) committed, the murder of her own father. There's also a line in Ptolemaea said by (possibly) Death to Ethel "I was there in the dark when you spilled your first blood" which is more indication that she really did have some part in his death. A House in Nebraska is about an old lover of Ethel's named Willoughby Tucker. I don't think it's confirmed whether he died or just skipped town. Ethel seems to think that he's just left town, but considering that she's an unreliable narrator, it's possible that he did actually die and she either can't accept it or she feels guilty about it and has thus convinced herself that he's still alive somewhere. She also does this in Western Nights when she says "I haven't spoken to my daddy in a long, long time, I don't want him to worry, always wondering if I'm alright." Ethel's father has been dead for years, but she convinces herself that she's simply avoiding him so he doesn't worry about her, not that he's dead. I know she says in Thoroughfare "For the first time since I was a child, I could see a man who wasn't angry," but I think Willoughby was the one man she loved that was good to her and that's why in death, she thinks of their time together. Western Nights is about Ethel's new boyfriend Logan Phelps who isn't the greatest guy, but he dies in a shootout following a bank robbery before the next song, so in the grand scheme of things he's not very important. I saw some other people comment about Ethel's meeting with Isaiah in Thoroughfare so I'll keep this short but her memory of their time together is definitely skewed. In a missing persons poster, it says Ethel was last seen being forced into a black pick-up truck, so she has probably romanticized their encounter in order to cope with what he did to her. It's her dream happy ending, what she wished could have been. After Isaiah "picked her up" he started pumping her full of drugs and alcohol and pimping her out. The choppy production, deep bass, slow tempo, and heavy reverb in Gibson Girl could be a reflection of Ethel's intoxication as well as her losing her grip on reality. The end of the song also cuts off mid-sentence and is then followed by ominous ambient music, possibly depicting a black out, leading to Isaiah's attack against her. There is so much I could say about Ptolemaea. Firstly, Ptolomea is the third section of the ninth circle of Hell in Dante's Inferno, dedicated to sinners who have betrayed/killed their guests. Isaiah "invited" Ethel into his home and then brutalized her, earning him a spot in Ptolomea. The song is chock-full of bibical references like Ethel being mocked as a "sweet, mourning lamb" aka a sacrifice. Biblically, Isaiah is a prophet who comes to redeem those of their sins. Isaiah (in the story) sacrifices Ethel in what I personally think is supposed to be a mockery of religion, but I have read theories that he's actually part of some cult and that's why he did what he did. If you listen to an acapella version of the song, you can hear Ethel moaning and begging for her life in the background and it's so incredibly gut-wrenching. My interpretation of the events of the song is that Isaiah begins his attack on Ethel around the line "What fear a man like you brings upon a woman like me" and then he lands his fatal blow when Ethel screams. The "demonic" voice that speaks to her afterwards most likely represents Death as an entity, but I personally think it's just a result of her being high on drugs and her mind spiraling through all the scary things she believed about religion and her fate. Then August Underground is the actual act of dying, whereas Televangelism is her ascension to Heaven. At the end of August Undergound, we hear a large door close and feet shuffling away and I think this is the moment Isaiah moves her body into the freezer in the basement after she was wasting away in the attic. Sun Bleached Flies is so heartrbreaking to me. Ethel compares sun bleached flies lying dead in a windowsill to mothers, futilely waiting for the day they can escape the abuse they face at home. In the chorus, she mentions that in the face of "danger" or "disrespect," she was taught to fight, but that she knows if she does so, it'll only come back to bite her. The line "dancing with the windows open" at the end of the song directly contrasts the beginning where she feels trapped behind a window. This could mean that she has accepted her fate and has thus freed herself of her worries, or she's just reminiscing about her time with Willoughby. Finally, there are a lot of opinions on who Ethel is speaking to in the outro of Strangers. I personally think the whole outro is dedicated to her mother and not at all to Isaiah. Because of all the previous references to intergenerational trauma, the line "I never blamed you for loving me the way that you did While you were torn apart" implies to me that although her mother physically abused her, Ethel understands that she was also a victim and forgives her. I think the line "I would still wait with you there" references a previous line in the song: "When my mother sees me on the side of a milk carton...She'll cry and wait up for me." Okay........I think I'm done rambling now ❤️
if you guys liked this album you should definitely 100% listen to her other stuff !! i discovered hayden at the start if this year n she's become one of my favourite artists ever with me being in her top 0.5% of listeners this year and my most played song being ptolemaea (lol). as well as having a beautiful voice she produced this whole album which is just amazing and i'm so glad she's getting all the recognition that she deserves !!
look. I know thoroughfare have a unreliable narrator and the guy eventually kills and canibalizes her, but without context that's the most beautiful romantic song i've ever heard so I'll keep listening to it like it was the first time and I'm unaware of would eventually happen. It's not often that a song captures the essence of what love is damn
the worst part is, hayden (ethels creator), has stated that ethel is an unreliable narrarator. why does this matter? because the real story behind thorouhghfare is that isaiah kidnapped ethel, and the stockholm syndrome made her remember it in a sweet way. this is not a happy story.
also you two are awesome
What is this about? I don’t understand
@@tjarlie6731unreliable narrator means that you can’t trust everything the character of Ethel tells you
@@tjarlie6731basically Ethel Cain runs from her small town after 1 boyfriend and the most recent died and faces the fact her father abused her as a child she then meets a man who in her own word she willingly comes with on a road trip to California but in her missing person report it says she was forced in a strange man’s car. Later on the man she went with who’s name was Isahiah drugs her and sells her body for drug money. Later on she gets killed by him and cannablized and the last few songs are her going to heaven and saying goodbye to her loved ones from beyond
@@Croquette832 So the album is basically a made-up story and none of this actually happened to her? sorry I don't know anything, I only know some songs
@@mobaobaeEthel is so traumatized and unable to process all the abuse she’s been through that she has begun to romanticize her kidnapper Isaiah. And because the album is from her perspective, the lyrics point that way, but the materials surrounding the album make you realize that her experiences might not be the way she’s describing them.
The fact that she wrote and produced the ENTIRE ALBUM by herself while also having some of the best vocals I’ve ever heard is just INSANE😭💔
There are other people listed in the credits of the songs
@@leowoodwind7723that’s her guitarist matt, he did some of the guitar
yeah 2 of the songs and theyre only co-producers@@leowoodwind7723
@@leowoodwind7723 true, but she still had hand and creative direction in all of them, and some of the best songs on the album she completely self produced !! crazy bro she’s so underrated
@@jvkewon That's amazing!
men reactions are like "oh, this is scary"
ladies and trans folks, we really get the song, we connect with that level of fear only a man can bring, we scream and cry with Ethel
THIS.
in strangers, she says “how funny, i never considered myself tough” which means like she always saw herself as weak but also her flesh is tough cause she’s been in a freezer when he tried to eat her 🤢
oh my god … 😭
when I put this together my jaw dropped 😭😭
When I caught that on my second listen I lost my mind…
"All that's left are your walls and you'll die there. I should've known that there's no getting in" is an absolutely insane lyric
what does it mean?
@@itwistedtempo5592 he's built walls around himself, he doesn't let people in. Leaving a hollow shell that he'll die inside.
@@sethsummer4743gut wrenching
fun fact!! the warped piano in televangelism symbolizes her synapses snapping
Oh my GOD.
WHAAAAAAAAAT
Meaning her mind is being disconnected from her body? (Sorry i googled it but I can’t get a firm grip on “snapping synapse”
@@youngmia98 nope! the snapping of stnapses happens in death to the brain. its like flipping an off switch!
Source?
Just a little clarification about strangers: the last acoustic verse is all about her mom, it’s not addressing Isaiah (the guy that kills/cannibalizes her). This was very intentional because Hayden (the artist behind Ethel Cain) is planning a trilogy of albums with Preacher’s Daughter being the first, and the next being about Ethel’s mother (Preacher’s Wife).
Also, near the end of Strangers when the guitar comes in and she repeatedly asks “am I making you feel sick?” To me is kind of Ethel coming to the realization of the treatment she’s endured, and almost finding some sort of justice in the fact that Isaiah is having a breakdown and getting sick from eating her flesh. In the story, the police are also basically outside Isaiah’s house ready to arrest him as he eats Ethel. So although it’s kind of perverse and twisted, Ethel still finds satisfaction in breaking free from her abuse and getting the last laugh so-to-speak.
yes!! The “am I making you feel sick”’s feel like a shift from disappointment/being nervous that she AGAIN wasn’t good enough into a twisted satisfaction seeing just a piece of retribution being served let alone it being caused from her own body
How do you know about the police being there already?
@@koenahs9974 Hayden drops little bits of lore in live streams and such so she mentioned the part about the police during one of those. But she also has a tendency to back track so that might not end up being the final event of the story. But as of now it seems to be the case that the police know Isaiah killed Ethel and will arrest him. There might be a clip about it on TikTok.
@@florencewelchsguccidress6973 She was wrong about August Underground being a snuff film (it's pseudo-snuff film or else it would've been a crime scene evidence, never distributed, locked behind the law), but since the album's story is fictional, perhaps it is a real snuff film in this universe? Idk just a small tidbit I found out.
Another imagery for "rolling in your stomach" other than food poisoning is her rolling in her "grave" since she didn't get one.
holy fuck …
One thing that i love to tell people about this album is that the singer Hayden Annhedonia originally wrote this concept as a screenplay for a movie, but she could never afford to go to film school and pivoted the project to an album and book that is currently in the works. I believe it took her four years to compose this album too.
yes she started working on it when she was 18 and she was 24 when it was released
I've listened to this album so many times now and it literally destroys me every single time 😭😭😭
ive listened to it three times already😭
obsessed with the dirty looks you kept shooting the phone while listening to gibson girl like the man himself was there 😭😭
IT FELT PERSONAL
'I WANT LOVE LIKE THAT' and then the rest of the album happens
I love that thoroughfare is such a big bait and switch cause we can finally feel happiness for ethel which makes the final moment of 'happiness' in sun bleached flies so much bigger because we have been rooting for her so long
I RAN to the comments when they said that 😭
ugh i just seeing people fall in love with this album lol this video is so cool
here’s a little summary of the lore for you guys as well as some recommendations of more of her songs :) if you have any questions about it feel free to ask too
The singer’s real name is Hayden Anhedönia. Ethel Cain is from Shady Grove Alabama and is the daughter of Joseph (the preacher) and Vera. The album takes place in 1991 when Ethel is 20, and her dad died 10 years before the events of the album in a house fire. Family Tree (Intro) sets up the themes of the album and American Teenager is a fake pop song that’s about her frustration with the ideal American teenager and the American dream that are both impossible to achieve. The guitar at the end is also sampled from Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey. The man she’s singing about in House in Nebraska is named Willoughby Tucker, who was her highschool sweetheart (as she says in the song), but they broke up because of Ethel’s actions/behavior. The house isn’t actually in Nebraska, but an abandoned house that they would imagine was there. Western Nights is about another man named Logan Phelps, who is a criminal and in the lore later dies in a police shootout. Her father was also abusive to her, as shown in Family Tree and Hard Times. She then runs away to Texas where, in Thoroughfare, she meets Isaiah Abram. While it seems like a happy song, there’s a missing poster Hayden made that says Ethel was last seen being forced into a black truck, so Ethel could be an unreliable narrator. Then in Gibson Girl, they’ve reached California and Isaiah has began pimping her out and giving her drugs. Ptolemaea is her hallucinating. Ptolemy is also the ninth layer of Hell in Dante’s Inferno where traitors go. This could be referring to Ethel betraying her family and home by running away or Isaiah betraying Ethel. August Underground and Televangelism is her dying (from being killed by Isaiah) and her soul going to heaven, respectively. Hayden has said they’re kind of two parts of the same song, with AU being Ethel’s physical death and TV being more of her spiritual death. Televangelism is also improvised! Sun Bleached Flies is her reflecting on her life after she’s died and thinking about how she still finds comfort in the church even though she hasn’t had the best experience with it. And finally, in Strangers, Isaiah has some kind of mental break and eats a piece of her body which then poisons him. Then the slower part at the end is her talking to her mom :)
Her next project is an EP of the b-sides of this album that will focus on Ethel’s teenage years and her relationship with Willoughby :). then her next two albums after that will focus on Ethel’s mom, and then her paternal grandmother making it a trilogy. she also plans to write 3 books (of which she’s currently writing the first, called Diary of a Preacher’s Daughter) and make 3 movies
recommendations:
albums (neither of these are part of the Ethel Cain story):
Inbred - 2021 album
Golden Age - 2019 Album
songs:
Famous Last Words (An Ode to Eaters) - released as a collab with a radio station, was written after watching Bones and All
Dying Star - an Ashnikko song, but Ethel is featured
Everytime - a cover of Everytime by Britney Spears
some demos:
Homecoming - inspired by Carrie
Wrestling in Dirt Pits - i’m personally hoping this one will be on Preacher’s Wife, but it’s unknown
Waco, Texas
Dust Bowl - W,T and DB are both going to be on the EP and are about Willoughby
Earnhardt
Long Unfortunate While
concrete/xxxxxxxxxx
louisiana - hoping this one is on Preacher’s Wife as well
Lead Poisoning
I learned something new cool! Will check out her demos too ❤
THANK YOU😭🫶
@@Fhilfaith ofccc i got this ready in my notes app for new daughters😭😭
Ptolemy is not the name of the ninth circle, it's Cocytus. Ptolemaea is one of the regions of that circle, named *after* Ptolemy, who killed his own father-in-law and sons after they were invited to his home for a banquet and betrayed their trust of being well received - which connects to Ethel's story with Isaiah, that in her own vision, she trusted Isaiah and fell in love with him, even though he kidnapped her, killed her and ate her, making him a traitor.
Ptolemaea could also be about Ethel hallucinating and seeing herself inside Hell's ninth circle due to the song's extremely haunting ambience.
@@fuckegoist thank you! i think i got the info i said from genius or something so i’m not surprised it’s wrong lol
Came for the reaction and stayed for the beautiful dynamic between you two. Gorgeous friendship. Never stop being yourselves!
I think "Strangers" is a very sincere and at the same time very ironic song. I like to imagine that, with death, come a different sense of self, one in which Ethel can see Isaiah as he is but, beyond that, also as a reflection of her father: a man that commited a hideous crime against her, but that she loved notheless. With that also comes the vengeful tones of the song, where she find irony and relishes in the fact that she's literaly food-poisoning him. I absolutely love the bridge where she let's out all anger she feels for what he did. This imagery of Ethel being poisonous is first stated in Hard Times when she talks about feeling like poison in the water. I feel like the guittar-stricken angry "AM I MAKING YOU FEEL SICK?" repeated over and over is directed to Isaiah AND her father. After all that she suffered, did her at least made them sick? Good, then. At least that.
I also feel like after that part the song only adresses her mother, asking her to not think about her daughter's fate too much and move on, because they'll meet again someday. (that part honestly breaks me everytime omg)
Yea I also interpreted the outro as mostly for her mother considering the change of tone after the bridge!!!
8:18 im not even joking when I say, almost no guys I've seen react to this put it together. It makes cry to bad.
that song broke me bro.
@@Fhilfaith I saw her sing it live and it was almost painful to listen to it. I cried so hard that I almost wanted it to stop because how emotional it was, I loved it though. Almost everyone in the audience cried
Im glad im not the only one who cries as soon as someone puts GENUINE emotion into a song 😭😭
the boy she’s talking about in “A House In Nebraska” isn’t dead! he actually just left town for good
OMG IM CRYING NOW WTF😭😭
I learned this after filming !! It made me even more sad lol
Absolutely go deeper with it because there is so much to this album but here is some more context to this album and each song:
Ethel Cain is a character created by Hayden Silas Anhedonia who is a transgender artist who grew up in the South and writes partly about her experience in the americana church through the character of Ethel (the event of Ethel Cain's life do not directly reflect what Hayden went though and Hayden is now in a good place with supportive family and friends). Hayden wrote, sang and produced the entire album herself. Hayden has also announced that there will be another 2 albums about this storyline from the perspective of her mother and possibly grandmother as Hayden likes to explore the impact of intergenerational trauma and how it is passed down.
Family tree (into)
The intro is just setting the stage for how Ethel is affected and traumatised by her family upbringing from religion to her relationship with her father and that no matter how much she can try, she cannot escape it. We can also note that her father (the preacher and highly respected member of the local community) died about 10 years prior to this album.
American Teenager
This song is an ode to the idea of the 'American Dream' which is fed to the youth of America to grow up on as the goal and future for them should they die trying for it. However this idea is actually wholly unattainable and in reality you need your neighbour more than your country needs you. This song is an expression of Ethel's frustration with all the things the 'American Teenager' is supposed to be but never had any real chance of becoming. In the song Ethel also talks about her role leading the church preaching sessions (idk if that's the right term) in place of her father after his death but doing it all while loosing her own faith and drinking all the time to cope.
A House in Nebraska
The name of Ethel's ex is Willoughby Tucker. Her relationship with Willoughby was also not perfect (but a whole goddamn better than the rest of this album). Another common theme in this album is that Ethel is an unreliable narrator so here she remembers Willoughby in only good light and yerns for him back. The 'House in Nebraska' was actually an abandoned house in their town in Shady Town, Alabama but they used to go there together and pretend it was their own house together in Nebraska where they were away from everything. We are unsure why the relationship ended; whether Willoughby left or died we are unsure but it's connoted that it is Ethel's fault (or at least she feels as though it was).
Western Nights
Ethel's next (but not final) lover is Logan Phelps who was worse than Willoughby, at times violent and yet Ethel was hopelessly in love with him in spite of it. These songs were context for Ethel's bad habit for choosing the wrong people as a result of her trauma.
Family Tree
Said trauma is revealed to us in Family Tree. After Logan is killed in a police shootout following a bank robbery Ethel goes on the run from the cops and come to learn of a disturbed family secret.
Hard Times
This song closes Act 1 of the album which is the context and her past. Hard times presents the trauma she endured of her father who used to sexually abuse her for a few years from the age of 9 until he died. His actions were kept a secret to the wider community and he continued to be respected and valued throughout the community which led to complicated feelings for Ethel towards him and how Ethel still looked up to him as her father thus growing to learn that that is what love looks like.
Thoroughfare
Opening Act 2 of the album, this song is the start of the current events in the present time. Once again we must knowledge the fact that Ethel is an unreliable narrator. The songs suggest that when Ethel is on the run she meets a charming Isaiah who offers her a ride and together they road trip to the West Coast during which time they fall in love. In reality Ethel is experiencing Stockholm Syndrome and Isaiah actually kidnapped her in the back of his truck and forced her to come along with her by his side.
Gibson Girl
After kidnapping Ethel and arriving in California, Isaiah begins to pimp her out in the back of strip clubs feeding her drugs on the regular. As a result Ethel looses her sense of reality hence the distorted production. The title refers to Charles Dana Gibson and the women he famously drew who were often depicted as the pinacol of American beauty standards.
Ptolemaea
Named after Alighieri's Divine Comedy - specifically Dante's Inferno (Hozier fans rise up), Ptolemy is a circle in hell reserved for traitors. This can be taken either as Ethel abandoning her family and faith or of Isaiah's betrayal to Ethel. In this song Ethel is still heavily drugged and begins hallucinating. She confronts the darkness and escapes Isaiah momentarily before he begins to run after her. This song is Isaiah chasing Ethel with the intent of killing her for escaping.
August Underground
Titled after the famous snuff film 'August Underground' this song represents the act of Ethel physically dying wasting away in the attic of an abandoned shack after Isaiah catches up to her and kills her.
Televangelism
Hayden has said that Televangelism actually happens simultaneously at the same time as August Underground. In the abandoned attic Ethel is reminded of her and Willoughby's 'house in Nebraska' which has her reminiscing and accepting her end and ascending into the afterlife (not heaven as some suggest as Ethel's faith is lost and knows no heaven/hell)
Sun Bleached Flies
In the afterlife Ethel makes peace with her death, forgiving Isaiah despite his actions. She reflects on her life, her family and on Willoughby who she never stopped loving. She still yerns for her father as a father figure and someone who (should have) loved her with a connection she never had.
Strangers
Looking down on her body from the afterlife Ethel watches Isaiah cannibalise her apologising for the fact that her body makes him sick as still wishes that she was with him as she is so in love with him that she forgives him even still. She closes the song addressing her mother who she loves and misses feeling bad for running away and leaving her and says she looks forward to the day when she sees her again in the afterlife.
All in all a truly incredible album and there is still so much more lore to it so I highly recommend you do a deep dive into it should you wish. Ethel's earlier EPs and also incredible but are canonically not word for word true / necessarily part of the main storyline. Hayden has talked about and explained parts of the story in various interviews etc but there are some parts she is still leaving unexplained as these will be addressed in the later two albums she is set to release to complete the trilogy as well as a book trilogy and possibly a film as well (though don't quote me on that one as I can' remember where I heard that from) :)
What I truly find heartbreaking about this story is that even though it’s fictional, many aspects of this story are a reality for so many young people.
Domestic abuse (in this case women being abused by their male partners because emotionally volatile men are all to common), child sexual abuse by members of the clergy,
Women (and trans women in this case) running away from home because there’s no place for them where they came from, only to be kidnapped and left in a ditch somewhere or worse…
This particular story may be fiction but its main elements are NOT fiction, too many to name have unmarked graves and untold stories throughout the years. THATS what breaks my heart experiencing this masterpiece.
this isn't a reaction this is a coming of age story damn
Hands down the BEST Preachers Daughter reaction I have seen!!This album was life changing
"how do you do that in a studio" Ethel Cain producing Ptolemaea in a church basement
SHE DID??
WHY COULDNT WE JUST END IT ON THE PIANO !??😭😭😭
I believe those last few verses after the guitar break in Strangers are all dedicated to her mom. Saying she doesn’t blame her for never stepping in during her abuse from her dad because she was also broken. And telling her not to think about all the things that could’ve happened to Ethel since she will never actually find out what happens to her daughter (eluded in the earlier verse about her in the dairy aisle).
This album is a masterpiece and your reactions are so on par with what mine were!
Favorite hobby is seeing people react to this album but your friendship is just so beautiful and pure. I love it and all my love to the both of you!!! ❤❤❤
this video is so overwhelming istg, the dynamic between the girls listening to just girlie stuff it’s so beautiful it makes me want to cry
Y’all are so real for this, like the sad laughter after the lyrics hit hard.
i love watching people react to preacher's daughter,,, i get to relive the beautiful devastation i felt on my first listen lol
I love watching people listen to this album for the first time. It's a wild ride and no album since this one has come close being on the same level.
I am living precariously through first time listeners. I wish I could listen to it for the first time too.
I'm addicted to watching first time reactions to this album and yours is top tier - a visceral, emotional reaction to a down-right iconic piece.
I manage to hold it together until 'Momma just know that love you' and then I literally sob every time.
I like how you guys got you fingers on the right pulse. I also cried watching this. ❤
I've never once been able to sit through the end of Strangers without ugly crying, knowing she's trying to reach out to her mum in the end 😭
Ptolmaea will forever make my skin crawl, the first time I heard it and she kept saying stop to the build up then she screamed had me in tears
august underground is an allusion to the snuff film august underground, where some people just target random people to kidnap and torture (like making them eat their own feces, cutting body parts off) them throughout the film. (i could barely skim thorugh it).
Preachers Daughter follows the storyline about Ethel Cain, some of her life and her eventual death. Ethel is currently taking a break after being on tour and she is now moving, but the b-sides will be out next year and they will expand the storyline. Mostly about herself as a teenager, her relationship with Willoughby Tucker, her First boyfriend (A House in Nebraska guy) and him leaving her town. Also about Logan (Western Nights guy) and her whole family situation.
There is some more work from Ethel before PD. I recommend you starting with Inbred, an EP from 6 songs (and 4 more scattered throughout YT). Its worth saying that any work before PD is not connected to the actual Ethel Cain storyline.
what are the 4 other songs off inbred? i’m guessing two children in a motel is one of them but i’m not sure about the others
@@liaundercover0 When Inbred was released phsycially in 2021 it contained 4 more songs. Earnhardt, Crying During Sex, Michelle Pfeiffer Solo Version and Age of Delilah.
Two Children in a Motel is not oficially part of Inbred but you could connect it because of obvious reasons
Earnhardt, Crying during sex, Age of Delilah, and Michelle Pffeifer solo version
4:26 actually unreal how your frown-shock-sad face has a tongue that makes a geometrically perfect heart???
I LOVE THE WIND PLAYING WITH YOUR HAIR!
You guys’ friendship is so cute it kinda makes me wish I listened to this with a friend for the first time 😭
Ethel is actually dying in August Underground (The Gunshots at the end) and therefore it transitions intro Televangelism because it happens quite at the same time
watching y’all talk abt how much y’all want the love in throughfare knowing what comes next 😭😭 the shift is so real
y'all are so funny, i loved watching this reaction and your friendship.
I freaking loved y'all's reaction. Thank you.
I know that this was from a year ago but I needed to say I think this is my favorite reaction video of this album. You guys really got it and I was crying with you loll
one of the best reaction videos i've ever watched omg you guys are amazing
It looks like y'all drove out to the middle of nowhere to listen to the album and I'm so jealous hahaha I live in a big city but I'm from rural Canada and I just KNOW listening to preachers daughter with nobody around in the woods would HIT!!!! Loved the vid it felt cathartic to listen with you guys💌
obsessed with this album and obsessed with this friendship!!! 🥰🥰
“Jesus if ur there why do i feel alone in this room, with u?” Hits hard
A NEW ETHEL CAIN REACTION YAY!!!
you guys are so cute aaaaa i’m obsessed with this album and i’m glad i found your reaction, it was so genuine and intense 🌹
thank you so much !! we’re glad you enjoyed :)
I’m crying I need ur friendship so bad 😭
Y’all’s reaction is everything because same
Also you guys are SO PRETTY❤️❤️
thank you !! 😭🤍
The way that American teenager altered my best friend and i’s brain chemistry when we heard for the first time. The nostalgia is crazzzyy
This is still the best reaction to this album
so happy i found this channel bro. y’all are so 🤗🥲
You should DEFINITELY do a reaction to "Sinner Get Ready" by Lingua Ignota. Seeing how much you loved and reacted to this, I can't recommend that album enough.
Ethel's double triple meanings and lore means everytime I listen I pick up something new. Like the radio chatter at the end of ptolemea
Love the vibes of this reaction! I remember when I first listened to this album literally couldn’t stop having it on repeat.
bruh youre the first ones ive seen hear and understand the banging in august underground. MAN
this whole video reminds me of when i first listened to this album in the car with my friend
Ethel Cain preacher's daughter try not to get emotionally wrecked challenge (difficulty: Impossible)
Welcome to the Fandom Daughters of Cain!🎉❤
This reaction screams friendship. A true unadulterated bond. You guys are so wholesome. I don't know you, but I feel like I've known you for years through this reaction.
I think it’s important to mention that in the last few verses of Strangers, she’s talking to her mother - “Don’t think about it too hard or you’ll never sleep a wink at night again.” For me, this speaks to parents, specifically mothers, whose babies go missing and never return home. The not knowing what happened, if they’re still alive, the unspeakable - it’s more than enough to keep the mothers awake, driven insane… {makes me immensely sad to think about}
Also wanted to mention, when she’s repeating, “Am I no good?” and “Am I making you feel sick?” it’s a plea for her to be desirable to at least one man, a plea for acceptance, validation. She’s concerned that even her flesh wasn’t satisfying to him and it torments her. I also get very strong visuals of like a housewife setting down a dinner plate in front of her husband and the minute he shows dissatisfaction, she’s asking, “is it not good? Is it too salty? Is the meat not done?” Etc.
Such a fantastic reaction. You both felt and understood all of it. Thank you for this.
i love watching people listen to this album for the first time and this is like my favourite one of those ever i literally felt like i was there with you omg u guys seem so cool
Y’all too pretty ❤ l love this album so much
You guys really get it 😭 the first reaction where I completely understand ur reactions ☹️ I was crying w yall 😭😭
I listen for this album for 5 months straight. Addicted to this album. Can’t wait for her upcoming album, she’s been teasing.
Love that you guys picked up on the messaging, this album is so epic and cinematic. FYI she doesn't die in Ptolemaea, she dies in August Underground.
I AM ALSO A LYRIC JUNKIE! YALL ARE AWESOME!
this album is CRUSHING and i love seeing people appreciate haydens lyricism in her songs
Welcome, new daughters of Cain ❤
yall need to do more album reactions
I NEED y’all to react to her other two albums Golden Age and Inbred I’d kill to watch that video omg
This is one of my favourite album reactions on youtube, I come back to it a lot!! Your reactions are so earnest and reflective of this astounding album, and you're both so so beautiful!!
23:57 That talk is really "Ya'aburnee" by Halsey summarized lol
Btw you should react to the album where its from! (If I Cant Have Love, I Want Power) its really good and i think you would LOVE it!
I've listened to this album what feels like 100 times and i still cried w y'all, new comfort reaction😭💘
You girls are so Ethel-coded
i dont know you girls but this made my day omg loved it ❤
in august underground, you can actually hear isaiah walk away. if you listen close enough, you can hear it. he knocks on the attic door, walk towards her, and after she’s str@gled, you can hear footsteps walking away from her body.
I discovered this album a couple weeks ago and I was beautifully devastated and I actually loved how you guys felt the same and picked up what I did with the album, I think the only thing I think of is at the end of strangers I think she’s talking to her mom saying not to worry or you won’t sleep and she doesn’t blame her mother for loving her the way that she did. :) also I subscribed!
i was crying during strangers and then you screamed WINNDIXIE and i lost it, this album is such a masterpiece and im so glad it's finally getting the recognition it deserves
To add to the convo around Strangers, something that I've begun to consider after many listens is that much of the yearning in the chorus might not be necessarily directed at Isiah, but at ALL of the men in her life. Ethel's life and the PD album are largely shaped around a series of men from who she had sought love and approval, and all of them had let her down in some way, whether it be her father, Willoughby leaving town, Logan's physical abuse, and eventually Isiah. When she says "I just wanted to be yours", I feel like this could apply to any or all of them in total, and isn't necessarily a sign that she still wants them, but that their love and acceptance was all she'd wanted from the start.
Similarly, the "turning in your stomach, making you feel sick" could read differently directed at each man. Almost like she's interrogating them to determine just what about her was so lacking that they each ultimately treated her the way they did.
This album and the Ether Cain lore is my Roman Empire and I'm never not thinking about it lol
this album is literally legendary it actually changed my life coming from a small community where most people are toxic Christians that whole thing caused a lot of religious trauma and she describes that feeling perfectly in a indescribable way also since I’m a male I will never know the pain it would cause to face all this as a female but Ethel literally portrays female power and rage in a crazy way (btw love this reaction so much and glad to see some more fans discover Ethel for the first time cus once you do you can never see the world the same way 😭❤
crying along feels like crying with the girlies
This album is actually insane 😭😭
Pls do more music reactions, maybe more experimental stuff like FKA Twigs or Sevdaliza?
Loved this reaction and this album
Hahaha I listened to this album for the first time a few months ago and it's been my fav of all time ever since ❤️ I'm pretty deep into the lore so I thought I would share some of it + some theories. This is gonna be long and probably full of spelling mistakes because I'm writing it in the middle of the night so I'm sorrryyyyy. Also if anyone has any opposing ideas, please let me know!! A lot of this is just my interpretation so don't take anything I say as god's word. I'm also not super knowledgeable about religion, everything I share here is stuff I've read online so it may not be 100% accurate.
First, one of the most important underlying messages in this whole story is about intergenerational trauma and how people who have experienced abuse (in this case, Ethel's mother) can perpetuate the cycle of abuse. I've read a lot of people say that the lines "Jesus can always reject his father, but he can not escape his mother's blood" in Family Tree (Intro) refers to the abuse Ethel faced at the hands of her father, but I think it's more about how she sees her mother as a victim of abuse who has doomed her daughter to the same fate. Hayden is actually making albums from the perspective of Ethel's mother (and grandmother I believe) and I'm super excited for them.
I'm not sure if this is confirmed or not but I'm a believer of the theory that Ethel actually killed her father. He died in a fire when she was 10 and in my opinion, some of the lines in Family Tree allude to this. "Christ forgive these bones I've been hiding" and "Heaven hath no fury like a woman scorned." And the line that (to me) is a dead give away that she caused his death: "I've killed before and I'll kill again, Take the noose off wrap it tight around my hand" insinuating that she's using the noose as a weapon, and where was hanging mentioned before??? "Swinging by my neck from the family tree." Plus the whole song is about the washing away of sin, and while there have been countless sins committed against her, she could also be referencing the biggest sin she (might have) committed, the murder of her own father. There's also a line in Ptolemaea said by (possibly) Death to Ethel "I was there in the dark when you spilled your first blood" which is more indication that she really did have some part in his death.
A House in Nebraska is about an old lover of Ethel's named Willoughby Tucker. I don't think it's confirmed whether he died or just skipped town. Ethel seems to think that he's just left town, but considering that she's an unreliable narrator, it's possible that he did actually die and she either can't accept it or she feels guilty about it and has thus convinced herself that he's still alive somewhere. She also does this in Western Nights when she says "I haven't spoken to my daddy in a long, long time, I don't want him to worry, always wondering if I'm alright." Ethel's father has been dead for years, but she convinces herself that she's simply avoiding him so he doesn't worry about her, not that he's dead. I know she says in Thoroughfare "For the first time since I was a child, I could see a man who wasn't angry," but I think Willoughby was the one man she loved that was good to her and that's why in death, she thinks of their time together.
Western Nights is about Ethel's new boyfriend Logan Phelps who isn't the greatest guy, but he dies in a shootout following a bank robbery before the next song, so in the grand scheme of things he's not very important.
I saw some other people comment about Ethel's meeting with Isaiah in Thoroughfare so I'll keep this short but her memory of their time together is definitely skewed. In a missing persons poster, it says Ethel was last seen being forced into a black pick-up truck, so she has probably romanticized their encounter in order to cope with what he did to her. It's her dream happy ending, what she wished could have been.
After Isaiah "picked her up" he started pumping her full of drugs and alcohol and pimping her out. The choppy production, deep bass, slow tempo, and heavy reverb in Gibson Girl could be a reflection of Ethel's intoxication as well as her losing her grip on reality. The end of the song also cuts off mid-sentence and is then followed by ominous ambient music, possibly depicting a black out, leading to Isaiah's attack against her.
There is so much I could say about Ptolemaea. Firstly, Ptolomea is the third section of the ninth circle of Hell in Dante's Inferno, dedicated to sinners who have betrayed/killed their guests. Isaiah "invited" Ethel into his home and then brutalized her, earning him a spot in Ptolomea. The song is chock-full of bibical references like Ethel being mocked as a "sweet, mourning lamb" aka a sacrifice. Biblically, Isaiah is a prophet who comes to redeem those of their sins. Isaiah (in the story) sacrifices Ethel in what I personally think is supposed to be a mockery of religion, but I have read theories that he's actually part of some cult and that's why he did what he did. If you listen to an acapella version of the song, you can hear Ethel moaning and begging for her life in the background and it's so incredibly gut-wrenching. My interpretation of the events of the song is that Isaiah begins his attack on Ethel around the line "What fear a man like you brings upon a woman like me" and then he lands his fatal blow when Ethel screams. The "demonic" voice that speaks to her afterwards most likely represents Death as an entity, but I personally think it's just a result of her being high on drugs and her mind spiraling through all the scary things she believed about religion and her fate. Then August Underground is the actual act of dying, whereas Televangelism is her ascension to Heaven.
At the end of August Undergound, we hear a large door close and feet shuffling away and I think this is the moment Isaiah moves her body into the freezer in the basement after she was wasting away in the attic.
Sun Bleached Flies is so heartrbreaking to me. Ethel compares sun bleached flies lying dead in a windowsill to mothers, futilely waiting for the day they can escape the abuse they face at home. In the chorus, she mentions that in the face of "danger" or "disrespect," she was taught to fight, but that she knows if she does so, it'll only come back to bite her. The line "dancing with the windows open" at the end of the song directly contrasts the beginning where she feels trapped behind a window. This could mean that she has accepted her fate and has thus freed herself of her worries, or she's just reminiscing about her time with Willoughby.
Finally, there are a lot of opinions on who Ethel is speaking to in the outro of Strangers. I personally think the whole outro is dedicated to her mother and not at all to Isaiah. Because of all the previous references to intergenerational trauma, the line "I never blamed you for loving me the way that you did While you were torn apart" implies to me that although her mother physically abused her, Ethel understands that she was also a victim and forgives her. I think the line "I would still wait with you there" references a previous line in the song: "When my mother sees me on the side of a milk carton...She'll cry and wait up for me."
Okay........I think I'm done rambling now ❤️
There’s a nifty google doc floating around with all the lore and supplemental material from hayden!
4 minutes into this video and i already feel the urge to say that u guys seem like such a good time
it is almost nostalgic seeing other ppl having the same initial emotions while reacting to this album that i had 🩵🩵
"I wanna meet someone like that" 🙁🙁☹️
omg found my new fav react channel
if you guys liked this album you should definitely 100% listen to her other stuff !! i discovered hayden at the start if this year n she's become one of my favourite artists ever with me being in her top 0.5% of listeners this year and my most played song being ptolemaea (lol). as well as having a beautiful voice she produced this whole album which is just amazing and i'm so glad she's getting all the recognition that she deserves !!
love you guys that's sooo real ily❤
i really need you guys to react to her other projects...
this is girlhood ❤
look. I know thoroughfare have a unreliable narrator and the guy eventually kills and canibalizes her, but without context that's the most beautiful romantic song i've ever heard so I'll keep listening to it like it was the first time and I'm unaware of would eventually happen. It's not often that a song captures the essence of what love is damn
preachers daughter truly changed me
i just wanna be your friend now causeeeeee omfggggggg yall just get ITTTTTT