Ethel being a unreliable narrator can be backed up by the fact that Ethel dies in the attic. She never escaped the attic, never ran out in the woods and Isaiah never chased her. In August Underground you can hear Isaiah slam a door in the last few seconds, leaving Ethel to die, alone, in the attic.
Also to further the idea that she is in fact an unreliable narrator is that in the first verse of Strangers in that very first line she claims Isaiah left her in the basement but then she does to say that "they make love in attic", which well we know that a basement is underground and an attic is above ground on the roof to be more specific.
@@sapphicdionysus As I do understand what you're saying - I feel like it's not so much based on her unreliability as a narrator as much as it is open to interpretation to fans. There is a possibility that Isaiah was just really damaged and had cannibalistic tendencies before he met Ethel - therefore decided to move her from the attic to the basement fridge to preserve the meat. It does in turn still poison him, BUT it's also double-sided because she could be reflecting on actually giving him food poisoning or just feeling like she's not good enough for him or anyone for that matter.
@@ghjh56 You made me think that the idea that a little message in the song here is if you had been eaten is your own fault for not being good enough in life ,,like you failed god and he didn't protect you no matter how innocent you had been,,, but then again you got in the car! so free will and all... did you defy god by not trusting or trusting too much ??
I am a new daughter and the first thing I clocked when we discovered that she’s an unreliable narrator is how SA survivors, or trauma victims often have different memories of events because their brain is so haywire with the trauma. Many moments get blurred out and even manipulated. It also completely humanises Ethel as humans are imperfect. Work of ART. ♥️
i always interpreted the slam at the end the final blow to ethel. like, maybe he was using a hatchet or something to kill her, and that was the final blow since there’s complete silence after that.
a thing i’ve noticed about a lot of ethel’s songs describing a toxic relationship with a man could also be interpreted or even a double entendre for god/jesus especially knuckle velvet
@@znekkk “The Players gonna play, play, play, play, play, play and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate (haters gonna hate), So baby I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, Shake it Off, Shake it Off.” Genesis 22:13
I'm not being dramtic when I say after listening to preachers daughter to the frist time something shifted I've never had an album impact me as much as this one it's truly a masterpiece
i genuinely believe that a lot of ethels songs have a triple meaning-- almost like the holy trinity. always about 3 men: her father, god, and a love interest. i absolutely adore your interpretations-- so glad i stumbled across this. Ethel Cain is one of my absolute favorite artists ever. Saw her live in DC
yup...she wonders what they are all about, what they all really want and if she will ever be enough in their eyes. If the God that her dad preached about was sooo good why did he let him die, leaving her family so messed up while she was so young? What kind of god? Do you think this might have affected her socio-emotional development having this happen on the doorstep of becoming a tween and taking an interest in boys/men. Thank God she can make music. If we still hold out hope that there is a God, surely she will never lose that gift.
yessss first time I heard the album without knowing the lore I thought she is always talking to god then I knew abt her father’s abuse and it got mixed up to me after that I was like might as well learn the whole lore and I felt like it could be abt all three
I honestly love the fact that some of her songs explore all these dark themes. It never feels disrespectful in its execution, if anything it feels honest, and that’s some catharsis victims of abuse rarely get from any other sources.
Just fyi, Hayden is female and goes by she/her. I hope this was by accident because you didn't know any better and not because you woke up today and wanted to be shitty...
You called her a guy. Because she is trans or because you didn't know any better but the possibility that you don't know that she is female after reading all these comments and watching a video about her is really low. And if you didn't know that she's a woman that's cool, now you know. But if you did and you wanted to misgender her, that's not cool.
She is an actual woman. (I don't really know, what you mean with "actual" because what is the difference between a woman and an "actual woman"? Lol) But both the character Ethel Cain, that is the internet persona of Hayden (her real name) and Hayden are women. Really simple. I see you under every comment arguing and calling her a guy and it's annoying. Ethel and Hayden are both female.
haydens storytelling is so amazing i really hope she gets into writing books possibly someday or maybe films. i think what really drew me into her music is how cinematic it was but also the lyricism was some of the best songwriting ive seen in recent years.
She's said that the Preacher's Daughter series will be a trilogy, covering the daughter, then the mother, and finally the grandmother. At some point she also said each one is getting an album, book, and movie which is great. I think she said it'll take atleast 9 years tho 😕
@@Midnightconfessional idk probablu when Preacher's Daughter came out- also she didn't make a specific schedule of when things are being made/coming out, this is just her guess
Beautifully done. A few lines that always break me 1) “Please can I sleep?” (Hard Times) 2) “I love you and I’ll see you when you get here.”(Strangers 3) “I tried to be good am I no good?”(strangers).
also: - "id lie to her and say that im doing fine when really id kms to hold you one more time" (a house in nebraska) - "all thats left are your walls and youll die there" (western nights) - "im tired of you still tied to me. bleeding whenever you want" (hard times) - "please dont look at me, i can see it in your eyes. he keeps looking at me. tell me what have you done." (ptolemaea) - "i spend my life watching it go by from the sidelines. and god ive tried" (sun bleached flies) - "don't think about it too hard or youll never sleep a wink at night again, dont worry about me or these green eyes" (strangers) - "sneaking out while you're asleep cause youre my biggest fear" (misuse oh) - "you take all of your sins out on my body like everyone else does" (head in the wall) - "you cant win em all. who knows how much longer ill lay on the floor. touch me til i vomit" (inbred) - "im not scared of god, im scared he was gone all along" (inbred) - "scumbag fuck, but i swear that hes not. hes so good to me and nobody else" (inbred)
I always interpreted both verses at the end of strangers to be talking to her mother. Saying she didn’t blame her mother for being violent (as is hinted to in family tree) as she now understands it was a response to being “torn apart” being hurt & likely abused by men herself
@@emilypaul677 ooo i really like that interpretation, idk if hayden's said anything about it, but then again i havent watched many of her livestreams all the way through, so she might have !!
This is how I interpreted the lyrics as well and I thought that's what the annotations made note of as well on lyric genius but I could be misremembering.
The Florida Heat EP is one of my favorites.... 4 songs that sound distinct to everything else she's done. Almost has a trap influence at times. Along with her brand of southern gothic dream pop. Really gorgeous little gem of a mini album.
it scares me so bad that i can’t listen to it. that’s how much of a masterpiece it is. it’s vile and gut wrenching and it actually makes you feel something when you listen to it. it gives me chills every time
@@znekkk this would also make sense because she implies her brother is also the only one who can save her but he has to stop his demons....aka he could stop hurting her.
my own personal opinion i think it's her father who's abusing her and i think her & her brother have something to do with her father's death BUT I DONT KNOW like i know he passing in a fire but i feel as if maybe they caused it and how ethel talks about how she's killed and she will kill again maybe implies her & her brother killed the father but the brother went down for it in the part where it says " who will take the fall" BUT THATS JUST A THEORY I DONT KNOW
I see her "real" last name listed as Anhedönia everywhere. Anhedonia is a psychiatric symptom of depression, which describes the inability to enjoy any pleasures. I suspect there's one more layer of identity.
Fun fact knuckle velvet is fur grown on deer antlers and shed during the summer when deer usually use trees to rub their antlers on, I love how this ties in with knuckle velvet being “torn on my teeth” and if I didn’t know much about deers I’d be lost so o hope this gives more meaning to that song
This is such a great comprehensive video on Ethel Cain, I'm a huge fan of hers. But I've never seen anyone go in-depth into her EPs so I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts and interpretations on that! One minor thing about the PD lore though: Ethel is murdered in Isaiah's attic and then stored in his basement. I know there's stuff that kind of circulated online about how she was running through the woods, but I believe it was confirmed by Hayden that her murder actually took place in his attic which is why an attic is referenced in Strangers. Also, Hayden said that the loud bang at the end of August Underground is him slamming the door. You did a really great job compiling so much lore into one video! I've been waiting for someone to make a video like this cause I just love hearing how others interpret her work :)
love this! i read somewhere her father dies in a fire and i love the theory that ethel is the one that kills him hence family tree (wanting to be washed off her huge sin of murder, being a child but still violent etc) i also like the idea of “i've killed before and i'll kill again” being literal? also i believe it's in gibson girl that ethel mentions burning while she hallucinates. that could be her guilt of what she did. maybe ethel kills both her father and logan? this would really mean she's an unreliable narrator. it's also interesting to think about how the daughters of cain cult and vera cain fit into this narrative. i can't wait for the next album to develop the narrative further!
If I may build on your interesting idea, it's possible that Ethel feels she is responsible for the death of her father because she told someone--perhaps her mother or grandmother--about the abuse, and that person killed her father. Ethel feels somehow responsible for this, feeling guilty for not finding another way to endure or end the abuse. It sounds extreme, but really a lot of survivors can feel this way somehow. They don't tell someone about abuse because they want to protect the abuser. Or if they tell and the abuser gets punished, they feel like they are the ones who hurt the abuser. Does that make sense?
@jaminavestajugo3456 that's what I believe. I think the violence she talks about with her mother is that her mother killed her father after finding out what he was doing. This is totally speculative, but I don't think she even told her mother, her mother just found out. When she talks about killing, it's as though by existing, she caused her mother to kill her father. She doomed him be existing (which is a twisted thing, because her father blamed her for the abuse he put her through)
it's actually about ethel being cannibalized by her lover, isaiah. you can kind of see the realization of what's happening as the "stop's" in the last part of the song, with the eventual scream as she's killed. the flies buzzing in the background kind of allude to her inevitable fate (death), at least in my opinion. in ptolemaea, their punishment has them up to their necks in ice and are eating the other traitor. ethel is a “traitor” to her community and family by going against their beliefs and isaiah is a traitor to ethel by killing her, and eating her.
@@thedink07 actually ptolemaea is her being so drugged out that she’s losing her sense of reality. she essentially thinks that isiah is possessed due to the drugs and he starts attacking her. she eventually escapes and in the end of the song it’s death telling her “she can’t run forever”. isiah eventually kills her in august underground whereas televangelism is her soul ascending to their afterlife and finally being at peace.
@@daltonfore9726 oh yeah ptolemaea is about her drug induced haze and her hallucinating, but i’m pretty sure it also is her death, televangelism and august underground is her simultaneous death/ decay and rise to a higher plane, sun bleached flies is her in heaven (or just a higher place) reflecting on her life. i would totally agree with you if strangers wasn’t about isaiah cannibalizing ethel. all of the metaphors about eating, her being a “freezer bride”, etc. it obviously does have a double meaning with her asking if she was no good in her mortal life, but also as he’s eating her. idk, this is what i found from my own research 🤷♀️
Well ptolemaea is the cicle in hell in Dante's divine comedy where traitors are placed. They are trapped in ice up to their necks and they are forced to eat each other for food and as punishment for their sins.
I have my math's final tomorrow but instead of studying, I just watched the most amazing 38 minute long video essay on Ethel Cain. Honestly, the amount of effort you've put into this video is truly astonishing. I hope you get more recognition. Honestly, my love for Hayden has increased so much after watching this; she's quite possibly the best artist of this generation. Also did I mention, that you freaking ATE this video😭
I personally like to think that during the last chorus of Strangers (repetition of "am i making you feel sick?") is ethel's final cry of frustrations, with each question repeated over and over again, she changes courses from asking if she's no good to making sure that she's no good (in his stomach lol) her first and final victory against him (giving him food poisoning), and she milks it by reiterating the question over and over again, as if mocking him, before finally moving on and changing her audience towards her parents
I think it’s so interesting how this album can be interpreted in so many ways. I love reading and seeing all the theories. Hayden is such a genius for creating such complex music that can be interpreted differently while also being relatable even if you didn’t go through the things ethel did.
My friend introduced me to Ethel Cain while we were on a trip (I was driving), and I was so blown away by the vocals, the instrumentals, and the heartbreaking story. I've lived my whole life trying to end the generational trauma in my family (sa and other forms of abuse from older family members, religious trauma as well), and I never really had anything/anyone to truly understand some of the things I went through until my friend played Preacher's Daughter.... and now that I have a better understanding of what the songs mean (thanks to you Znekkk) it's made me even more drawn to Ethel and her story. Thank you for going in depth, it's helped me feel less alone :)
I think one of the lines that sticks with me the most is “God loves you, but not enough to save you.” I’m a trans woman, like Hayden, and my relationship to my mother broke me throughout my high school years. I spent so much time arguing and trying to get her to understand who I am, only for her to remain right where she started and slip deeper into the opposite direction because she was unwilling to expand the circumference of what she felt god would think was okay to do and be. She chose god over me and I only really let that sink in recently when I was watching a episode of Brittany Broski’s podcast. I didn’t grow up in a necessarily devout church, the community wasn’t tight and neither was the grip is held on young people. I always fell into the group of kids everybody kind of knew was only ever going to Sunday school because their parents made them, and who probably didn’t believe in god. I think it was the shame of knowing I didn’t and the fear of being wrong that kept me believing as long as I did, which was only into the seventh grade. In the back of my mind I never did really believe in him I don’t think, I just was terrified of that meaning I failed my mother and that her love was conditional. In her eyes I have failed her and I’ve come to learn that her love is conditional, she mentions wanting the best for me but she never has and she has never lifted a finger trying to get me where for years I’ve wanted to go. There was a point in my life where her approval meant so much to me that it was gods approval, that I placed her in my head and not of my intention in the place of god. I had to spend years tearing down that false idol, and now I’m here. I’m young but I’m not going to stay young, I’m trying to transition and I know other trans people, but I’m lost. Nobody is going to save me but myself, and I don’t know how to save myself. But all I know is that I’m going to try. “God loves you, but not enough to save you. So, baby girl, good luck taking care of yourself.”
omg, i loved the video. i always liked Ethel's music, but i just recently got into the lore (and realized she was a character). One can tell you're a true fan and that you enjoy her songs just as much as me. Glad you made thia video, thank you 🖤
In Inbred - the lyric “if he wakes up he’ll show you what I’m talking about” always seemed to me that the assault was happening under the same roof but while her brother was asleep, lending credence to the theory that it was Ethel’s dad who was abusing her all along
Girl yassss ! I discovered Ethel like 2 weeks ago, and she's already my 6th most streamed artist all-time on Spotify. Preacher's Daughter is like the best piece of art on earth period. I listened to her EPs as well, and loved all 3 them, but didn't really dive into them so hearing you explaining them so in depth was very interesting to me. I've been literally obsessed with her music for the past few weeks and I'm gonna have an oral presentation focused on Preacher's Daughter for uni in English class (as I'm not a native English speaker), and I'll definitely use your video and interpretations to make my own script for my work. Thank you for diving into Ethel's discography, she literally deserves a literature nobel prize for it.
My friend is a lesbian and told me about this album. She listens to this when she has religious flashbacks. These religious flashbacks are caused because she grew up going to church and felt that these feelings of her being a lesbian and having to listen to a pastor speaking against same sex relationships every Sunday stressed her out. She barely talks to her dad cause he seems to criticize her for being lesbian, and she is too afraid to discuss it with her mom. She has only admitted her sexuality in front of her dad and wishes she would of done so in front of her mom too. Her mother seems to be really against same sex sexuality’s. I am a bisexual who has questioned my gender for years and it got more serious as I got older. My parents are very religious and criticize that a lot. I’m going through what my friend has had to go through.
Can I ask you if you think your homosexuality was something that you were born with or would you attribute it to experience? Or both? Or neither? Genuinely curious and if you choose not to answer I totally respect that choice.
i totally get this especially in my personal interpretation of the lyrics of “strangers” where it repeats “am i no good?” throughout the entire song, which just reminds me of how i feel i disappoint and disgust my mother
I feel this. I also think queer (and especially trans) people make some of the most interesting, heartbreaking, beautiful horror, because we know what it's like to feel powerless, to feel wrong in our bodies, to feel scared and alone. the themes of self disgust and trauma and being abandoned that make horror scary are unfortunately things a lot of queer people experience first hand. And that really sucks, but art like this helps us get through it. I hope you find your people
@@fr33dumb0 Can I ask you if you think your Heterosexuality was something that you were born with or would you attribute it to experience? Or both? Or neither? Genuinely curious and if you choose not to answer I totally respect that choice.
Found out about Ethel/Hayden from the new Ashnikko project, and have been falling in SO MUCH love with all of Hayden's music, this video was amazing, thank you! Loved especially when you talked about the stories going on in the EP's, definitely going to check them out now.
you are a life saver fr! i seriously had no idea about this thing called “ethel cain lore”. i started listening to her music and i clearly GOT NOTHING IN MY MIND! but still, im impressed with her musics and i found out it’s a storytelling which is 10000 times better 😭 she truly gave me the biggest impact through her albums, thank you so much to you too for making this video! god loves you~
honestly i think the reason will isn't coming back and why she says it's her fault is because she killed him in a fit of rage which she references later in family tree when she expresses choosing the violent path in life and says "i've killed before and i'll kill again". idk if anyone else thought that but that's how i've always interpreted it
I thought maybe Lillies was about Willoughby, and how perfect and pure things were for them and then the "I'm gonna hurt/lose you" is either her sense of self doubt/lack of self worth she may have due to trauma, OR its meant to foreshadow the later events, since in house in Nebraska she talks about how "she's the reason" he's not coming home which could tie into "I know I'm gonna lose you" idk it might be far fetched but that's what I thought, love the vid!
such a brilliant analysis. I discovered Ethel Cain today and have been slowly becoming obsessed w Hayden’s artistry. glad to be joining a community of such thoughtful, appreciative people!
Would’ve loved a comment on how Famous Last Words might tie into the story because it also touches on themes of being cannibalized but this is some prime time 10/10 content right here
i finished the script like two days before famous last words came out 😭 i wouldve loved to talk about it but i couldnt find the right place in the script
oh I’m only a few seconds in and I literally know pretty much all of her lore but anytime I see someone else talking about it in depth I get so excited
Thank you for putting this all together. Hayden's music makes me speechless. We all have our own problems, trauma, pain, and stress. But listening to her music helps fill the emptiness of feeling alone. It's been a little over a year of me listening to her and I still get the chills, tears, and amazement with nearly all of her songs. I'm also super glad you mentioned Strangers being your favorite. That was the one that changed me. Thanks again
i had to rewatch this because it was so good and thought out. thanks sm for making this because there’s not a ton of videos on Ethel despite the fact that she makes masterpieces
I adore Hayden. I also would like to share this little something: months ago when I listened to Preacher’s daughter for the first time I made up my own opinion about televangelism’s possible meaning, since she was the daughter of the preach and she disappeared out of nowhere + televangelists go on tv to share religious messages, I thought that a televangelist had shared her death on tv or that someone had done some sort of ceremony durning the song. I know this isn’t right but just wanted to say this rq.
i’ve been listening to ethel cain for like a month now and it never even occurred to me thst all the songs were related this is sick as hell keep it up
this video was exactly what i needed! i love the PD album, but all the little details escaped me on my first listen. hearing your breakdown really helped solidify the story in my mind.
I’m 65 I don’t fit demographic but I was abused as a child Preachers Daughter was Cathatic it healed ! I played it for months trying to describe to my limited amount of friends ( I’m an INFJ apparently! Loved your video !
I interpret two headed mother as her somewhat showing her power over the men who abuse her. She puts herself on a pedestal as an all-knowing mother who creates and kills anything she wishes to. In a pretty metaphorical sense though, I really can't figure out any specific event going on in the song. Thought it is fully possible that she's lying to herself in an attempt to deal with her trauma better. And you're right the quitar is amazing in this one :]
On my second channel i did a video about the deeper meaning of Ptolomaea because i literally think its the deepest lore song on the album! I love that you covered Ethel's discography from beginning to current cause its so deep.
I personally have always taken Sunday Morning as a bit of a 50's housewife situation but with an unhappy home life. Somewhat like Dollhouse by Melanie Martinez. The wife (Ethel) trying to do whatever possible to please the husband, but it does nothing. He only sees her as somewhat of a machine to toy around with. (I'm sorry, I have no idea if that makes any sense.)
Ik this is a reach, but for me in the song inbred the abuser is her brother, and the verse ‘who will take the fall, who of us is stronger’? References insest and the medical side effects, like the album name ‘Inbred’
Wanted to make a video like this for a long time, never got around to it. Very happy someone did and it’s probably more comprehensible then I could hahaha. Love it
The instrumentals also say a whole lot! The last couple minutes in Thoroughfare depict s3x/having an 0rgasm (the gradual increase in intensity of her voice, "oh YEAHah", etc). In August Underground, it sounds (to me) like she's disoriented after being drugged/hallucinating, and you can hear a very clear gvnshot and her heartbeat slowly dy!ng out in the end. In Televangelism, the varying piano sounds feel like her ascending to heaven/the afterlife, then fighting with this fate/fighting to stay alive as the piano gets loud and discord-y, and eventually it evens out again as she finally d!es and moves on to the afterlife. Also, PHENOMENAL video!! I audibly went "ooohh" at a few points, and laughed out loud at "you're de@d now, have standards." and the repetition of "CUZ HE FREAKIN ATE HER" hahaha. I LOVED this!!!!!!! Thank you
I came here before I listen to her music. My sister told me to check out her music and now I’m very invested. I’m currently in a medical treatment center recovering alcohol use & mental health. I definitely need some new music to get through the next few weeks.
ahh this is such a great video, loved hearing how the other EPs tie into the story and the themes of the album. i’ve been consuming every bit of ethel cain lore i can lately bc i love the whole world of this album so much i saw someone say that in televangelism the broken off-key melodies are like the synapses in her brain snapping as she dies which is so beautiful and heartbreaking, both the instrumentals on preachers daughter are incredible i’m so excited to hear the other two albums, she’s truly an absolute genius 💕
I never listen to ads but tried to avoid skipping any on this because you absolutely deserve to be paid for the effort that went into this video! Thanks for this haha.
Excellent overview, she’s a new artist to me and I’m glad I stumbled upon your video. One little thing- don’t bother with trigger warnings. I know you mean well but people need to know that art sometimes tackles difficult things. Anyway, thanks. I like your voice quality on the video. It goes well with the mood of the music.
I don’t think I can even explain how much I was dyingggg trying to focus at the end when you kept putting up that stock image of the skeleton eating, incredibleeeeee deep dive! Thank you for this.
Fun fact: “Head in the Wall” from the Golden Age EP actually samples a song called “Head in the Ceiling Fan” by Title Fight!! I recently found this out and thought it was so cool to listen to the original and Ethel’s version side by side ☺️
In family tree i thought the line “hell dont scare me, ive been times before” said “hell dont scare me, ive been touched before” it still does line up that she has been through a lot but I also thought it said “touched” because of the traumas she faced with sexual assault. I love this vidd !!
I’ve seen Ethel Cain songs around on recommendations, but I can’t recall listening to her music. This video was fascinating and now I need to listen to the whole discography.
i'm only a few minutes in, but i want to thank you (and any collaborators) so much for the subtitles!! your voice is very clear, but i still struggle to understand People Speaking due to my autism, so any help is welcome. i bet many other neurodivergent people felt happy too.
Ive never come across an artist like ethel and I've not been able to stop thinking about the lore since i very first heard ethel and her song strangers. When i first heard strangers, i came here and watched this entire video so i understood the lore before going and listening to all of her albums. It made it so much easier for me to connect with an artist and ive never connected this much with an artist ever! After listening to all the albums ive come back to watch this again to understand more and catch things i might have missed the first time. So thank you for making this because you helped me connect to her albums in a way i dont think I could have without this. I also am not sure if ethel and her father are in hell, ethel made mistakes as well that could have sent her to hell so who knows?.. i dont think shes in heaven
i feel like a possible analysis is that she's in neither heaven nor hell actually- saying that heaven and hell don't exist because everyone goes the same place anyways
I’m a newer Ethel Cain fan. I heard about her previously here and there. But my first little toe-dip I guess you could call it was dying star with ashnikko. I’m a huge ashnikko fan, they are my favorite artist of all time hands down. I have ashnikko merch, an ashnikko tattoo, the whole thing. When I heard Ethel Carin’s verse, I was immediately drawn in by her voice and how soft it was. I shuffled her music on Spotify and I liked her but it was something I wasn’t super super into. Fast forward to a couple days ago I wanted something new to listen to. I decided to give Ethel Cain another go and inbred shook me to my core, her vocals at the end actually made me cry. If any of you have seen Ethel’s video on the ring theory with music and how certain songs can make you feel closer to god, that’s how I felt. It’s not often I get this feeling from someone’s music…. Ashnikko makes me feel this way, stardew by purity ring, and utopia by bjork make me feel this way. The lyrics are dark yet so poetic and I felt like Ethel literally grabbed me by my throat. She is an incredible artist and now I’m absolutely obsessed with her. I’ve added her to my playlists. I’m absolutely in love.
I want this video injected in my veins
SAME i think about this video daily or genuinely whenever I listen to Ethel cain
rip ethel cain you would’ve loved ethel cain
I just screamed out loud 😂
Ethel being a unreliable narrator can be backed up by the fact that Ethel dies in the attic. She never escaped the attic, never ran out in the woods and Isaiah never chased her. In August Underground you can hear Isaiah slam a door in the last few seconds, leaving Ethel to die, alone, in the attic.
Also to further the idea that she is in fact an unreliable narrator is that in the first verse of Strangers in that very first line she claims Isaiah left her in the basement but then she does to say that "they make love in attic", which well we know that a basement is underground and an attic is above ground on the roof to be more specific.
@@sapphicdionysus As I do understand what you're saying - I feel like it's not so much based on her unreliability as a narrator as much as it is open to interpretation to fans. There is a possibility that Isaiah was just really damaged and had cannibalistic tendencies before he met Ethel - therefore decided to move her from the attic to the basement fridge to preserve the meat. It does in turn still poison him, BUT it's also double-sided because she could be reflecting on actually giving him food poisoning or just feeling like she's not good enough for him or anyone for that matter.
@@ghjh56 You made me think that the idea that a little message in the song here is if you had been eaten is your own fault for not being good enough in life ,,like you failed god and he didn't protect you no matter how innocent you had been,,, but then again you got in the car! so free will and all... did you defy god by not trusting or trusting too much ??
I am a new daughter and the first thing I clocked when we discovered that she’s an unreliable narrator is how SA survivors, or trauma victims often have different memories of events because their brain is so haywire with the trauma. Many moments get blurred out and even manipulated.
It also completely humanises Ethel as humans are imperfect.
Work of ART. ♥️
i always interpreted the slam at the end the final blow to ethel. like, maybe he was using a hatchet or something to kill her, and that was the final blow since there’s complete silence after that.
a thing i’ve noticed about a lot of ethel’s songs describing a toxic relationship with a man could also be interpreted or even a double entendre for god/jesus especially knuckle velvet
omg i love that
I feel like this is every song ever tho, no?
@@fr33dumb0 i don't think shake it off by taylor swift could be understood as a double entendre for jesus
@@znekkk Lmao
@@znekkk “The Players gonna play, play, play, play, play, play and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate (haters gonna hate), So baby I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, Shake it Off, Shake it Off.” Genesis 22:13
A prayer app ad on an Ethel Cain video is wild
LMAOOO
I'm not being dramtic when I say after listening to preachers daughter to the frist time something shifted I've never had an album impact me as much as this one it's truly a masterpiece
Literally same. I've never had an album hold me so completely spellbound.
Yea I’m deep in the rabbit hole rn
Her music made me feel something after feeling so numb for a long time
Try Emma Ruth Rundle, & Lissie's "Dragula" cover.
Absolutely same
i genuinely believe that a lot of ethels songs have a triple meaning-- almost like the holy trinity. always about 3 men: her father, god, and a love interest. i absolutely adore your interpretations-- so glad i stumbled across this. Ethel Cain is one of my absolute favorite artists ever. Saw her live in DC
that's brilliant
This is so enlightened it made me wanna scream
yup...she wonders what they are all about, what they all really want and if she will ever be enough in their eyes. If the God that her dad preached about was sooo good why did he let him die, leaving her family so messed up while she was so young? What kind of god? Do you think this might have affected her socio-emotional development having this happen on the doorstep of becoming a tween and taking an interest in boys/men. Thank God she can make music. If we still hold out hope that there is a God, surely she will never lose that gift.
yessss first time I heard the album without knowing the lore I thought she is always talking to god then I knew abt the abuse her
yessss first time I heard the album without knowing the lore I thought she is always talking to god then I knew abt her father’s abuse and it got mixed up to me after that I was like might as well learn the whole lore and I felt like it could be abt all three
I honestly love the fact that some of her songs explore all these dark themes. It never feels disrespectful in its execution, if anything it feels honest, and that’s some catharsis victims of abuse rarely get from any other sources.
right like ptolomaea speaks so much to me. i loved the execution and the religious innuendos she used to execute the point of the song
she's the type to accidently date a serial killer.
@jasonvoorhees5640 its sad how obsessed u are 💀
Wait til you get to Preachers Daughter LMAO
@jasonvoorhees5640the obsession is sad😭 if you have to purposely do shit like this just to feel special then you definitely need help
@jasonvoorhees5640That *girl Ethel
@jasonvoorhees5640 or you know, just because they're a woman.
I think Hayden once said the ''person' she's singing about in head in the wall is a personification of her own trauma from her childhood.
ethel cain is a persona/stage name she created for this saga, hayden silas anhedönia is her real name
@jasonvoorhees5640*The girl's
Just fyi, Hayden is female and goes by she/her. I hope this was by accident because you didn't know any better and not because you woke up today and wanted to be shitty...
You called her a guy. Because she is trans or because you didn't know any better but the possibility that you don't know that she is female after reading all these comments and watching a video about her is really low. And if you didn't know that she's a woman that's cool, now you know. But if you did and you wanted to misgender her, that's not cool.
She is an actual woman. (I don't really know, what you mean with "actual" because what is the difference between a woman and an "actual woman"? Lol) But both the character Ethel Cain, that is the internet persona of Hayden (her real name) and Hayden are women. Really simple. I see you under every comment arguing and calling her a guy and it's annoying. Ethel and Hayden are both female.
haydens storytelling is so amazing i really hope she gets into writing books possibly someday or maybe films. i think what really drew me into her music is how cinematic it was but also the lyricism was some of the best songwriting ive seen in recent years.
She's said that the Preacher's Daughter series will be a trilogy, covering the daughter, then the mother, and finally the grandmother. At some point she also said each one is getting an album, book, and movie which is great. I think she said it'll take atleast 9 years tho 😕
@@Danksigmalord i am SO ready for this omg
@@Danksigmalord omg 9 years from when? I need to know 😭
@@Midnightconfessional idk probablu when Preacher's Daughter came out- also she didn't make a specific schedule of when things are being made/coming out, this is just her guess
@@mliyahc9464 real, i want a book about ethel cains life
Beautifully done.
A few lines that always break me
1) “Please can I sleep?” (Hard Times)
2) “I love you and I’ll see you when you get here.”(Strangers
3) “I tried to be good am I no good?”(strangers).
The one that gets me the most is “I’m not scared of god, I’m scared he was gone all along” in inbred
also:
- "id lie to her and say that im doing fine when really id kms to hold you one more time" (a house in nebraska)
- "all thats left are your walls and youll die there" (western nights)
- "im tired of you still tied to me. bleeding whenever you want" (hard times)
- "please dont look at me, i can see it in your eyes. he keeps looking at me. tell me what have you done." (ptolemaea)
- "i spend my life watching it go by from the sidelines. and god ive tried" (sun bleached flies)
- "don't think about it too hard or youll never sleep a wink at night again, dont worry about me or these green eyes" (strangers)
- "sneaking out while you're asleep cause youre my biggest fear" (misuse oh)
- "you take all of your sins out on my body like everyone else does" (head in the wall)
- "you cant win em all. who knows how much longer ill lay on the floor. touch me til i vomit" (inbred)
- "im not scared of god, im scared he was gone all along" (inbred)
- "scumbag fuck, but i swear that hes not. hes so good to me and nobody else" (inbred)
or “god loves you but not enough to save you.”
I always interpreted both verses at the end of strangers to be talking to her mother. Saying she didn’t blame her mother for being violent (as is hinted to in family tree) as she now understands it was a response to being “torn apart” being hurt & likely abused by men herself
Meaning that she ended up in heaven & is waiting for her mother. Does anyone know if there’s more info from Ethel/Hayden abt it?
@@emilypaul677 ooo i really like that interpretation, idk if hayden's said anything about it, but then again i havent watched many of her livestreams all the way through, so she might have !!
i'm making a follow-up video with some of the theories in my comments, can i put this in it?
This is how I interpreted the lyrics as well and I thought that's what the annotations made note of as well on lyric genius but I could be misremembering.
ALL SHE EVER WANTED WAS TO BE TRULY LOVED. What an album! What an artist! What a great description! Well made video!!
i need this lore as a movie. god.
Ethel Cain or Hayden will eventually make the album trilogy into books and movies but I'll take the rest of her career most likely
i love that you described all of her EP’s, they’re often overlooked in her discography. love this video
my favorite project is a tie between inbred and preacher's daughter, and my favorite songs are strangers, knuckle velvet, and two-headed mother (:
@@znekkk i love strangers!
oooo someone who also loves two-headed mother! one of her most underrated songs in my opinion (same with strangers) @@znekkk
The Florida Heat EP is one of my favorites....
4 songs that sound distinct to everything else she's done. Almost has a trap influence at times. Along with her brand of southern gothic dream pop. Really gorgeous little gem of a mini album.
the first time I listened to Ptolemaea it scared the shit out of me. It still does.
bro the first time i listened to it, i was outside at like 2am in winter it scared me so bad
@@znekkk holy crap that would’ve been terrifying
Ptolemaea was the first song of ethel i listened to. I was in the library studying for my exams. I cried in the middle of the library
@@neevagarwal9773 you're so valid
it scares me so bad that i can’t listen to it. that’s how much of a masterpiece it is. it’s vile and gut wrenching and it actually makes you feel something when you listen to it. it gives me chills every time
what a heartbreaking story, all she ever wanted was to be loved
To me, the abuser in the song inbred is the brother. It sounds like she is trauma bonded and committed to saying he’s a good person
ooo interesting take
That is how I understood it as well. If you have heard Two Children in a Motel, it makes more sense.
@@znekkk this would also make sense because she implies her brother is also the only one who can save her but he has to stop his demons....aka he could stop hurting her.
my own personal opinion i think it's her father who's abusing her and i think her & her brother have something to do with her father's death BUT I DONT KNOW like i know he passing in a fire but i feel as if maybe they caused it and how ethel talks about how she's killed and she will kill again maybe implies her & her brother killed the father but the brother went down for it in the part where it says " who will take the fall" BUT THATS JUST A THEORY I DONT KNOW
@@avaneer8843oh my god ur mind
I see her "real" last name listed as Anhedönia everywhere. Anhedonia is a psychiatric symptom of depression, which describes the inability to enjoy any pleasures.
I suspect there's one more layer of identity.
That’s now her legal last name, but her former family name is Horner
to my understanding, hayden is her chosen name, as she is not afab
Fun fact knuckle velvet is fur grown on deer antlers and shed during the summer when deer usually use trees to rub their antlers on, I love how this ties in with knuckle velvet being “torn on my teeth” and if I didn’t know much about deers I’d be lost so o hope this gives more meaning to that song
I just recently got into Ethel Cain and I’m utterly infatuated with her music. It’s fucking beautiful and your deep dive is perfect.
This is such a great comprehensive video on Ethel Cain, I'm a huge fan of hers. But I've never seen anyone go in-depth into her EPs so I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts and interpretations on that! One minor thing about the PD lore though: Ethel is murdered in Isaiah's attic and then stored in his basement. I know there's stuff that kind of circulated online about how she was running through the woods, but I believe it was confirmed by Hayden that her murder actually took place in his attic which is why an attic is referenced in Strangers. Also, Hayden said that the loud bang at the end of August Underground is him slamming the door. You did a really great job compiling so much lore into one video! I've been waiting for someone to make a video like this cause I just love hearing how others interpret her work :)
oooo i'm working on captions rn so i'll insert that in there when i get to that (:
BC HE FREAKING ATE HER 😭😭
he fREAKING ATE HER
@@znekkk yes! 😭😭
THIS PART TOOK ME OUTTTT
@@sophiagee after the 3rd time it just irritated me honestly 😭 /lh
love this! i read somewhere her father dies in a fire and i love the theory that ethel is the one that kills him hence family tree (wanting to be washed off her huge sin of murder, being a child but still violent etc) i also like the idea of “i've killed before and i'll kill again” being literal? also i believe it's in gibson girl that ethel mentions burning while she hallucinates. that could be her guilt of what she did. maybe ethel kills both her father and logan? this would really mean she's an unreliable narrator. it's also interesting to think about how the daughters of cain cult and vera cain fit into this narrative. i can't wait for the next album to develop the narrative further!
omg this is such a cool theory can i mention it in my next video??
yesss i want to know more about the daughters of cain cult!!!
If I may build on your interesting idea, it's possible that Ethel feels she is responsible for the death of her father because she told someone--perhaps her mother or grandmother--about the abuse, and that person killed her father. Ethel feels somehow responsible for this, feeling guilty for not finding another way to endure or end the abuse. It sounds extreme, but really a lot of survivors can feel this way somehow. They don't tell someone about abuse because they want to protect the abuser. Or if they tell and the abuser gets punished, they feel like they are the ones who hurt the abuser. Does that make sense?
@jaminavestajugo3456 that's what I believe. I think the violence she talks about with her mother is that her mother killed her father after finding out what he was doing.
This is totally speculative, but I don't think she even told her mother, her mother just found out. When she talks about killing, it's as though by existing, she caused her mother to kill her father. She doomed him be existing (which is a twisted thing, because her father blamed her for the abuse he put her through)
i've only listened to a few ethel cain songs but after watching this i am absolutely gob smacked the lore is insane im so fascinated
you FREAKING ATE with this analysis. Hayden is a genius
she really is
@@j444mes Ha! definitely one of the more entertaining album reviews I can recall!
"Isaiah FREAKING A-" 😂
I have fallen into the Ethel Cain rabbit hole 😭😭
Ptolemaea is about rape and if it's not, it still perfectly describes what rape feels like.
it's actually about ethel being cannibalized by her lover, isaiah. you can kind of see the realization of what's happening as the "stop's" in the last part of the song, with the eventual scream as she's killed. the flies buzzing in the background kind of allude to her inevitable fate (death), at least in my opinion. in ptolemaea, their punishment has them up to their necks in ice and are eating the other traitor. ethel is a “traitor” to her community and family by going against their beliefs and isaiah is a traitor to ethel by killing her, and eating her.
@@thedink07 actually ptolemaea is her being so drugged out that she’s losing her sense of reality. she essentially thinks that isiah is possessed due to the drugs and he starts attacking her. she eventually escapes and in the end of the song it’s death telling her “she can’t run forever”. isiah eventually kills her in august underground whereas televangelism is her soul ascending to their afterlife and finally being at peace.
@@thedink07isiah doesn’t eat her until strangers and gives him food poisoning as a final “fuck you” i guess you could say lmao
@@daltonfore9726 oh yeah ptolemaea is about her drug induced haze and her hallucinating, but i’m pretty sure it also is her death, televangelism and august underground is her simultaneous death/ decay and rise to a higher plane, sun bleached flies is her in heaven (or just a higher place) reflecting on her life. i would totally agree with you if strangers wasn’t about isaiah cannibalizing ethel. all of the metaphors about eating, her being a “freezer bride”, etc. it obviously does have a double meaning with her asking if she was no good in her mortal life, but also as he’s eating her. idk, this is what i found from my own research 🤷♀️
Well ptolemaea is the cicle in hell in Dante's divine comedy where traitors are placed. They are trapped in ice up to their necks and they are forced to eat each other for food and as punishment for their sins.
I have my math's final tomorrow but instead of studying, I just watched the most amazing 38 minute long video essay on Ethel Cain. Honestly, the amount of effort you've put into this video is truly astonishing. I hope you get more recognition. Honestly, my love for Hayden has increased so much after watching this; she's quite possibly the best artist of this generation. Also did I mention, that you freaking ATE this video😭
I personally like to think that during the last chorus of Strangers (repetition of "am i making you feel sick?") is ethel's final cry of frustrations, with each question repeated over and over again, she changes courses from asking if she's no good to making sure that she's no good (in his stomach lol) her first and final victory against him (giving him food poisoning), and she milks it by reiterating the question over and over again, as if mocking him, before finally moving on and changing her audience towards her parents
Hayden has said herself he doesn’t eat her
It’s supposed to be analysed more deeply than first level
I think it’s so interesting how this album can be interpreted in so many ways. I love reading and seeing all the theories. Hayden is such a genius for creating such complex music that can be interpreted differently while also being relatable even if you didn’t go through the things ethel did.
hayden anhedonia’s entire philosophy on the ring and the maze brings me so much clarity in my perspective
My friend introduced me to Ethel Cain while we were on a trip (I was driving), and I was so blown away by the vocals, the instrumentals, and the heartbreaking story. I've lived my whole life trying to end the generational trauma in my family (sa and other forms of abuse from older family members, religious trauma as well), and I never really had anything/anyone to truly understand some of the things I went through until my friend played Preacher's Daughter.... and now that I have a better understanding of what the songs mean (thanks to you Znekkk) it's made me even more drawn to Ethel and her story. Thank you for going in depth, it's helped me feel less alone :)
Going from Carpet Bed to Golden Age with the TikTok voice is high camp and I live. 😭 I’m loving this analysis so far!
i was so tired i could not be bothered
I think one of the lines that sticks with me the most is “God loves you, but not enough to save you.” I’m a trans woman, like Hayden, and my relationship to my mother broke me throughout my high school years. I spent so much time arguing and trying to get her to understand who I am, only for her to remain right where she started and slip deeper into the opposite direction because she was unwilling to expand the circumference of what she felt god would think was okay to do and be. She chose god over me and I only really let that sink in recently when I was watching a episode of Brittany Broski’s podcast. I didn’t grow up in a necessarily devout church, the community wasn’t tight and neither was the grip is held on young people. I always fell into the group of kids everybody kind of knew was only ever going to Sunday school because their parents made them, and who probably didn’t believe in god. I think it was the shame of knowing I didn’t and the fear of being wrong that kept me believing as long as I did, which was only into the seventh grade. In the back of my mind I never did really believe in him I don’t think, I just was terrified of that meaning I failed my mother and that her love was conditional. In her eyes I have failed her and I’ve come to learn that her love is conditional, she mentions wanting the best for me but she never has and she has never lifted a finger trying to get me where for years I’ve wanted to go. There was a point in my life where her approval meant so much to me that it was gods approval, that I placed her in my head and not of my intention in the place of god. I had to spend years tearing down that false idol, and now I’m here. I’m young but I’m not going to stay young, I’m trying to transition and I know other trans people, but I’m lost. Nobody is going to save me but myself, and I don’t know how to save myself. But all I know is that I’m going to try. “God loves you, but not enough to save you. So, baby girl, good luck taking care of yourself.”
proud of you for being here today, and i hope your life takes a turn for the better
omg, i loved the video. i always liked Ethel's music, but i just recently got into the lore (and realized she was a character). One can tell you're a true fan and that you enjoy her songs just as much as me. Glad you made thia video, thank you 🖤
In Inbred - the lyric “if he wakes up he’ll show you what I’m talking about” always seemed to me that the assault was happening under the same roof but while her brother was asleep, lending credence to the theory that it was Ethel’s dad who was abusing her all along
Girl yassss ! I discovered Ethel like 2 weeks ago, and she's already my 6th most streamed artist all-time on Spotify. Preacher's Daughter is like the best piece of art on earth period. I listened to her EPs as well, and loved all 3 them, but didn't really dive into them so hearing you explaining them so in depth was very interesting to me. I've been literally obsessed with her music for the past few weeks and I'm gonna have an oral presentation focused on Preacher's Daughter for uni in English class (as I'm not a native English speaker), and I'll definitely use your video and interpretations to make my own script for my work. Thank you for diving into Ethel's discography, she literally deserves a literature nobel prize for it.
My friend is a lesbian and told me about this album. She listens to this when she has religious flashbacks. These religious flashbacks are caused because she grew up going to church and felt that these feelings of her being a lesbian and having to listen to a pastor speaking against same sex relationships every Sunday stressed her out. She barely talks to her dad cause he seems to criticize her for being lesbian, and she is too afraid to discuss it with her mom. She has only admitted her sexuality in front of her dad and wishes she would of done so in front of her mom too. Her mother seems to be really against same sex sexuality’s. I am a bisexual who has questioned my gender for years and it got more serious as I got older. My parents are very religious and criticize that a lot. I’m going through what my friend has had to go through.
wow, i'm sorry to hear that :((( im glad your friend found something she connected to
Can I ask you if you think your homosexuality was something that you were born with or would you attribute it to experience? Or both? Or neither?
Genuinely curious and if you choose not to answer I totally respect that choice.
i totally get this especially in my personal interpretation of the lyrics of “strangers” where it repeats “am i no good?” throughout the entire song, which just reminds me of how i feel i disappoint and disgust my mother
I feel this. I also think queer (and especially trans) people make some of the most interesting, heartbreaking, beautiful horror, because we know what it's like to feel powerless, to feel wrong in our bodies, to feel scared and alone. the themes of self disgust and trauma and being abandoned that make horror scary are unfortunately things a lot of queer people experience first hand. And that really sucks, but art like this helps us get through it.
I hope you find your people
@@fr33dumb0 Can I ask you if you think your Heterosexuality was something that you were born with or would you attribute it to experience? Or both? Or neither?
Genuinely curious and if you choose not to answer I totally respect that choice.
me when im autistic:
bro wow love this so cool thank you
Ethel Cain had truly changed how I listen to music. After Preachers Daughter a lot of music stopped hitting the same for me.
Found out about Ethel/Hayden from the new Ashnikko project, and have been falling in SO MUCH love with all of Hayden's music, this video was amazing, thank you! Loved especially when you talked about the stories going on in the EP's, definitely going to check them out now.
me too, fallen star was my favourite of her new album
you are a life saver fr! i seriously had no idea about this thing called “ethel cain lore”. i started listening to her music and i clearly GOT NOTHING IN MY MIND! but still, im impressed with her musics and i found out it’s a storytelling which is 10000 times better 😭 she truly gave me the biggest impact through her albums, thank you so much to you too for making this video! god loves you~
honestly i think the reason will isn't coming back and why she says it's her fault is because she killed him in a fit of rage which she references later in family tree when she expresses choosing the violent path in life and says "i've killed before and i'll kill again". idk if anyone else thought that but that's how i've always interpreted it
I thought maybe Lillies was about Willoughby, and how perfect and pure things were for them and then the "I'm gonna hurt/lose you" is either her sense of self doubt/lack of self worth she may have due to trauma, OR its meant to foreshadow the later events, since in house in Nebraska she talks about how "she's the reason" he's not coming home which could tie into "I know I'm gonna lose you" idk it might be far fetched but that's what I thought, love the vid!
that's a great theory! i never connected that but it makes a lot of sense
i'm making a follow-up video with some of the theories in my comments, can i put this in it?
i thought this too!
such a brilliant analysis. I discovered Ethel Cain today and have been slowly becoming obsessed w Hayden’s artistry. glad to be joining a community of such thoughtful, appreciative people!
Would’ve loved a comment on how Famous Last Words might tie into the story because it also touches on themes of being cannibalized but this is some prime time 10/10 content right here
i finished the script like two days before famous last words came out 😭 i wouldve loved to talk about it but i couldnt find the right place in the script
famous last words is about the movie “bones and all (2022)”
@@chrispycore i know, i'm writing it into a following video and discussing the movie and how some themes carry over
oh I’m only a few seconds in and I literally know pretty much all of her lore but anytime I see someone else talking about it in depth I get so excited
#autism
ur just like me fr
@@znekkkbestie fr ‼️
Thank you for putting this all together. Hayden's music makes me speechless. We all have our own problems, trauma, pain, and stress. But listening to her music helps fill the emptiness of feeling alone. It's been a little over a year of me listening to her and I still get the chills, tears, and amazement with nearly all of her songs. I'm also super glad you mentioned Strangers being your favorite. That was the one that changed me. Thanks again
i thought August underground was just the sound of ethel slowly dying in the attic
i had to rewatch this because it was so good and thought out. thanks sm for making this because there’s not a ton of videos on Ethel despite the fact that she makes masterpieces
I adore Hayden. I also would like to share this little something: months ago when I listened to Preacher’s daughter for the first time I made up my own opinion about televangelism’s possible meaning, since she was the daughter of the preach and she disappeared out of nowhere + televangelists go on tv to share religious messages, I thought that a televangelist had shared her death on tv or that someone had done some sort of ceremony durning the song. I know this isn’t right but just wanted to say this rq.
i’ve been listening to ethel cain for like a month now and it never even occurred to me thst all the songs were related this is sick as hell keep it up
this video was exactly what i needed! i love the PD album, but all the little details escaped me on my first listen. hearing your breakdown really helped solidify the story in my mind.
this reposted with the full songs attached would be so cool. i know its not possible but i love this video, it helped me get into ethel cain
I’m 65 I don’t fit demographic but I was abused as a child Preachers Daughter was Cathatic it healed ! I played it for months trying to describe to my limited amount of friends ( I’m an INFJ apparently! Loved your video !
I interpret two headed mother as her somewhat showing her power over the men who abuse her. She puts herself on a pedestal as an all-knowing mother who creates and kills anything she wishes to. In a pretty metaphorical sense though, I really can't figure out any specific event going on in the song.
Thought it is fully possible that she's lying to herself in an attempt to deal with her trauma better. And you're right the quitar is amazing in this one :]
amazing video I've been getting into and enjoying Ethel's music lately and its fun to understand the story behind them
I think forgot to tell that isaiah FREAKING ATE HER
I just found her music on a tiktok and now my perception of reality has been changed
On my second channel i did a video about the deeper meaning of Ptolomaea because i literally think its the deepest lore song on the album! I love that you covered Ethel's discography from beginning to current cause its so deep.
I personally have always taken Sunday Morning as a bit of a 50's housewife situation but with an unhappy home life. Somewhat like Dollhouse by Melanie Martinez. The wife (Ethel) trying to do whatever possible to please the husband, but it does nothing. He only sees her as somewhat of a machine to toy around with. (I'm sorry, I have no idea if that makes any sense.)
i love this interpretation!! can i mention it in my next video??
@@znekkkim a little late, but sure!
Ik this is a reach, but for me in the song inbred the abuser is her brother, and the verse ‘who will take the fall, who of us is stronger’? References insest and the medical side effects, like the album name ‘Inbred’
Wanted to make a video like this for a long time, never got around to it. Very happy someone did and it’s probably more comprehensible then I could hahaha. Love it
it’s crazy to me that mother cain sampled head in the ceiling fan by title fight for head in the wall
SHE SAMPLED TITLE FIGHT?!
most video essay to ever video essay
thank you muchly 🙏🙏
The instrumentals also say a whole lot! The last couple minutes in Thoroughfare depict s3x/having an 0rgasm (the gradual increase in intensity of her voice, "oh YEAHah", etc). In August Underground, it sounds (to me) like she's disoriented after being drugged/hallucinating, and you can hear a very clear gvnshot and her heartbeat slowly dy!ng out in the end. In Televangelism, the varying piano sounds feel like her ascending to heaven/the afterlife, then fighting with this fate/fighting to stay alive as the piano gets loud and discord-y, and eventually it evens out again as she finally d!es and moves on to the afterlife.
Also, PHENOMENAL video!! I audibly went "ooohh" at a few points, and laughed out loud at "you're de@d now, have standards." and the repetition of "CUZ HE FREAKIN ATE HER" hahaha. I LOVED this!!!!!!! Thank you
i LOVE how expressive the instrumentals are
@@znekkk shes a musical genius
in August Underground, it's not actually a gunshot but Isaiah slamming the attic door, leaving Ethel to die
“he freaking ate her” im crying 😭💀
he fREAKING ATE HER
Who freaking ate her, ill eat them back!
I came here before I listen to her music. My sister told me to check out her music and now I’m very invested. I’m currently in a medical treatment center recovering alcohol use & mental health. I definitely need some new music to get through the next few weeks.
I've never heard of Ethel Cain until this video popped up in my feed.
Listened to the Nebraska song a couple times. Brought tears both times.
ahh this is such a great video, loved hearing how the other EPs tie into the story and the themes of the album. i’ve been consuming every bit of ethel cain lore i can lately bc i love the whole world of this album so much
i saw someone say that in televangelism the broken off-key melodies are like the synapses in her brain snapping as she dies which is so beautiful and heartbreaking, both the instrumentals on preachers daughter are incredible
i’m so excited to hear the other two albums, she’s truly an absolute genius 💕
omg can i quote that in my next video (the televangelism bit)
@@znekkk ofc!
I never listen to ads but tried to avoid skipping any on this because you absolutely deserve to be paid for the effort that went into this video! Thanks for this haha.
haha i don't have this monotized because it was copyright claimed for the music, but thanks for the support anyway :)
oh to experience listening to ethel cain for the first time again
My first listen was Ptolemaea and I was hooked from then on
I just got into ethel and searched the lore and this popped up like it was calling my name
I like just got into ethel and I didn't even know she has a storyline!! Tysm for the video explaining it!!
Excellent overview, she’s a new artist to me and I’m glad I stumbled upon your video.
One little thing- don’t bother with trigger warnings. I know you mean well but people need to know that art sometimes tackles difficult things.
Anyway, thanks. I like your voice quality on the video. It goes well with the mood of the music.
This is such a great video I love how you made sure it's as atmospheric as everything about ethel.
Thanks for breaking this down and the fact its a long story of Ethel is brilliant on this artists part...
I don’t think I can even explain how much I was dyingggg trying to focus at the end when you kept putting up that stock image of the skeleton eating, incredibleeeeee deep dive! Thank you for this.
LMAO my friend suggested i use it and i thought it was absolutely hilarious. glad you enjoyed the video thanks for watchingggg
Fun fact: “Head in the Wall” from the Golden Age EP actually samples a song called “Head in the Ceiling Fan” by Title Fight!! I recently found this out and thought it was so cool to listen to the original and Ethel’s version side by side ☺️
In family tree i thought the line “hell dont scare me, ive been times before” said “hell dont scare me, ive been touched before” it still does line up that she has been through a lot but I also thought it said “touched” because of the traumas she faced with sexual assault. I love this vidd !!
I’ve seen Ethel Cain songs around on recommendations, but I can’t recall listening to her music. This video was fascinating and now I need to listen to the whole discography.
my mission has been accomplished 🫡
I love this video, whenever I feel bad I search for anything Ethel related, it really helped me ❤
You have a calming, soothing voice. I've never heard of Ethel Cain. I guess I have to listen to some of her songs now.
she's one of my top artists, and probably will be, til the day I die.. I loved your analysis video, and found it both entertaining and informative. 💙
i'm only a few minutes in, but i want to thank you (and any collaborators) so much for the subtitles!! your voice is very clear, but i still struggle to understand People Speaking due to my autism, so any help is welcome. i bet many other neurodivergent people felt happy too.
you did an amazing job with this analysis
thank you!!
I heard someone say that they think the echo in ptolemaea is actually Isaiah mocking Ethel and I can’t stop thinking about that
I love this! Thank you for making it.
Ive never come across an artist like ethel and I've not been able to stop thinking about the lore since i very first heard ethel and her song strangers.
When i first heard strangers, i came here and watched this entire video so i understood the lore before going and listening to all of her albums. It made it so much easier for me to connect with an artist and ive never connected this much with an artist ever! After listening to all the albums ive come back to watch this again to understand more and catch things i might have missed the first time. So thank you for making this because you helped me connect to her albums in a way i dont think I could have without this.
I also am not sure if ethel and her father are in hell, ethel made mistakes as well that could have sent her to hell so who knows?.. i dont think shes in heaven
i feel like a possible analysis is that she's in neither heaven nor hell actually- saying that heaven and hell don't exist because everyone goes the same place anyways
i just realized head in the wall is the same instrumental as head in the ceiling fan by title fight and i love ethel now more than ever
I fell asleep to Preachers Daughter on repeat last night after listening to it for the first time and when I say it altered something in my brain
Quite literally thank you so much, now my hyperfixation ass doesn’t have to go searching for lore everywhere. ❤ appreciate your work
Wow, great analysis. Thanks!
Thank you so much for this. I discovered Ethel when she supported boygenius in London in August and have hardly listened to anything else since!
I never understood what people meant when they said that an album changed them, but after listening to preachers daughter I finally do
Cannibalism is a strong metaphor for love. Wanting and liking someone so much that you metaphorically and literally consume them and their affection.
I’m a newer Ethel Cain fan. I heard about her previously here and there. But my first little toe-dip I guess you could call it was dying star with ashnikko. I’m a huge ashnikko fan, they are my favorite artist of all time hands down. I have ashnikko merch, an ashnikko tattoo, the whole thing. When I heard Ethel Carin’s verse, I was immediately drawn in by her voice and how soft it was. I shuffled her music on Spotify and I liked her but it was something I wasn’t super super into. Fast forward to a couple days ago I wanted something new to listen to. I decided to give Ethel Cain another go and inbred shook me to my core, her vocals at the end actually made me cry. If any of you have seen Ethel’s video on the ring theory with music and how certain songs can make you feel closer to god, that’s how I felt. It’s not often I get this feeling from someone’s music…. Ashnikko makes me feel this way, stardew by purity ring, and utopia by bjork make me feel this way. The lyrics are dark yet so poetic and I felt like Ethel literally grabbed me by my throat. She is an incredible artist and now I’m absolutely obsessed with her. I’ve added her to my playlists. I’m absolutely in love.
i’m so in love with her and her music