Ethel Cain’s “Preacher’s Daughter” is much more than an album. For me, listening at full blast in my headphones is just not enough. I need it injected into my veins. It’s a truly gut wrenching experience which takes you through themes of religious trauma, family conflict, love, sexual abuse, and death. If you’ve ever experienced intense and confusing feelings about religion, personal trauma, and expectations, you definitely need to give this album a listen. If you’re ready, keep reading for a track by track breakdown of the first six songs included in this masterpiece. I will break down the second seven in a part two follow up.
- Family Tree (intro)
The opening track leads us into the character Ethel Cain’s world. It leads with spectral vocals of a preacher leading into the lyrics “These crosses all over my body, remind me of who I used to be, and Christ forgive these bones I’ve been hiding from no one successfully.” You hear these gothic and almost horrifying notes which seem to tell the listener to tread lightly because what’s coming is not for the faint of heart. This eerie track foreshadows the violence that will follow in later tracks.
- American Teenager
American Teenager introduces a more upbeat classic indie rhythm compared to the last track. It opens with a super upbeat guitar riff and continues on with a catchy tempo that appeals to most listeners. The lyrics on this track, if you really listen to them, take us through Ethel’s Childhood. She sings about her Conservative Alabama hometown and her father who works as a preacher. We learn about her struggle with her faith and how she relies on alcohol to numb the pain in the lyric, “Jesus, if you’re listening, let me handle my liquor, And Jesus, if you’re there, Why do I feel alone in this room with you?”. This song serves as a lighthearted second introduction but hold on because we’ve barely even scratched the surface
- A House in Nebraska
This song is one of my, and many others, personal favorites. In it, Ethel introduces us to her ex-boyfriend, first love and heartbreak, Willoughby Tucker. Willoughby had long been gone from town before the start of this album but she still pleads and yearns for his return. She fantasizes about their lives together in an abandoned house that the two of them discovered on the outskirts of their town (The house in Nebraska). The 7:45 minute melody has overlapping harmonies and guitar solos that really force you to feel the music. My favorite lyrics from this track are “and I still wait at the edge of town praying straight to god that maybe you’d come back around.” In the fading moments of the music we hear ethel repeat “I feel so alone”. Her deep feelings of isolation and abandonment in her town are drowning her.
- Western Nights
When Ethel realises that Willoughby is never coming back for her, she decides to flee her cursed town. This track has a seductive nature to it as She sings about her new boyfriend who fits the “bad boy” persona and his beloved motorcycle. Together, Logan and Ethel commit crimes together like robbing ATMs which adds fuel to their lustful relationship. Ethel sings to Logan that she would do anything to be his singing “I’d hold the gun if you asked me to, but if you loved me like you say you do would you ask me to?” By the end she realises the truth of this toxic relationship. She only wants someone to rescue her from herself and save her from what her life has become.
- Family Tree
Pacing back to the song that started this piece, this is the full version of “Family Tree (intro)”. Logan is ultimately gunned down and killed by cops which ends their story together. Ethel’s side of violence and darkness begins to take form here. Her voice is cold and has a terrifying confidence as she sings in almost a low growl “I’ve killed before and I’ll kill again… “They say heaven hath no fury like a woman scorned, but baby hell don’t scare me, I’ve been times before”. She reflects on her childhood of violence and abuse leading into a chorus with religious imagery of baptism and cleanliness. Ethel begins to think that she is not capable of escaping the violent ways she was born into.
- Hard Times
Hard times has got to be one of the most harrowing songs on this album. It is the perfect middleground of these tracks. Ethel finally reveals her past of sexual abuse that she has alluded to, and trauma from her preacher father through one of the saddest songs I have ever heard. She sings how she was “too young to notice that some types of love could be bad.” She strays even farther away from the devout religious community she grew up in but is unable to accept that she could ever be a better person than her father was. Hard times is about losing your faith and being okay with it.
In the first six songs, Preacher’s Daughter comes to us as an emotionally raw, and dark tale. Ethel Cain invites us into her twisted world where all of these dark themes combine to tell her personal narrative. If you are feeling the effects now, just wait for the swell of part two.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 