that was the best decision you'd have made! The story Ethel created have a really heavy impact, but the songs itself are so full with meaning and feelings that you let yourself open for your own interpretations gives so many space to this project to grow in your life!
Hot take: in American Teenager when she says “say what you want; but say it like you mean it with your fists for words” is Hayden, not Ethel, sprinkling in personal experiences with being bullied. Idk. I love those lyrics
devastating as it is, i gotta hand it to her -- Strangers is so funny. like, she just got cannibalized and she's making puns??? "how funny, I never considered myself tough" ???? i adore her
At that point, she’s moved on, she’s in some kind of heaven, she can look on it only with love. Strangers if about being so above the pain that you can forgive it all.
the album is WAY more literal than it seems, haha. and i think it's worth noting that Hayden is herself a trans woman from Florida who left the church and her hometown, and has since been really politically outspoken. American Teenager is literally about the military preying on teenagers and manipulating them to enlist ("kids in the front"), and I sorta think the story is itself partially about systemic violence in the church and the concept of "Americana" itself. like, there's definitely some joy on this album, but it's ultimately about a doomed trans woman trying and failing to escape violence at the hands of a bunch of men, and only being free once she decides to "put up a fight" and take charge of her own relationship with god. incredibly profound.
Hate to ruin the fun but thoroughfare is her being kidnapped and romanticizing it. Thats why she says “in these motel rooms I started to see you differently”, because she is developing stockholm syndrome. Hayden herself released a picture of a poster that says Ethel was last seen thrown into a pickup truck
i love all the tracks and know the story but sometimes i like to make myself believe that thoroughfare is the happy end where she dates isaiah and he's not a psychopath lol
@@bananafruit6060 she said in the video that she didn’t want it to have a dark meaning and just wanted it to be a fun love song. I was bursting her a bubble a little bit lol
honestly I will never understand how she wrote and produced this whole thing 99% by herself. This project blow me away and stole my life for a whole year. Absolutely one of my life favs
Literally me, I didn't know shit about Strangers when I heard it the first few times, I just thought it was a sad love song😭but then some parts like the turning in your stomach part didn't add up so I got curious and looked up the meaning and was like OMG 😭
Hayden said that Ethel is not really a reliable narrator, which changes a lot for songs like Thoroughfare, where she could be getting kidnapped but dissociates and makes a fantasy in her head. Some of the stuff on Genius is made up, but the general story is correct.
Preacher’s daughter isn’t just an album but a book that Hayden wrote/is writing that’s where the genius explanations come from. I believe the summaries are from a twitter page from one of Hayden’s friends
If it helps, Hayden originally planned this project as an indie film, but she couldn’t afford to go to film school so she pivoted the project to a concept album and a book she’s currently writing.
The story of preacher’s daughter was originally a film script Ethel wrote, and she’s elaborated on it on tumblr before, so that’s where most of the genius annotations come from. The “lawless wasteland” quote is in reference to false EP tracks that were listed. Anyways basic story is that Ethel experiences Willoughby leaving and her father dying before the start of the album, and the abuse she experienced from her father leads her into a repeated pattern of abusive relationships with other guys like Isaiah who does ultimately kill and cannibalize her. I kinda see the main themes apparent in the album as calling out the hypocrisy of the church manifested in her father, the preacher, and the violence committed against women’s bodies, which she acknowledges when she contends with her mother at the end of the story, seeing her as just as much a victim as she is, and letting that love and forgiveness be what helps her achieve acceptance for her sad life and death, (and yes, Hayden does have plans to center her next project on her character’s mother, inspired by how she in real life managed to better connect with her mother through understanding the intergenerational pain and trauma that she herself experienced)
The genius annotations for preachers daughter are pretty much all completely accurate and canon. They all come from a twitter thread where Hayden explained each song and the story overall (she has since deleted her Twitter but I think there are still screenshots somewhere). I believe what she was referencing about genius being a lawless wasteland full of lies is when someone compiled some of Hayden’s random/unrelated unreleased songs and claimed they were the songs that were going to be on the preachers daughter b sides (basically an extended version of PD that goes more in depth on willoughby and her life in her hometown before the events of the album)
Fun fact on August Underground; it's title is taken from an extremely violent, gory found footage movie. People mistaken it for a snuff film, but it definitely is *styled* that way. When I first saw that song title before listening to Preacher's Daughter, I knew I was going to be in a dark ride LOL I love how transgressive she is, it's very cathartic. Her music isn't for everyone, but it's very rewarding and I'm going to follow whatever she does.
i think is possible that "i killed before and i'll kill again" the before is about hearning to hunt from her daddy a la abigail hobbs and i'll kill again is her saying "i'm a new person now, not afraid to defend myself if wronged" tying with "i'm just a child but i'm not above violence"
I remember when American Teenager played during while waiting for the Eras Tour to start in Melbourne, I was the only one who knew it in my section, I was yelling it with full on confidence 💀
I love the shock on peoples faces when they fiding out that Strangers is about. I loooove the last "Am I making you feel sick?" section of the song, it is so cathartic, so much rage and release. She takes the idea of being poison, as first stated in Hard Times in a guilty tone when she says "I'm poison in the water and unhappy", and turn into retribution for the violence she suffered. I imagined that while being abused and manipulated by her father she felt like his violence was her fault, hence the feeling of being poisonous like a tempting snake, but later in Strangers it turns into a cathartic, albeit tragic, kind of empowerment. Futhermore, it plays with the listener, is she making us feel sick? (yes, she is) I think most of the aditional information in the Genius page comes from complementary material Hayden posted online, like videos and photos that enriches the world Ethel lives in, but I never sought it out, so I idk how much of what's on Genius is actual text or conjunction made by the fanbase.
Also, the descriptions and annotations of the songs on genius are real. If you look at the contributors for the about section on each song, it shows Hayden as a verified contributor. Hayden created the story (in hopes of a film or smth) and wrote the album around it. She mentions and references the lore of the album a lot, and i don't think that the one comment that said it was fake is actually true. Hope this helps!!!
the quote where she says she doesn’t know wtf they’re on is real. some of the things that are on there Hayden has said herself but a lot of it is bs that people pulled out of their ass
Yeah, I think there was a lot of other stuff on the genius page that mightve not been correct. That comment could have been alluding to something else@@theflavening
I saw her live last summer and it was the most beautiful performance I've experienced. Her vocals are incredible live and she has such a loving energy. She was fully herself, wearing a sweatshirt and jeans and just there to experience the music with us.
The fun thing is I was thinking about you reacting to this and I swear to GOD I imagined you listening to hard times and your reaction it’s EXACTLY what I expected to be
I know that some things might've not matched up with "official" meanings but I really really loved how you analyzed the lyrics! Your interpretations were really refreshing and helped me see other perspectives. Thank you for the lovely video!
From what I know, Hayden/Ethel made this album with the thoughts that it could be an actual movie too. That's why a lot of what of what was written (for example the names) on Genius isn't ever mentioned on the album which is a little bit weird, I don't know why they would mention it there. I love Preacher's Daughter SO MUCH and I'm so happy that you reacted to it!! This album is so special and unique in the best way!
i absolutely loved your reaction to this album!!! the way you kept analyzing and giving them your own interpretation to the songs and appreciating her lyricism and vocals!! so funny when you found out abt what the album was loll :)
When I first listened to the album I read the genius annotations as I went so I knew all the lore, but the one song I sort of interpret differently is family tree. In the song she makes a lot of references to violence and killing “god forgive these bones I’m hiding and the bones I’m about to leave” “I’ve killed before and I’ll kill again” “daddy said shoot first and don’t run back” etc. so I interpreted the song as her killing Logan after not being able to take his abuse anymore. She says “take me down to the river and bathe me clean” to physically clean the blood off of her. And I think this interpretation makes thoroughfare/the rest of the album that much more devastating bc at the beginning of thoroughfare she says “on the side of the road in some torn up clothes with a pistol in my pocket I didn’t trust no one”. After dealing with Logan’s abuse and being pushed to the point of murder (and after the heartbreak of willoughby), she is completely resigned to love and can’t trust anybody with her heart, but she is charmed and deceived by Isaiah only to continue to be abused and murdered. Again this is just my interpretation of the song, this is not canon, it’s just what comes to mind whenever I hear it
I will say Ethel Cain is the child of Lana del rey and Florence + the machine. She definitely has the song writing of Lana but production wise is very Florence + the machine. If you haven’t gotten into Florence + the machine discography I definitely recommend them
i am so happy that you reviewed this album and that you decided to go into it not knowing about any of the lore. honestly the whole story should be in the songs, that’s the whole point of storytelling and lyricism. i don’t like how apparently there’s more facts and more lore that come separate from what’s in the music. this review was perfect!
“Dale” is a southern reference to the term “Do it for Dale (Earndhart (a famous nascar driver)) & The guy who came home in a box is a analogy for a soldier(kids) who died at war coming home in a casket
One thing to keep in mind is that this album is one part of a larger story about the life and death and family of Ethel Cain. Hayden has released bits of information along the way like the missing poster for thoroughfare and has also said that the album is from the POV of Ethel but Ethel is an unreliable narrator so you have to almost read between the lines sometimes. It truly is one of the greatest works of art and storytelling I think we've seen for a long time
Hi Cass!! First of all, I love your reaction! I love how you delve into the lyrics!!! I know this album is a lot, but it truly changed my life. Can't wait for you to give it time and discover more with each listen! I wanted to share a few things that might help out. I could sit here and write a thesis on it, but honestly, I think sitting on it and letting you give it even more time will be more fun! It's one of those albums that need time! It took me months to grasp it, and I'm still not sure of everything that is happening, lol. One thing that seems important to me is that, to me, it's more of an allegory, akin to biblical allegory. It's about patriarchy and how women are supposed to be submissive. In our world, especially in many religious communities, a woman-be it a daughter, a wife-is expected to be the one who takes care of others, loves, and sacrifices herself and her life for others. (Obviously, some women find purpose in that and love that role; I do not mean to say what is right or wrong.) In return, you will be taken care of by a man in your life (a husband, a father, a brother), and when you die, you will be rewarded-you'll go to heaven (which is not certain; we don't have proof of that, but you were raised to believe it). Ethel, being brought up as a preacher's daughter, was fed that her entire life. She cannot break from the cycle of seeing good in men and submitting herself to them, because she believes that is what a good woman does. She cannot break out from generational and religious trauma. Unfortunately, every man in her life hurts her in some way, from her father to her killer. To me, it symbolizes how there's no escape from the patriarchy. At the end of the day, to be a woman is to be less than, to sacrifice yourself, and to forgive those who hurt you. I know that's kind of pessimistic-sorry. The thing with those instrumentals is, I feel like there are no words in them because there are no words to describe what happened to her and what it's like to die and enter heaven. "Sun-bleached flies sitting in the windowsill. Waiting for the day they escape. They talk all about that money and how their babies are always changing while they're breathing in the poison of the paint." Flies = women in religious communities, trapped in the windowsill. Imagine you're that fly, thinking there is an escape because you can see through the window to the rest of the world, but there is no way out. As women, we might think there is an escape from the patriarchy, but there isn't one. We are trapped, just like those flies. (Plus, outside of the window, we see our reward-going to heaven. We are waiting and sacrificing our lives on earth to go to heaven or we see a different life we'll never experience.) (Side note: Ethel's face on the cover is kind of blurry, while Jesus is clearer even though it's a small painting. Also, the name "PREACHER'S daughter." She's just a daughter of a man.) "Strangers" in general is insane, and I love the double meaning of certain lyrics. The "am I no good?" - her asking God (I think) if she was good enough in her life, was she good enough of a daughter, girlfriend, etc., to go to heaven, and at the same time asking Isaiah if her flesh is good. She also says "I never considered myself tough," as in tough as a person but also her flesh being tough. (I know, gross, sorry). "Am I making you feel sick?" - She both asks Isaiah if her flesh is making him sick (it actually does, he gets food poisoning) and if she's making us feel sick with this story. "If I'm turning in your stomach" - (When I got it, I was like omfg) - it's a play on "turning in your grave." Ethel doesn't have a grave. Her grave is his stomach. The most important thing I wanted to say - TO ME cannibalism symbolizes how patriarchy drains the life from women. While it's often misconstrued as a metaphor for love, I strongly disagree! Describing the entire album as a cannibalism album is misleading; it's just one song! ALSO, interpreting it as a symbol of love is entirely off-base. For me, it paints a vivid and unsettling image of a girl's life being consumed and violated even after her death! Also I don't know how i'll survive new album if it comes out this year! After 2 years I'm still not over this one. I don't know if I'm ready... Those are just some of my thoughts. Maybe it helped a little bit! English is not my first language, so if it's chaotic, I'm sorry. :(
in regards to Family Tree: the white horse is … death. (death rides a pale horse). it’s the opposite of how a lot of people take that lyric. about it being purifying/good. also the bit about reinvention? ethel (and also hayden) are trans women. so that wasn’t a bad read on that.
Dang Cass. I felt bad for you cuz you were so happy enjoying the music and storytelling and your mind didn't even go there to that dark place lol. I just knew you'd be sad for what happens to the girl in the story once you looked up the story behind the songs. Ptolemaea is so dark and disturbing. It just don't feel right. And even though it's unnerving hearing the footsteps in August Underground and having it paint a picture of what's going on in that moment, I appreciated the creative direction. I can see it in my mind like it's a movie. And I'm just finding out she wants to make it into a film. That'd be cool to see all the work that she's done on the big screen.
this interpretation is so impressive omg and to answer the "where is all this info coming from" its mainly from her old tumblr account or instagram lives where she answered questions about the lore !
her bf she met in thouroughfare ate her that’s what she meant by “am i making you feel sick” and “freezer bride” all this was explained by hayden. all the information in genius is correct and by hayden herself
while the overall storyline is unfortunately true and confirmed, i feel that the songs are able to be interpreted multiple ways which is why some songs sounded differently to you upon first listen than what they originally were meant to mean. I think thats whats beautiful about art though, to be able to relate in your own unique way and although the story doesnt reflect Hayden's real life she obviously pulls from her own very real trauma and life experiences to paint a much scarier and yet still realistic story of the dark side of american life. relistening to the album with the full story in mind is like rewatching a movie and picking up on subtle foreshadowing that you miss on your very first watch. its truly my favorite body of work so far and i cant wait to hear what other stories Hayden is able to tell us in the future.
For a while there I felt like I was teleporting back to the psychedelic 60's. Listening to "Who are the Brain Police" for the first time. She must have been a fan.
if you listen to the ptolemea acapeella, you can hear her screaming MORE after the big “STOOOOOP”, gasping for breath, gagging, and then her death rattle.
hayden used to have a discord server where she talked about a lot of the story/characters in this album so most of the stuff on genius is from there. i used to be in it but she shut it down a year or so ago :(
You should totally react to Ethel’s EP “Inbred”. Also, one of her biggest inspirations as an artist is Florence + The Machine; you would love Florence’s album “Dance Fever”!!!
Kind of a hyperfixation of mine as a transfeminine person but Hayden did say that she views the character Ethel as being trans in the story like Hayden herself is in real life and there’s a lot of lyrics that I feel speak to that. Two that I think about most are… “Christ forgive these bones I’m hiding from no one successfully” feels to me like a reference to the way so many trans women have a specific dysmorphic focus on their bone structure and facial bone structure as things that they feel really masculinize them and are either impossible or very difficult to hide/change. I feel like in asking Christ to forgive her, she’s feeling religious guilt about changing her body and presentation and life (the whole Christian thing of you shouldn’t change your body because God made you perfect and how he wants you to be). In Hard Times when she says, speaking to her father, “praying I’d be like you, doing all of the things that you do” comes off to me as more than just him being a general role model but as like her role model for how to be a man, her growing up as a little boy before any sense of selfhood or self awareness has occurred and just wanting to please and emulate her dad and the kind of man she perceived him as and literally be that, and now looking back on it (“and I still do, and that scares me”) it’s like, I’m comfortable in who I am and I know myself but why do I still long to be like you? Also I know hard times is fiction and is about the character and that her mother said in a TH-cam comment (she comments on reactions sometimes) that the sexual abuse isn’t based on Hayden’s life (but could be based on her mother’s experiences), I still feel like the father dynamics must speak to some truth of her experience. Also, Vyva Melinkolya, who is one of Ethel’s close friends and an amazing musician herself and also trans, was originally supposed to be the one singing hard times on the album, and Ethel changed it last minute and regrets it. The demo of her singing used to be around to listen to but I don’t think I ever gave it a proper listen because I didn’t know who Vyva was but now I wish I could but can’t find it. But ya the fact that another young trans woman was going to sing it I feel makes it even more likely they both view that song as speaking to something of their trans experiences. Also Angel (Vyva’s real name) has a new album from either October or November last year and it’s so beautiful my favorite from last year after Lana 🖤 Anyway love ur vids babe u do so much justice to everything u listen to and analyze 💞
fun fact: August Underground is named after a gore/exploitation movie of the same name. Its stylistically similar to the Blair Witch as its found footage, and is about a duo of serial killers who sexually assault, torture, humiliate, and kill their victims with extreme brutality. In terms of writing and plot its not a very good movie at all, but it's mainly known for its extremely realistic practical effects. The practical effects were so good in fact, that its been mistaken for an ACTUAL snuff film (if u don't know snuff films are films where at least one human is killed SOLELY for the film. Thankfully, there's never been an actual recorded snuff film ever made or sold). It could just be a named after the movie as an easter egg, but i wonder if this hints that Ethel's murder was documented or recorded (since in strangers she already mentions that police have a polaroid of her in evidence).
god its been so long since i last heard this album and i had totally forgotten how bone chilling ptolemaea, august underground and televangelism are (at least to me) and its 3am and im so fucking scared now😭😭😭😭
I too felt the very very heavy Lana influences and immediately fell in love with this album and Ethel so much so she was my #2 on my Spotify wrapped after Lana ofc!!! But she doesn't state LDR as an inspiration, she lists others, typical many don't give LDR her flowers for inventing this melancholic sound and writing.
"inventing" lmfaooo, i agree lana is a unique artist that inspires a lot of new artists, but she's not the first alternative artist ever, if you listen to 90s indie you know exactly where hayden's references come from. but yeah, a southern trans girl would need to be a fan of lana del rey to write dark and melancholic southern gothic songs, sure.
Lana is a very talented and gorgeous woman but people seem to forget that she sounds like a modernized version of Mazzy Star when it comes to her originality lol
I’d love to see you tackle Hozier if you haven’t! Not many people have reacted to his recent album: Unreal Unearth and it’s probably one of my fav albums of all time. Like Ptolomaea, it explores Dante’s Inferno, but it’s not nearly as scary (it does have some sad/devastating songs)
Strangers was written about how her final lover murdered then cannibalised her, there’s 3 lovers in the album. Theres loads of info about it online if you want to know more!
This album absolutely destroyed me, but it’s my favourite album of all time. There’s so much lore behind it from interviews Ethel has done and questions she's answered online so I thought I would share some of it + some important theories because some of the stuff on Genius is a mess lol ❤️ I’ve written a whole document of annotated lyrics for my friends about the album so this’ll be a long comment hahaha. First just for context, Preacher’s Daughter is set in 1991 and follows the story of Ethel Cain, a 20 year old girl from a small town in Alabama called Shady Grove. She recounts old loves, her troubled relationship with religion, her father (the titular preacher, Reverend Joseph Cain, beloved member of the community even 10 years after his death), and the tragic fate that befalls her when she finally runs away from her small, judgemental town. Ethel’s father died in a fire when she was 10, an important fact for a theory I’ll discuss later. Family Tree (Intro): Basically just setting the scene for the album with references to intergenerational & religious trauma and how Ethel believes she was doomed from the start. The lines “Jesus can always reject his father / But he cannot escape his mother’s blood” show Ethel feels that the abuse her mother faced (and her grandmother before her and so on) is ingrained in her blood and that she was never going to be able to live a life free of abuse herself. A House in Nebraska: Just a note, the house wasn't actually in Nebraska! They only imagined it was because Ethel "saw Nebraska as the center of America, a wide open expanse, an open wheat field that just went on forever and ever." The love she and Willoughby shared was sweet and kind and until he left town, he was the one man who had never hurt Ethel. Western Nights: It’s important to point out the contradiction of the lines “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” as her father has been dead for 10 years at this point. This is likely a coping mechanism, telling herself she’s avoiding her father to not upset him when really she will never be able to see him again. Family Tree: The mention of a "disturbing family secret" in the about section always confused me because nothing really stood out to me in this particular song HOWEVER, I think this alludes to the idea that Ethel actually killed her father. Lyrics in this song and a couple of other songs lend credence to this, plus this entire song is about baptism and the washing away of sin. “Christ forgive these bones I’m hiding” at first comes off as a general hiding of secrets or sins, it could also be taken literally that she’s been hiding her involvement in her father’s death. “I’ve killed before and I’ll kill again / Take the noose of wrap it tight around my hand” basically saying that she’s taken the noose that was used to silence, belittle, and abuse her off of the “family tree” and that she’s using it as a weapon (possibly against her father). Finally, from Ptolemaea, “I was there in the dark when you spilled your first blood” and whether you interpret this line as being said by Death or just by Ethel’s subconscious, it’s yet another implication that Ethel has actually killed someone in the past. Hard Times: Despite his abuse, Ethel admires the man her father was in their community and wishes that people would love her the way they did him. Thoroughfare: Ethel meets the charming Isaiah who offers her a ride. Together they drive from Texas to California and over the course of their trip, they find themselves attracted to one another, HOWEVER things aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. When Hayden was promoting this album, she shared a Missing Person poster of Ethel which stated, “Ethel was last seen Saturday, January 13 at 3:15am being forced into a black, short-bed pickup truck in the old Winn Dixie parking lot on Abrams Street in Arlington, Texas. A witness said a white man kidnapped her.” Isaiah drives a black pickup truck and he met Ethel in Texas. The theory is that the events of this song never actually happened and that it’s Ethel’s idealized version of events, the happy ending she always wanted, and that this idealized story is a way for her to cope with her tragic circumstances. Hayden herself has said that Ethel is an unreliable narrator which furthers this assumption. Gibson Girl: Ethel has once again found herself in the hands of a violent man, yet she still yearns for his affection out of pure desperation. Ptolemaea: The sound of flies in the background foreshadows Ethel's demise and in some sections of the song with the vocals isolated, you can actually hear Ethel begging for her life and choking. It doesn’t need much explanation since I think it’s pretty obvious, but Isaiah assaults and murders Ethel. August Underground: This song represents the actual process of death. At the end of the song, we hear something close and feet shuffling away. Isaiah has moved Ethel’s body into the freezer in the basement. Strangers: Although Ethel’s mother physically abused her, she knows that her mother was also a victim and thus forgives her transgressions. She would still “wait up with [her]”, referencing the previous line in the song when her mother realizes she’s missing. That’s all I got. Loved your video!!
Responding to Hard Times: As soon as she said "nine going on eighteen", I knew this was a song about S/A and got chills from the rest of the song. And the saddest part is when she says, "Too tired to move, too tired to leave." Wow, what a deep and impactful song.
An hour and a half length video with Cass. That is amazing.😃 Not said very often with too many artists or any artists. But there are some very strong Lana Del Rey vocal vibes.
Hi Everyone
that was the best decision you'd have made! The story Ethel created have a really heavy impact, but the songs itself are so full with meaning and feelings that you let yourself open for your own interpretations gives so many space to this project to grow in your life!
Hot take: in American Teenager when she says “say what you want; but say it like you mean it with your fists for words” is Hayden, not Ethel, sprinkling in personal experiences with being bullied. Idk. I love those lyrics
My kid had me listen without the story first and holy cow!!!! She’s a genius
devastating as it is, i gotta hand it to her -- Strangers is so funny. like, she just got cannibalized and she's making puns??? "how funny, I never considered myself tough" ???? i adore her
At that point, she’s moved on, she’s in some kind of heaven, she can look on it only with love. Strangers if about being so above the pain that you can forgive it all.
have you heard the lyrics in the demo 😭
@@ghostincloudssWHERE
the album is WAY more literal than it seems, haha. and i think it's worth noting that Hayden is herself a trans woman from Florida who left the church and her hometown, and has since been really politically outspoken. American Teenager is literally about the military preying on teenagers and manipulating them to enlist ("kids in the front"), and I sorta think the story is itself partially about systemic violence in the church and the concept of "Americana" itself. like, there's definitely some joy on this album, but it's ultimately about a doomed trans woman trying and failing to escape violence at the hands of a bunch of men, and only being free once she decides to "put up a fight" and take charge of her own relationship with god. incredibly profound.
Hate to ruin the fun but thoroughfare is her being kidnapped and romanticizing it. Thats why she says “in these motel rooms I started to see you differently”, because she is developing stockholm syndrome. Hayden herself released a picture of a poster that says Ethel was last seen thrown into a pickup truck
i love all the tracks and know the story but sometimes i like to make myself believe that thoroughfare is the happy end where she dates isaiah and he's not a psychopath lol
@@aleky_sundae98 yeah me too LOL
You can still love the song wdym ruining it
@@bananafruit6060 she said in the video that she didn’t want it to have a dark meaning and just wanted it to be a fun love song. I was bursting her a bubble a little bit lol
Out of context of the lore its such a nice love song tho
GIRL, I SWEAR ON MY LIFE THAT I SCREAMED LIKE ETHEL ON PTOLEMAEA WHEN I SAW THE NOTIFICATION😭😭
You are WRONG for that line.
Me toooooo OHMYGOD
whats the timestamp of the notif?
LMAO
@@ashelynn278 she meant when she uploaded the video
“another red heart taken by the american dream” was referring to someone dying in war and coming home in a box.
it’s a commentary on war and patriotism.
the period at the end of the sentence fr
honestly I will never understand how she wrote and produced this whole thing 99% by herself. This project blow me away and stole my life for a whole year. Absolutely one of my life favs
When she chose august underground as her claimed song I SCREAMED
SAME OMG
Same here
Poor Ethel Cain
Literally
The way you connected “shoot first and run” and “pistol in my pocket” before you knew the ending of the album gave me goosebumps.
The genius lyrics are so funny bc there is no way to catch the lore just by listening
This is so insanely true lmao
Literally me, I didn't know shit about Strangers when I heard it the first few times, I just thought it was a sad love song😭but then some parts like the turning in your stomach part didn't add up so I got curious and looked up the meaning and was like OMG 😭
@@NH-bg4lu my absolute favorite on the album.
I always feel like people miss how sad Hard Times is about her getting SA about her father, the preacher
Hayden said that Ethel is not really a reliable narrator, which changes a lot for songs like Thoroughfare, where she could be getting kidnapped but dissociates and makes a fantasy in her head.
Some of the stuff on Genius is made up, but the general story is correct.
Hayden is Ethel but her real name Hayden they are one artist
@@Preachers_daughterthey're clearly talking about the character ethel here
@@Juliet-ob6fn not a problem
Preacher’s daughter isn’t just an album but a book that Hayden wrote/is writing that’s where the genius explanations come from. I believe the summaries are from a twitter page from one of Hayden’s friends
Some of it is also from Hayden’s old tumblr and lives she did.
If it helps, Hayden originally planned this project as an indie film, but she couldn’t afford to go to film school so she pivoted the project to a concept album and a book she’s currently writing.
not only she wrote the whole thing herself, she also played every instrumental
SUN BLEACHED FLIES HITS SO DIFFERENT WITH CONTEXT 🥲
The story of preacher’s daughter was originally a film script Ethel wrote, and she’s elaborated on it on tumblr before, so that’s where most of the genius annotations come from. The “lawless wasteland” quote is in reference to false EP tracks that were listed. Anyways basic story is that Ethel experiences Willoughby leaving and her father dying before the start of the album, and the abuse she experienced from her father leads her into a repeated pattern of abusive relationships with other guys like Isaiah who does ultimately kill and cannibalize her. I kinda see the main themes apparent in the album as calling out the hypocrisy of the church manifested in her father, the preacher, and the violence committed against women’s bodies, which she acknowledges when she contends with her mother at the end of the story, seeing her as just as much a victim as she is, and letting that love and forgiveness be what helps her achieve acceptance for her sad life and death, (and yes, Hayden does have plans to center her next project on her character’s mother, inspired by how she in real life managed to better connect with her mother through understanding the intergenerational pain and trauma that she herself experienced)
The genius annotations for preachers daughter are pretty much all completely accurate and canon. They all come from a twitter thread where Hayden explained each song and the story overall (she has since deleted her Twitter but I think there are still screenshots somewhere). I believe what she was referencing about genius being a lawless wasteland full of lies is when someone compiled some of Hayden’s random/unrelated unreleased songs and claimed they were the songs that were going to be on the preachers daughter b sides (basically an extended version of PD that goes more in depth on willoughby and her life in her hometown before the events of the album)
Fun fact on August Underground; it's title is taken from an extremely violent, gory found footage movie. People mistaken it for a snuff film, but it definitely is *styled* that way. When I first saw that song title before listening to Preacher's Daughter, I knew I was going to be in a dark ride LOL I love how transgressive she is, it's very cathartic. Her music isn't for everyone, but it's very rewarding and I'm going to follow whatever she does.
I watch the movie 😀😀
I watch the movie 😀😀 don't watch if you want to messed up your own mental well being lol
Don’t they go to a Korn concert or something in that movie?
Did you liked Perverts?
Came for the Lana reactions, stayed for your intellect, insight, and raw vulnerability
i think is possible that "i killed before and i'll kill again" the before is about hearning to hunt from her daddy a la abigail hobbs and i'll kill again is her saying "i'm a new person now, not afraid to defend myself if wronged" tying with "i'm just a child but i'm not above violence"
honey wake up!! a new preachers daughter reaction just dropped
I remember when American Teenager played during while waiting for the Eras Tour to start in Melbourne, I was the only one who knew it in my section, I was yelling it with full on confidence 💀
OMG that's amazing 😭
written AND PRODUCED solely by her!!!!! inssaaanneee!!!
technically not self written because there is a cowriter on american teenager and on ptolemaea
preachers daughters production is like the definition of eargasm
I love the shock on peoples faces when they fiding out that Strangers is about.
I loooove the last "Am I making you feel sick?" section of the song, it is so cathartic, so much rage and release. She takes the idea of being poison, as first stated in Hard Times in a guilty tone when she says "I'm poison in the water and unhappy", and turn into retribution for the violence she suffered. I imagined that while being abused and manipulated by her father she felt like his violence was her fault, hence the feeling of being poisonous like a tempting snake, but later in Strangers it turns into a cathartic, albeit tragic, kind of empowerment. Futhermore, it plays with the listener, is she making us feel sick? (yes, she is)
I think most of the aditional information in the Genius page comes from complementary material Hayden posted online, like videos and photos that enriches the world Ethel lives in, but I never sought it out, so I idk how much of what's on Genius is actual text or conjunction made by the fanbase.
My kid and I drove from SLC Utah to San Francisco to see her. I have not recovered. That was in October
Also, the descriptions and annotations of the songs on genius are real. If you look at the contributors for the about section on each song, it shows Hayden as a verified contributor. Hayden created the story (in hopes of a film or smth) and wrote the album around it. She mentions and references the lore of the album a lot, and i don't think that the one comment that said it was fake is actually true. Hope this helps!!!
the quote where she says she doesn’t know wtf they’re on is real. some of the things that are on there Hayden has said herself but a lot of it is bs that people pulled out of their ass
Yeah, I think there was a lot of other stuff on the genius page that mightve not been correct. That comment could have been alluding to something else@@theflavening
saying "this one feels more back to earth" abt televisionism is definitely something
I saw her live last summer and it was the most beautiful performance I've experienced. Her vocals are incredible live and she has such a loving energy. She was fully herself, wearing a sweatshirt and jeans and just there to experience the music with us.
the comparison of house in Nebraska to sneaker night is sending me
This album is genuinely one of the best albums that has been made in the modern day. Came out forever ago but its still tied for aoty for me
What is aoty?
@@whitneyswanson9364 album of the year
The fun thing is I was thinking about you reacting to this and I swear to GOD I imagined you listening to hard times and your reaction it’s EXACTLY what I expected to be
girl i jumped when i saw the notification for this! thank you so much, i love your channel!!!
I know that some things might've not matched up with "official" meanings but I really really loved how you analyzed the lyrics! Your interpretations were really refreshing and helped me see other perspectives. Thank you for the lovely video!
From what I know, Hayden/Ethel made this album with the thoughts that it could be an actual movie too. That's why a lot of what of what was written (for example the names) on Genius isn't ever mentioned on the album which is a little bit weird, I don't know why they would mention it there.
I love Preacher's Daughter SO MUCH and I'm so happy that you reacted to it!! This album is so special and unique in the best way!
I've always pictured the outro of thoroughfare as the two characters by the fire at night just enjoying themselves and humming some melodies
28:03
Western Nights always gave me the same vibes as Ultraviolence. They touch on similar themes.
Family Tree (Intro): "Swinging by my neck from the family tree" ties into Family Tree "Take the noose off, wrap it tight around my hand"
your interpretation of this album is actually so beautiful on it's own regardless if it was the intended lore or not.
you’re fr the best reactor i love your comments and takes and how chatty you are
i absolutely loved your reaction to this album!!! the way you kept analyzing and giving them your own interpretation to the songs and appreciating her lyricism and vocals!! so funny when you found out abt what the album was loll :)
When I first listened to the album I read the genius annotations as I went so I knew all the lore, but the one song I sort of interpret differently is family tree. In the song she makes a lot of references to violence and killing “god forgive these bones I’m hiding and the bones I’m about to leave” “I’ve killed before and I’ll kill again” “daddy said shoot first and don’t run back” etc. so I interpreted the song as her killing Logan after not being able to take his abuse anymore. She says “take me down to the river and bathe me clean” to physically clean the blood off of her. And I think this interpretation makes thoroughfare/the rest of the album that much more devastating bc at the beginning of thoroughfare she says “on the side of the road in some torn up clothes with a pistol in my pocket I didn’t trust no one”. After dealing with Logan’s abuse and being pushed to the point of murder (and after the heartbreak of willoughby), she is completely resigned to love and can’t trust anybody with her heart, but she is charmed and deceived by Isaiah only to continue to be abused and murdered. Again this is just my interpretation of the song, this is not canon, it’s just what comes to mind whenever I hear it
i quite literally GASPED OUT LOUDD OMG IM EXCITED FOR U
I will say Ethel Cain is the child of Lana del rey and Florence + the machine. She definitely has the song writing of Lana but production wise is very Florence + the machine. If you haven’t gotten into Florence + the machine discography I definitely recommend them
The production feels a lot like Ultraviolence by Lana to me tbh!
I would looveeeee a look into Florence's works
Maybe the title track of ultraviolence but not much else on PD sounds like ultraviolence
i am so happy that you reviewed this album and that you decided to go into it not knowing about any of the lore. honestly the whole story should be in the songs, that’s the whole point of storytelling and lyricism. i don’t like how apparently there’s more facts and more lore that come separate from what’s in the music. this review was perfect!
watching you happily sing along to thoroughfare and calling it cute knowing the real meaning behind it it’s so funny
“Dale” is a southern reference to the term “Do it for Dale (Earndhart (a famous nascar driver)) & The guy who came home in a box is a analogy for a soldier(kids) who died at war coming home in a casket
YESSSSS, ILYSM AND THANK YOU FOR THE REACTIONNNN. IM GLAD YOU ENJOYED THE JOURNEY
One thing to keep in mind is that this album is one part of a larger story about the life and death and family of Ethel Cain. Hayden has released bits of information along the way like the missing poster for thoroughfare and has also said that the album is from the POV of Ethel but Ethel is an unreliable narrator so you have to almost read between the lines sometimes. It truly is one of the greatest works of art and storytelling I think we've seen for a long time
“i don’t know why he left” HES DEAD, GIRL
That’s a theory
@@florencewelchsguccidress6973 WHY ARE YOU EVERYWHERE😭😭😭
@@headinthewall bc I’m unemployed
@@florencewelchsguccidress6973 well at least you’re honest 🫶
Hi Cass!! First of all, I love your reaction! I love how you delve into the lyrics!!! I know this album is a lot, but it truly changed my life. Can't wait for you to give it time and discover more with each listen!
I wanted to share a few things that might help out. I could sit here and write a thesis on it, but honestly, I think sitting on it and letting you give it even more time will be more fun! It's one of those albums that need time! It took me months to grasp it, and I'm still not sure of everything that is happening, lol.
One thing that seems important to me is that, to me, it's more of an allegory, akin to biblical allegory. It's about patriarchy and how women are supposed to be submissive. In our world, especially in many religious communities, a woman-be it a daughter, a wife-is expected to be the one who takes care of others, loves, and sacrifices herself and her life for others. (Obviously, some women find purpose in that and love that role; I do not mean to say what is right or wrong.)
In return, you will be taken care of by a man in your life (a husband, a father, a brother), and when you die, you will be rewarded-you'll go to heaven (which is not certain; we don't have proof of that, but you were raised to believe it).
Ethel, being brought up as a preacher's daughter, was fed that her entire life. She cannot break from the cycle of seeing good in men and submitting herself to them, because she believes that is what a good woman does.
She cannot break out from generational and religious trauma. Unfortunately, every man in her life hurts her in some way, from her father to her killer. To me, it symbolizes how there's no escape from the patriarchy. At the end of the day, to be a woman is to be less than, to sacrifice yourself, and to forgive those who hurt you. I know that's kind of pessimistic-sorry.
The thing with those instrumentals is, I feel like there are no words in them because there are no words to describe what happened to her and what it's like to die and enter heaven.
"Sun-bleached flies sitting in the windowsill. Waiting for the day they escape. They talk all about that money and how their babies are always changing while they're breathing in the poison of the paint."
Flies = women in religious communities, trapped in the windowsill. Imagine you're that fly, thinking there is an escape because you can see through the window to the rest of the world, but there is no way out. As women, we might think there is an escape from the patriarchy, but there isn't one.
We are trapped, just like those flies. (Plus, outside of the window, we see our reward-going to heaven. We are waiting and sacrificing our lives on earth to go to heaven or we see a different life we'll never experience.)
(Side note: Ethel's face on the cover is kind of blurry, while Jesus is clearer even though it's a small painting. Also, the name "PREACHER'S daughter." She's just a daughter of a man.)
"Strangers" in general is insane, and I love the double meaning of certain lyrics. The "am I no good?" - her asking God (I think) if she was good enough in her life, was she good enough of a daughter, girlfriend, etc., to go to heaven, and at the same time asking Isaiah if her flesh is good.
She also says "I never considered myself tough," as in tough as a person but also her flesh being tough. (I know, gross, sorry).
"Am I making you feel sick?" - She both asks Isaiah if her flesh is making him sick (it actually does, he gets food poisoning) and if she's making us feel sick with this story.
"If I'm turning in your stomach" - (When I got it, I was like omfg) - it's a play on "turning in your grave." Ethel doesn't have a grave. Her grave is his stomach.
The most important thing I wanted to say - TO ME cannibalism symbolizes how patriarchy drains the life from women. While it's often misconstrued as a metaphor for love, I strongly disagree!
Describing the entire album as a cannibalism album is misleading; it's just one song! ALSO, interpreting it as a symbol of love is entirely off-base. For me, it paints a vivid and unsettling image of a girl's life being consumed and violated even after her death!
Also I don't know how i'll survive new album if it comes out this year! After 2 years I'm still not over this one. I don't know if I'm ready...
Those are just some of my thoughts. Maybe it helped a little bit! English is not my first language, so if it's chaotic, I'm sorry. :(
so glad u listened to pd hayden wrote and produced this whole album by her self btw with the exception of i think 1 or 2 songs
OMG YESSS I’VE BEEN SOOOOO EXCITED FOR THIS VIDEO
in regards to Family Tree:
the white horse is … death. (death rides a pale horse). it’s the opposite of how a lot of people take that lyric. about it being purifying/good.
also the bit about reinvention? ethel (and also hayden) are trans women. so that wasn’t a bad read on that.
Dang Cass. I felt bad for you cuz you were so happy enjoying the music and storytelling and your mind didn't even go there to that dark place lol. I just knew you'd be sad for what happens to the girl in the story once you looked up the story behind the songs.
Ptolemaea is so dark and disturbing. It just don't feel right. And even though it's unnerving hearing the footsteps in August Underground and having it paint a picture of what's going on in that moment, I appreciated the creative direction. I can see it in my mind like it's a movie. And I'm just finding out she wants to make it into a film. That'd be cool to see all the work that she's done on the big screen.
this interpretation is so impressive omg and to answer the "where is all this info coming from" its mainly from her old tumblr account or instagram lives where she answered questions about the lore !
her bf she met in thouroughfare ate her that’s what she meant by “am i making you feel sick” and “freezer bride” all this was explained by hayden. all the information in genius is correct and by hayden herself
this is the only long reaction for this album. exactly what i’ve been looking for. thank you!!!
while the overall storyline is unfortunately true and confirmed, i feel that the songs are able to be interpreted multiple ways which is why some songs sounded differently to you upon first listen than what they originally were meant to mean. I think thats whats beautiful about art though, to be able to relate in your own unique way and although the story doesnt reflect Hayden's real life she obviously pulls from her own very real trauma and life experiences to paint a much scarier and yet still realistic story of the dark side of american life. relistening to the album with the full story in mind is like rewatching a movie and picking up on subtle foreshadowing that you miss on your very first watch. its truly my favorite body of work so far and i cant wait to hear what other stories Hayden is able to tell us in the future.
For a while there I felt like I was teleporting back to the psychedelic 60's. Listening to "Who are the Brain Police" for the first time. She must have been a fan.
if you listen to the ptolemea acapeella, you can hear her screaming MORE after the big “STOOOOOP”, gasping for breath, gagging, and then her death rattle.
i love this album with my whole heart and i LOVEEE your reactions. im so excited to watch this
you just saved my Friday night ty !
The way she just 👁👄👁 at Ptolemaea's ending
Omggg I can’t believe you’re doing this one! I am SAT 🪑✝️
hayden used to have a discord server where she talked about a lot of the story/characters in this album so most of the stuff on genius is from there. i used to be in it but she shut it down a year or so ago :(
i am so excited to watch this when i wake up in the morning!!! already know that it’ll be a good day
WE WON.
oh my god this is iconic
17:58 THIS IS SENDING ME! Sneaker night representation 🙌😭
You should totally react to Ethel’s EP “Inbred”. Also, one of her biggest inspirations as an artist is Florence + The Machine; you would love Florence’s album “Dance Fever”!!!
you definitely made the right decision listening to it on your own !
So so happy you’re going to be continuing with album reactions!!!
Western nights isn’t about the same man in house in Nebraska this her new man that she stays with cause hes the only escape from her past
I felt so seen when you were reminded of Sneakernight. That used to be me and my old best friend's favorite hype song
Kind of a hyperfixation of mine as a transfeminine person but Hayden did say that she views the character Ethel as being trans in the story like Hayden herself is in real life and there’s a lot of lyrics that I feel speak to that. Two that I think about most are…
“Christ forgive these bones I’m hiding from no one successfully” feels to me like a reference to the way so many trans women have a specific dysmorphic focus on their bone structure and facial bone structure as things that they feel really masculinize them and are either impossible or very difficult to hide/change. I feel like in asking Christ to forgive her, she’s feeling religious guilt about changing her body and presentation and life (the whole Christian thing of you shouldn’t change your body because God made you perfect and how he wants you to be).
In Hard Times when she says, speaking to her father, “praying I’d be like you, doing all of the things that you do” comes off to me as more than just him being a general role model but as like her role model for how to be a man, her growing up as a little boy before any sense of selfhood or self awareness has occurred and just wanting to please and emulate her dad and the kind of man she perceived him as and literally be that, and now looking back on it (“and I still do, and that scares me”) it’s like, I’m comfortable in who I am and I know myself but why do I still long to be like you? Also I know hard times is fiction and is about the character and that her mother said in a TH-cam comment (she comments on reactions sometimes) that the sexual abuse isn’t based on Hayden’s life (but could be based on her mother’s experiences), I still feel like the father dynamics must speak to some truth of her experience. Also, Vyva Melinkolya, who is one of Ethel’s close friends and an amazing musician herself and also trans, was originally supposed to be the one singing hard times on the album, and Ethel changed it last minute and regrets it. The demo of her singing used to be around to listen to but I don’t think I ever gave it a proper listen because I didn’t know who Vyva was but now I wish I could but can’t find it. But ya the fact that another young trans woman was going to sing it I feel makes it even more likely they both view that song as speaking to something of their trans experiences. Also Angel (Vyva’s real name) has a new album from either October or November last year and it’s so beautiful my favorite from last year after Lana 🖤
Anyway love ur vids babe u do so much justice to everything u listen to and analyze 💞
fun fact: August Underground is named after a gore/exploitation movie of the same name. Its stylistically similar to the Blair Witch as its found footage, and is about a duo of serial killers who sexually assault, torture, humiliate, and kill their victims with extreme brutality. In terms of writing and plot its not a very good movie at all, but it's mainly known for its extremely realistic practical effects. The practical effects were so good in fact, that its been mistaken for an ACTUAL snuff film (if u don't know snuff films are films where at least one human is killed SOLELY for the film. Thankfully, there's never been an actual recorded snuff film ever made or sold). It could just be a named after the movie as an easter egg, but i wonder if this hints that Ethel's murder was documented or recorded (since in strangers she already mentions that police have a polaroid of her in evidence).
god its been so long since i last heard this album and i had totally forgotten how bone chilling ptolemaea, august underground and televangelism are (at least to me) and its 3am and im so fucking scared now😭😭😭😭
I too felt the very very heavy Lana influences and immediately fell in love with this album and Ethel so much so she was my #2 on my Spotify wrapped after Lana ofc!!! But she doesn't state LDR as an inspiration, she lists others, typical many don't give LDR her flowers for inventing this melancholic sound and writing.
"inventing" lmfaooo, i agree lana is a unique artist that inspires a lot of new artists, but she's not the first alternative artist ever, if you listen to 90s indie you know exactly where hayden's references come from. but yeah, a southern trans girl would need to be a fan of lana del rey to write dark and melancholic southern gothic songs, sure.
Weird…
Lana is a very talented and gorgeous woman but people seem to forget that she sounds like a modernized version of Mazzy Star when it comes to her originality lol
Weird comment lol
I’d love to see you tackle Hozier if you haven’t! Not many people have reacted to his recent album: Unreal Unearth and it’s probably one of my fav albums of all time. Like Ptolomaea, it explores Dante’s Inferno, but it’s not nearly as scary (it does have some sad/devastating songs)
i’m so happy you reacted to this, when you read the genius pages i was laughing so hard because the shock is so real 😭
I wish so bad she would make a movie with this album like Melanie Martinez did. Like take you along each scene of each song. That would be so awesome
The way I was sitting down just wishing your take on thoroughfare was the right take because re-listens are so much more haunting knowing the story
Also a little note, Preacher’s Daughter is her 3rd album. She also has Gloden Age (debut) and Inbred (sophomore)
those two are ep’s preachers daughter is her debut album (1st lp)
they’re technically ep’s but they’re so fkn good and nobody listens to them !!
@@johhaaannnn tbh I see them as albums because EP’s are usually less than 30 mins
those are EP's, and they aren't canon in the ethel cain lore
(A. those are EPs not albums (B. Carpet Bed EP erasure…
The moment it set in that the whole album was telling the story of a preachers daughter who was mvrdered I was scarred for life
I can't 😭😭 your hopeful interpretation throughout the album just threw me off!! Oh how I love seeing ppl react to this album
Dale is Dale Earnhardt, the late nascar driver.
I CLICKED ON THIS SO FAST, TYSM QUEEN ❤❤❤
OMFG I JUST WOKE UP YES!!!!!!
I haven't even finished the video yet but if you end up loving Ethel some of her unreleased songs are AMAZING
Strangers was written about how her final lover murdered then cannibalised her, there’s 3 lovers in the album. Theres loads of info about it online if you want to know more!
The sound in "Hard Times" isn't bells. It's crickets and other bugs. She uses the sounds of bugs a lot in this album.
I DIDNT EXPECT IT LETS GO????!
How did I not notice that note being the same as Sneakernight 😭😭
This album absolutely destroyed me, but it’s my favourite album of all time. There’s so much lore behind it from interviews Ethel has done and questions she's answered online so I thought I would share some of it + some important theories because some of the stuff on Genius is a mess lol ❤️ I’ve written a whole document of annotated lyrics for my friends about the album so this’ll be a long comment hahaha. First just for context, Preacher’s Daughter is set in 1991 and follows the story of Ethel Cain, a 20 year old girl from a small town in Alabama called Shady Grove. She recounts old loves, her troubled relationship with religion, her father (the titular preacher, Reverend Joseph Cain, beloved member of the community even 10 years after his death), and the tragic fate that befalls her when she finally runs away from her small, judgemental town. Ethel’s father died in a fire when she was 10, an important fact for a theory I’ll discuss later.
Family Tree (Intro): Basically just setting the scene for the album with references to intergenerational & religious trauma and how Ethel believes she was doomed from the start. The lines “Jesus can always reject his father / But he cannot escape his mother’s blood” show Ethel feels that the abuse her mother faced (and her grandmother before her and so on) is ingrained in her blood and that she was never going to be able to live a life free of abuse herself.
A House in Nebraska: Just a note, the house wasn't actually in Nebraska! They only imagined it was because Ethel "saw Nebraska as the center of America, a wide open expanse, an open wheat field that just went on forever and ever." The love she and Willoughby shared was sweet and kind and until he left town, he was the one man who had never hurt Ethel.
Western Nights: It’s important to point out the contradiction of the lines “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” as her father has been dead for 10 years at this point. This is likely a coping mechanism, telling herself she’s avoiding her father to not upset him when really she will never be able to see him again.
Family Tree: The mention of a "disturbing family secret" in the about section always confused me because nothing really stood out to me in this particular song HOWEVER, I think this alludes to the idea that Ethel actually killed her father. Lyrics in this song and a couple of other songs lend credence to this, plus this entire song is about baptism and the washing away of sin. “Christ forgive these bones I’m hiding” at first comes off as a general hiding of secrets or sins, it could also be taken literally that she’s been hiding her involvement in her father’s death. “I’ve killed before and I’ll kill again / Take the noose of wrap it tight around my hand” basically saying that she’s taken the noose that was used to silence, belittle, and abuse her off of the “family tree” and that she’s using it as a weapon (possibly against her father). Finally, from Ptolemaea, “I was there in the dark when you spilled your first blood” and whether you interpret this line as being said by Death or just by Ethel’s subconscious, it’s yet another implication that Ethel has actually killed someone in the past.
Hard Times: Despite his abuse, Ethel admires the man her father was in their community and wishes that people would love her the way they did him.
Thoroughfare: Ethel meets the charming Isaiah who offers her a ride. Together they drive from Texas to California and over the course of their trip, they find themselves attracted to one another, HOWEVER things aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. When Hayden was promoting this album, she shared a Missing Person poster of Ethel which stated, “Ethel was last seen Saturday, January 13 at 3:15am being forced into a black, short-bed pickup truck in the old Winn Dixie parking lot on Abrams Street in Arlington, Texas. A witness said a white man kidnapped her.” Isaiah drives a black pickup truck and he met Ethel in Texas. The theory is that the events of this song never actually happened and that it’s Ethel’s idealized version of events, the happy ending she always wanted, and that this idealized story is a way for her to cope with her tragic circumstances. Hayden herself has said that Ethel is an unreliable narrator which furthers this assumption.
Gibson Girl: Ethel has once again found herself in the hands of a violent man, yet she still yearns for his affection out of pure desperation.
Ptolemaea: The sound of flies in the background foreshadows Ethel's demise and in some sections of the song with the vocals isolated, you can actually hear Ethel begging for her life and choking. It doesn’t need much explanation since I think it’s pretty obvious, but Isaiah assaults and murders Ethel.
August Underground: This song represents the actual process of death. At the end of the song, we hear something close and feet shuffling away. Isaiah has moved Ethel’s body into the freezer in the basement.
Strangers: Although Ethel’s mother physically abused her, she knows that her mother was also a victim and thus forgives her transgressions. She would still “wait up with [her]”, referencing the previous line in the song when her mother realizes she’s missing.
That’s all I got. Loved your video!!
OMFG YES I BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE
OMG YES ethel cain is everything thank u for this!!!!
Responding to Hard Times:
As soon as she said "nine going on eighteen", I knew this was a song about S/A and got chills from the rest of the song. And the saddest part is when she says, "Too tired to move, too tired to leave." Wow, what a deep and impactful song.
i loved your analysis so much and the way you go in detail about each verse, lyric, song, etc and then genius messing up 75% of your interpretation 😭
An hour and a half length video with Cass. That is amazing.😃 Not said very often with too many artists or any artists. But there are some very strong Lana Del Rey vocal vibes.