A Quick Rundown on Mother Cain

If you haven’t heard of Ethel Cain, get ready, because I am about to talk about an artist that I am truly inspired by and in awe of. Ethel Cain is the stage name for Hayden Silas Anhedönia, a 25 year old American singer and songwriter whose music is classified as alternative rock, and that I would argue is incredibly rich literature.

image via Document

She has been releasing music since she was 18 and has a unique sound and story that has captured my attention and that of many others. Back when records were one of the most popular ways to play music, people would listen to one side of the record through, then flip it over to listen to the other. In other words, they listened to albums chronologically. This way of listening to music really lends itself to musicians like Anhedönia; her most popular album, Preacher’s Daughter, is the story of Ethel Cain from start to finish. It is a haunting tale of a young girl growing up in the US, trying to find meaning and belonging in her life while also being held by the traumas of her past. Her father, in the story, was an abusive preacher in the small town she describes having grown up in, and when he passes she takes over preaching despite the emptiness inside her.

“Head full of whiskey but I always deliver

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?”

— “American Teenager” (the first song in the album)

image via Current

Her story tackles abuse, religious trauma, coming of age, love, heartbreak and so many wrenching topics that I have yet to see told elsewhere in such a creative way. She runs away hoping to find a better life, she meets a man from whom she gets a ride, and from there they travel the United States trying to find the love of his life.

“So we made off for California to find your lover driving day and night

And every small-town diner, saw our faces at least once or twice

But in these motel rooms, I started to see you differently, oh

'Cause for the first time since I was a child, I could see a man who wasn't angry.”

The two fall in love, but the sweet experience is cut short when he stops playing nice and turns abusive, using her for her body and treating her terribly. We see the shift to sexual energy in “Gibson Girl,” and then are met with the true horror of the situation in “Ptolemea.” I can’t describe how haunting and incredibly written all of these songs are. “Ptolemea” has a man’s voice in the background saying:

“Blessed be the Daughters of Cain

Bound to suffering eternal through the sins of their fathers committed long before their conception

Blessed be their whore mothers

Tired and angry, waiting with bated breath in a ferry that will never move again

Blessed be the children

Each and every one come to know their god through some senseless act of violence

Blessed be you, girl

Promised to me by a man who can only feel hatred and contempt towards you.”

Horrifyingly enough, Ethel’s character does not stop loving him, the claws of abuse are stuck deep into her and she longs to be good for him despite all he has done.

The final song on the album is “Strangers,” when we find out that he has kidnapped her and is slowly eating her. Yes, you heard me right.

“I tried to be good, am I no good?

Am I no good? Am I no good?

With my memory restricted to a Polaroid in evidence

I just wanted to be yours, can I be yours?

Can I be yours? Just tell me I'm yours.

If I'm turning in your stomach and I'm making you feel sick.”

She repeats over and over, “Am I no good?” This album is so heart-wrenching but phenomenal at the same time, and I will never be able to write enough about it, especially in a short blog.

I wish I had time to analyze all the songs, for this is really just a quick summary of the events throughout the album. If you have a little while to open your ears to some new music, or to look at the lyrics more closely you will be on the receiving end of Hayden’s incredible writing. I hope this inspires you to give it a listen.

Strike Out.

Writer: Rebecca Morgan

Blog Editor: Sarah Singleton

Chattanooga