A Deep Dive into the album Preacher's Daughter by Ethel Cain by Lily Rowell

 Hi! In this week's blog post I will be discussing the certain literary elements that Ethel Cain uses in her debut album Preacher’s Daughter to inflict a sense of dread, sadness and anger. To start, this album is one of my favorites not just because I have been a fan of Ethel’s music since 2021, but because her songs always make me feel what she wants the listener to feel for the entirety of the song. The way she creates a story through every single song and leads the reader on an emotional journey is something that I find valuable in a singer-songwriter and is one of the reasons I enjoy her music so much. Below is the official tracklist (I will be referencing this quite a bit) and a link to the album on Spotify if you want to give it a listen :)

Tracklist: 

Family Tree (Intro) - 3:41 

American Teenager - 4:18

A House in Nebraska - 7:46

Western Nights - 6:05 

Family Tree - 7:10

Hard Times - 5:03 

Thoroughfare -  9:27

Gibson Girl - 5:42

Ptolomea - 6:23 

August Underground - 3:40

Televangelism - 3:03 

Sun Bleached Flies - 7:36

Strangers - 5:44

TOTAL TIME: 1hr 15min

listen to preacher's daughter on spotify

At first glance, Cain’s songs are usually long in length with Thoroughfare being her longest song on the album at 9 min 27 sec. Although her music may not be recommended for people with short attention spans, each song is most definitely worth a listen if you have the time. Because of this, if I went into every single song in major detail like I am about to, this review would be way too long for a blog post so I will only be focusing on analyzing my top 3 favorite songs from this album; American Teenager, Strangers, and Ptolomea. 

American Teenager is Cain’s most popular song and the lyrics perfectly describe what it's like to feel alone even when you aren’t. One of the most unique things about Cain’s music is the some kinds of religious questioning that she brings up every now and then and of the major examples of this are these lyrics;

“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?”

As a teenager who had grown up in a heavy religious environment growing up, once you start to develop your own opinions and thoughts about the world it feels hard to stick with those beliefs which from my interpretation of the song is what Cain is describing. Since this song is a fan favorite (since it is her most streamed song of all time) it is a nice introduction to her music as others can be slower and longer so I would definitely listen to this song if you want!

One of my absolute favorite songs of all time is Strangers. To give some more background information (that is prominent during the song), the entire album tells the story of a girl that runs away from home, only to meet the end of her life at the hands of her cannibal lover. Using this and the fact that Strangers is the final song on the album, it makes the song even more emotional compared to her others. To support the fan theory that the album was based off of said story, multiple lyrics in this song give some clues to what Cain is trying to get at; the bittersweet feeling of death. 

Throughout the song there are many lyrics that describe the feeling of your life flashing before your eyes and knowing that your family would have to cope with your death. This song most definitely made me cry multiple times as it is something that everyone deals with sometime during their life. 

Last but not least is Cain’s song Ptolomea. The word itself is named after the original word, Ptolemy, which is a circle in hell where “the treacherous reside”. This song is definitely the most intense in Cain’s discography but is the most interesting to analyze because of the underlying messages throughout. To start, in the beginning of the song there is a very very deep voice that seems to be sort of whispering things to Cain (and this “character” is assumed to be the cannibal lover that is a part of this album's story) and keeps showing up throughout the song as well. As the song progresses the lyrics get more and more intense till Cain seemingly reaches her breaking point and towards the end of the song. I personally love this song because of the story it tells and the emotions Cain makes you feel. I would definitely recommend giving this song a listen if you enjoy kinda “out there” music since it is very different from most modern day songs. 

To conclude, Cain’s album Preacher’s Daughter is a very very interesting album and has been one of myfavorites since it was released in 2022. Each song tells a perfectly written story and Cain’s lyrics really reflect what emotions she wants the listener to feel. American Teenager is definitely a song I would recommend for newer fans since the lyrics are somewhat lighthearted while still bringing up some harder topics like religious questioning. Strangers is just one of my favorite songs because it represents that longing to be with your family once again even in your last moments (something I have not experienced but it is still written beautifully) and Ptolemea’s extreme lyricism and emotions that it makes you feel using the storyline Cain created.