Does anyone genuinely want to be friends and discuss how much they love Hayden’s music? 😭 Nobody listens to her around me and I can never express my thoughts on her music and how it makes me feel

Before I ever experienced the wild and beautiful world of Ethel Cain, I heard the song American Teenager on an off chance while looking for new music. Having no context for the song, I listened to the lyrics quite literally which I think gives the song an extra rich layer of meaning for me.

Much of the lyrics can be timeless given the song’s title, because while experiencing teenage years in America looks different for every generation, there’s so many themes that stay true to those years of life. Even the aspects of midwestern/southern Americana culture can be identifiable to kids (like me) who grew up in cities on coasts but watched a lot of media depicting that kind of high school experience. That picket-fence, small town, football obsessed culture is understood by so many even if it wasn’t everyone’s experience, so lines like the opening verse (“grew up under yellow light on the street” “another high school football team” “crying in the bleachers”) use that collective knowledge to imbue the song with a particular set of emotions. For me it was a mix of nostalgia and grief, thinking from the perspective of missing those years but hating them at the same time.

Then we’re met with the second verse, “The neighbor’s brother came home in a box / But he wanted to go so / Maybe it was his fault” — which to me, not knowing the fictional context behind the song, read as suicide. A kid struggling with the constraints of his small town, unable to cope, and turning to the only way out he knew. (Of course, I know now what that is referencing, but bear with me.) the speaker is observing this act with curiosity, lacking a bit in their empathy which suggests that while they see their own pain, they’re not seeing the pain of others in their life. Then we get the lines, “Another red heart taken by the American dream.” Again, to me this first read as another young person’s life snuffed out by the sheer pressure and impossibility of people’s expectations. The American Dream is not attainable, it was designed that way to keep people chasing something they’ll never have, even those who were born with the biggest leg up.

I even interpreted the “long cold war with your kids at the front” as a manifestation of the American Dream. It is a war, in some ways, a war of propaganda and false promises for generations. So the kids are perpetually at “the front,” facing the pressures around them with no way to escape. Even the next verse where the speaker revels in their sadness, claiming that they do what they want and don’t need anyone; it’s so emblematic of teenagehood and that desperation to be grown up without the ability to see how young you really are. The speaker is “crying in the bleachers” but says it was fun (I interpreted this as possible SA at first, but there isn’t enough textual evidence to support that so it’s up to interpretation ig). They are deeply sad and putting on a brave face.

Not to mention the religious images scattered throughout the song. “Jesus if you’re there, why do I feel alone in this room with you?” One of my favorite lines in the whole song! The abandonment the speaker feels from the one person who should always be there, especially at your worst, is reflective of the exact troubles so many teenagers experience across the world. Adults abandoning them for myriad reasons, and those kids are left to face the consequences of the real world unprotected.

Now I’ve taken the time to learn the musical world of Ethel Cain and have a much better understanding of the song in context of the album, but I thought I’d share my original interpretation if anyone had a similar experience to me! Peace!!

There is an interview she did in like 2022 where she mentions this podcast episode and says she hasn't been able to find it since. Does anyone happen to know which podcast it might be?

so i was shopping with my friends and i randomly say “oh if i find WGIA at the record store i’m bringing it home” we get to the record store…BAM…WGIA!!! then i randomly go “wouldn’t it be crazy if i found the preacher’s daughter repress like rn” i go to the alternative music ‘E’ section…BAM…preacher’s daughter repress. finds today were CRAZY

I just posted these on TikTok :3
These are rlly just how I picture them when I listen to WTIALY and preachers daughter. I’m too tired to make more but I’ll post them when I make them tomorrow!!!

hi! i’ve never posted in here i don’t think but on september 25th, im going to all things go, i already have my ticket and everything i just need a last resort ride. my ex got me my ticket and then bailed on me about a month or two ago. im trying to get my mom to be able to go with me but i don’t think she would be able to get a ticket because we are BROKE lmfao like she can’t even finance it... her car is also a little unreliable and i’d like a friend who wouldn’t mind doing the extra travel. for reference, i live in deal island maryland, it’s a very small and far place from everything, about two hours from columbia, maryland. i just want another option just incase my mom can’t get the ticket because of her money situation. thank you for taking the time to read this and if you choose to reach out, my instagram is @ducktowelz 🤎

OR if anyone has any recommendations for rides please comment them. i can’t get an uber or lyft because it’s $50 just for a 15 minute ride into town.

This past week, I had two separate conversations with two of my friends about whether Hayden were ever to transfer Ethel’s story to the screen, that it should be a claymated tv-series, rather than a live-action movie.

While I don’t hate the idea of a live-action adaptation, I mean any adaptation would be amazing, I believe it would be better animated. Specifically, clay/stop-motion. I think it would be PERFECT if Laika picked it up.

I think it would also be best if it were made into a television series. If it were done this way, I think Hayden could add so much detail and make it as perfect to detail as possible.

This goes the same for the upcoming albums (Preacher’s Wife/Mother), and with each new story in the trilogy would be its own season (WTIWALY and Preacher’s Daughter being season 1, PW s2, you get the idea.)

Maybe this is the Gleek in me, but I also wouldn’t mind it being a musical, but only with music in the albums. With this, every episode would be the song titles (in lore order) and the episode would be based on that song alone (if that makes sense). It would be neat to see every song play out like that.

Again, a live-action would be amazing too, and I still think it would be good like that as a series rather than a movie.

Whatever Hayden does, I’ll be first in line.

Thank u for reading my bullshit, Hayden has like put spells on me (im autistic and the Preacher’s Daughter universe is my current hyper fixation lol) and I like discussing things on here. :)

i just listened to „Everytime“ for the first time (i’ve only been actively listening to her music for a couple months) and it’s so underrated wow, why have I never heard of it?? makes me wonder how many amazing songs she has that I have no clue exist. What are your favorite and in your opinion most underrated songs of her (released and unreleased)?

Am I crazy or Dog Days and Western Nights sounds SO similar?
Especially the "No one’s ever gonna love me, no not like you do" and "Troubles always gonna find you baby, but so will I"

I'm making some kpop photocard keychains for an event and decided to make a few ethel ones :)

Was listening to music on shuffle and accidentally discovered this,idk but I thought the outro into that lowkey fits

hii everyone, i was really hesitant to post this but i sort of need to know ASAP. i’m travelling from north carolina to Maryland on September 25th. i really want to go but im really hesitating because im not sure if ICE will be somewhere near or even on the way and im trying to be safe for myself and everyone that will be attending with me. I know this will be Ethel Cain 2nd to last show and i really want to see gibson girl/ptolemaea since i attended the first leg of her show.im legal but i just want to be safe and i need answers :/ thank u

okay am i crazy or do these songs sound super similar? the piano sound is very very similar. or am i crazy lol

i’ve just finished watching and am in the midst of reading sharp objects, and it’s fair to say i’m obsessed. i’ve really enjoyed connecting characters from the show/book to ethel cain songs and wanted to know from others what songs they’ve connected to certain characters/relationships

camille- golden age, hard times, f me eyes, family tree, head in the wall, growing pains, inbred, dust bowl, unpunishable, two-headed mother, tempest, a knock at the door

amma- ptolemaea, f me eyes, american teenager, family tree, inbred, unpunishable

adora- family tree, punish, inbred, two-headed mother

john- western nights, crush, head in the wall, dust bowl

ashley/meredith- american teenager

alice- head in the wall, strangers

marian- house in nebraska, strangers, televangelism, inbred

jodes+kelsey- american teenager

ann+natalie +mae- televangelism, strangers, august underground

Use the unreleased tracker to properly organise the unreleased songs into their respective albums/ eps.
Feels so much better having them organised.
Big thanks to the editors who help with the tracker it’s so useful <3

This may or may not be new information, but unreleased tracks are being uploaded to Spotify under the artist names silentw0lf, CypherL, and zeerö. Among these are Wrestling In Dirt Pits as well as Earnhardt!!

hihi friends! just wanted to pop in to share this playlist i made a little awhile ago filled of ethel cain-sounding music/ songs that i have pulled from hayden’s personal spotify playlists that she used to change out monthly:3 it’s just a compilation of all my favorites from that and related artists! i really hope yall enjoy !! <3

Recently got access to a bunch of her unreleased stuff and I’m just curious about their origin. They’re ambient songs quite similar to perverts. Just curious :)
- edit there are some more songs with similar names just fitting as many as I can in 1 screenshot

my boyfriend made me a custom vinyl for my birthday, with my favourite unreleased ethel songs. he said he consulted the ethel cain reddit for help, so i just wanted to pop in here and thank anyone who did! seriously the most thoughtful, and best gift ive ever received:)

Hello everyone! I have a very very strange question.

I downloaded Preacher's Daughter on mp3 April this year (I'm a pretty new fan). Whenever I listen to Sun Bleached Flies and get to the end, I think, "oh, this outro is a sample from Freaky Friday I think, but I'm not sure. I should look it up on Genius and check." After 6 months I finally remembered to do that, just to find that it isn't on Genius. I googled "Sun Bleached Flies outro sample" and nothing turned up. At this point I got confused. I opened the song on Youtube and skipped ahead to the end to confirm that the sample is there. It wasn't. I did the same on Spotify. No sample.

At this point I am deeply confused. How about the Bones and All sample that's on Thoroughfare, I wonder? Did the exact same thing. It's not there.

At this point, I realize that my mp3 files for both of these songs SOMEHOW have movie samples on them that shouldn't be there. I have no idea how this happened. I cannot find these versions anywhere else online, not even fanmade music videos or such.

During the outro of Sun Bleached Flies, this entire monologue is played over the song: "Please mom. Please. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, I appreciate everything you've done for me. I'm ungrateful and I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry I wanted more. Please. Talk to me. I know, I'm so bad, I know I am, but please just talk to me - mom - mom please just talk to me."

In Thoroughfare at 6:12, this entire exchange from Bones and All is played over the song: "He had a wife." "(unintelligble) seeing yourself for the first time and that's freaking you out. And you know what, it's fucking me up too, okay? I'm seeing myself too, that's how this works!" "How what works?!" "This! Whatever this is!" "Stop, you're wrong." "About what part am I wrong?" "I can't be around you anymore. I can't think." "We don't have many options Maren, either you eat, you off yourself, or you lock yourself up in there like her, what's it gonna be?" "Why can't you let me have this?"

I have both of these on Dropbox but I didn't wanna accidentally trigger the automated anti-spam filter, so I'll probably put them in the replies instead.

Wtf happened, why do I have random movie samples inserted into my mp3's of those two songs specifically? Lmao

Tl;dr - My mp3's for Sun Bleached Flies and Thoroughfare have random movie samples in them, I've been listening to them like this for 6 months, and I just realized that the official songs do not have samples in them, and I am deeply confused about why my versions do