| "Strangers" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Ethel Cain | ||||
| from the album Preacher's Daughter | ||||
| Released | April 7, 2022 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 5:44 | |||
| Label | Daughters of Cain | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Hayden Silas Anhedönia | |||
| Producer(s) | Ethel Cain | |||
| Ethel Cain singles chronology | ||||
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| Audio video | ||||
| "Strangers" on YouTube | ||||
"Strangers" is a song by American singer-songwriter Ethel Cain, the last track of her debut studio album Preacher's Daughter (2022). The song was released through Daughters of Cain Records on April 7, 2022, as the second single from the record. Influenced by grunge, it ends the album in a "swarm of energetic chaos", and was praised by critics for its "affecting lines" and "suprisingly fitting hair rock guitar solo".
Background and composition
Cain began 2022 by announcing her debut studio album titled Preacher's Daughter, along with the release of the first single "Gibson Girl", on March 17. Weeks later she released the second single, "Strangers". With a "cannibalistic climax", it contains "haunting pianos", grunge guitars and "muddy sounds".[1] The song was described as "unbearably sad" and "is built across some of the record's most affecting lines" ("When my mother sees me on the side / Of a milk carton in Winn-Dixie's dairy aisle / She'll cry and wait up for me").[2] In the narrative of the album, the character is, in the song, a "freezer bride" in her killer's basement and being cannibalised as she sends out one final message of love to her mother.[3]
About the song, Cain said:
This is the second song I wrote for this record, without the intention that it would become the ending. Looking back, I can’t imagine a more perfect resolution to this lineage. I think subconsciously, this song was always the end of the road. It’s the realization that some things cannot be avoided, only accepted, and that just because it isn’t a happy ending, doesn’t mean it’s a bad one. There is an ending in every beginning, and all things come back around in one strange way or another. You can’t change your past, nor anyone else’s, and the only real strength you have in this lifetime is your forgiveness.[4]
References
- ↑ "Ethel Cain – Preacher's Daughter". Clash. May 18, 2022. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
- ↑ Bridgewater, Paul (May 11, 2022). "Ethel Cain builds a world of her own on the impressive debut Preacher's Daughter". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
- ↑ Williams, Tom (May 19, 2022). "Album Review: Ethel Cain - Preacher's Daughter". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
- ↑ Leas, Ryan (April 7, 2022). "Ethel Cain – "Strangers"". Stereogum. Retrieved December 25, 2023.