i stumbled across Ethel and usually hate digging too much into artist's personal life as it often dispels the world i create in my head for them . Hayden blew my idea away with such a concise illustration of Ethel's galaxy . Trippy
Thank you for pointing that out! You are absolutely correct. I have no idea why I said "stabbed to DEATH" when she does officially die in the following song. Great catch. :)
I think the most interesting thing about Thoroughfare is the super long outro. Her vocal adlibs and the way the music starts to shift tone, to me, could be a glimpse of what is coming with Gibson Girl and Ptolemaea. I think she is starting to notice but she's still disassociating.
Thank you SO MUCH! I just saw her for the first time last night here in Nashville and I'm still coming down from the experience. This album is absolutely the masterpiece of the century. She deserves the world.
i absolutely adore this album, and gibson girl is actually one of my favorites from it. i love the way it tells it story sonically, painting a picture of this world ethel is stuck in, and how she is again an unreliable narrator. throughout the song, she's trying to convince the listener that she is in control of what's happening. i also love observing this song outside of the immediate context of the album's story, because i think it's generally applicable to the way society teaches women to seek out male validation whilst trying to maintain the illusion that they're the ones in control. this is especially evident in the line "if you hate me, please don't tell me", in which she breaks out of that monotone, processed voice she sings in the rest of the song - she's pleading. there is also the way she subverts the initial impression of the song - the production is sultry and sexy, and she adresses the listener directly, calls us out on participating in this narrative. it's such an absolute masterpiece
this was really great!! i'm obsessed with ethel cain but haven't been able to find any cohesive video explaining preacher's daughter until now. it's so haunting and beautiful
This is the first long podcast I heard in another language that is not Spanish. I am so fan of Ethel Cain. Thanks to her, I am writing poems about a little story talking about my religious traumas and romance experiences. Ethel is the first singer I listened to who talks about religion, family, expectations, and nostalgia in a deep and all-in-one way.
I’ve been listening to this album for a few months and it’s only this week I’m realizing it’s a concept album 😅 I never really paid attention to the lyrics or her social media posts so the whole album’s changed for me now
I really enjoy some of Ethel Cain's poppier songs, such as "Crush" and "American Teenager." Ethel Cain lore as a whole is both touching and terrifying, and literally affected my sleep for a while. Human trafficking is a long-time research interest of mine, so I appreciate your delving into the story of the track "Thoroughfare." Overall, I respect how she built the arc of this character, as someone who keeps trying to follow expectations and find love. And instead of being saved she just gets more hurt and trapped until she is eventually killed. I would like to hear some people's thoughts on the cannibalism at the end. Sometimes it feels like a fitting conclusion to this horror story, but sometimes I find it a step too far, almost turning the story into a joke. Bathetic rather than tragic, so to speak. What do you think?
Sending love from Alabama. Something about her music just makes me feel so understood. ♡ so sad I didn’t make the Nashville show but I know she’ll come back soon.
As a new fan of Ethel Cain I still can’t figure out where everyone’s getting the names from. Willoughby? Logan? Isaiah? Also side note 10k words in a first chapter alone is WILD and so interesting! A short story in it's entirety is as many words. We're talking between 20-40 pages depending on spacing, font, etc. So hearing that only chapter one is more than 10k words has me shivering. We're about to get wrecked...
yess, all those names and little plottwists are indeed complicated! lucky for us, mother posts some explanations on her tum blr account now and then. you can just look it up and for example search on a particular name (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) hope this helps ♡♡
Untold Story: Ethel, luxuriating in a hot bath, calls to Willoughby for a drink of squash. Willoughby takes an age, but then returns with the tumber of orange squash, but also a bulging hot water bottle. "...and here's the water bottle you wanted" he slavishly reported. "Eh? I didn't ask for a _hot water bottle?_ What you talkin' 'bout Willoughby?" "You did hon. Just as I was leaving to fetch your squash, you said: 'And wha'da'bouda water bottle, Willoughby?' lol (say it quickly)
Um, first of all, hell no I ain't trusting in you because you don't even know wtf is going on so I wanna ask you what planet are you from because down here on Earth she is dead as dead can be even served as a dinner entree by the killer for the killer to chow down and digest what true love means to him. In other words, get your fat head outta your stink-rotten ass so you can breathe.
(17:30) I would rather suggest that Ethel was deeply in love with _the house on the prairie in Nebraska_ Willoughby was just the provider of such. (Ethel _could_ just get off her ass and provide _herself_ with a house, but hey, who the fuck wants gender equality, eh?)
