Ethel Cain: Preacher’s Daughter

Written by: Bhavya Natarajan

One of my favorite albums of all time is Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain. It’s been in my top

five albums in every Spotify Wrapped since it came out. This concept album is one of the best

I’ve ever heard, executing the storyline so well, while maintaining the objective enjoyability of

the album. Although it was released in 2022, the album holds up incredibly well. This album was

Cain’s debut, with her preceding EP Inbred receiving wide critical acclaim and establishing her

aesthetic as a Southern Gothic artist. The concept stretches far beyond just Preacher’s Daughter;

this Southern Gothic theme encapsulates the entire Cain storyline, intending to be a multimedia

project.

The real artist, Hayden Anhedönia, released “Gibson Girl,” as a single, also the 8th track on the

album, to announce her debut: Preacher’s Daughter (PD). This album centers around the

storyline of Ethel Cain, the daughter of a preacher, not unlike Anhedönia herself. Inspired by the

artist’s upbringing as a Southern Baptist, the album revolves around Cain’s journey of religion,

sexuality, identity, and culture. Anhedönia explains the genre as “fake pop,” drawing sonic

inspiration from stadium rock, featuring piano and grunge guitar, while drawing vocal inspiration

from Florence Welch and Lana del Rey, coming together to form the Americana,

gospel-rock-esque soundscape. This album is only the beginning of Ethel’s story, and is the first

in a trilogy that will eventually tell the stories of her mother and grandmother.

The album paints a beautiful picture from the very beginning, taking place in a town called

Shady Grove, Alabama, ten years after Ethel’s father’s death. It starts with a prologue, entitled

“Family Tree (Intro),” opening with a sermon given by a Southern preacher explaining the

importance of mothers. The song foreshadows how Ethel’s story will play out as the album

progresses, with ominous references to violence, death, and the inability to escape a lineage.

Despite the tone of the intro, there is an immediate shift with the next song, “American

Teenager,” one of Cain’s most popular songs, with over 134 million streams. The song begins

with Ethel talking about how she grew up, but quickly becomes critical and hyper-aware of her

environment, expressing her anti-war sentiments and criticisms of the idealism of the American

Dream. It becomes apparent that Ethel is having issues with alcoholism, leading her to question

not only the existence of God, but His support and presence. In the song’s chorus, Ethel is talking

to Jesus, and is experiencing disillusionment with God and the Church. The chorus repeats the

phrase, “Say what you want, but say it like you mean it // With your fists for once,” solidifying

that Ethel experienced abuse for most of her life, and cannot recognize sincerity without

violence. The song ends with Ethel saying that she’ll, “Do it for my daddy and do it for Dale,” a

catchphrase in NASCAR to honor Dale Earnhardt, which means to take a big risk and act

fearlessly, hinting at her journey from this point forward.

Cain then reflects on her past in a torch song, a narrative ballad about a loved one: “A House in

Nebraska.” She recounts the story of herself and her first love, Willoughby Tucker, who she’s

yearned for since he left, giving no details on his leave other than the fact that she blames

herself—“And it hurts to miss you, but it’s worse to know // That I’m the reason you won’t come

home.” The house in Nebraska isn’t really in Nebraska, but is a metaphor for escape,

emphasizing that the only place Ethel felt safe enough to be herself was with him. Ethel and

Willoughby’s story is expanded on in her most recent album, Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always

Love You, which takes place five years before PD.

The following songs tell the story of Ethel’s journey out of Shady Grove, as she begins to have

doubts about Christianity, and her sense of self. On the fourth track, “Western Nights,” Ethel

reveals that she’s in a relationship, romanticizing the abuse and dark history she faced, and

portraying her partner as a classic ‘bad boy.’ This glorified perception of violence bleeds into her

next track, “Family Tree.” The lyrics explore how Ethel feels ‘dirty,’ and expand on her

complicated relationship with Christianity and the intergenerational trauma she’s been subjected

to. The next track, “Hard Times,” makes this clearer, opening with what seems like a loss of

innocence, before revealing that her father abused her.

Track seven, “Thoroughfare,” finds Ethel in Texas with a new partner, as they journey to the

West of the USA. The track is followed by “Gibson Girl,” where she narrates the abuse from this

partner, Isaiah, through her perspective of being a prostitute, or a Gibson Girl. She finds herself

in this position at Isaiah’s coercion, to fund their addiction to substances, and this song marks her

shift in perception as she becomes an unreliable narrator. The following song “Ptolemaea”

reveals Isaiah’s true nature, as Cain experiences drug-induced hallucinations while a male voice

speaks threateningly to her. The song is named after a zone in the ninth circle of Hell, as told in

Dante’s Inferno, designated for those who betray their companions. This is followed by two

instrumental tracks, “August Underground,” and “Televangelism,” tapping into Anhedönia’s

love for ambient music, with the former providing a backtrack to Cain’s attempt to escape from

Isaiah until he ultimately kills her, and eventually cannibalizes her. The latter seems to frame

Ethel’s ascension, as she dies and her soul goes to heaven.

The penultimate song, “Sun Bleached Flies,” is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard,

finding Ethel in death, reflecting, upon her life. She seems to ultimately regret her detachment

from the church, because despite her complicated relationship with God, she had faith and a

community, with the first verse ending in “Listening to the choir so heartfelt, all singing // God

loves you but not enough to save you.” The song’s chorus repeats the phrase “If it’s meant to be

it will be,” showing Ethel’s growth despite her hardships and her acceptance of her fate, despite

her other reservations. As she speaks from beyond the grave, the album closes with “Strangers,”

the final track. The song opens with another sermon, actually given at the funeral of Anhedönia’s

grandmother. The song finds Ethel repeating the question “Am I making you feel sick,”

representing a triple entendre—is Ethel making Isaiah feel physically sick as he eats her, is he

disgusted with himself for what he’s done to her, or is she really that bad, and that broken? In the

final verse, Ethel speaks to her mother, telling her she loves her, calling back to the opening of

the album, while preluding her next album in the trilogy: Preacher’s Wife.