Louis Jouvet: What is their vocation? | Ethel Cain: I do it for my daddy and I do it for Dale (Portland 2024)
'Choosing in favor of those two paths toward poetry and freedom'
She's doing what she wants and, damn, she's doing it well.
Louis Jouvet, The Disembodied Actor:
"Vocation. Separating oneself from the ordinary. A kind of romanticism. Distancing oneself from a contented mediocrity that seeks nothing, that sees no problem other than money or well-being. Choosing in favor of those two paths toward poetry and freedom, against which Flaubert says there is a general and permanent conspiracy. A desire for friendship, for happiness; fleeing the solitary harshness felt within, the unbearable intimacy. Also, a taste for parody in some, irony, a hunger-suppressing diversion from anger, rebellion, not wanting to take oneself too seriously, nor especially others. To rid oneself of bitterness. Disgust with the bourgeoisie at certain times. The ability to be outraged, to scorn. The mind and the heart are never clearly distinguishable from one another. An impatient kick against imposed convictions. Youthful romanticism. And all the flattery that explains and expresses itself. A slave market. A taste for luxury, for lucre, for love. Lacking the ability to go elsewhere, one goes to the theater. Instead of diverging, one joins. A taste for confidence, confession, admission. Pride in oneself. Vocation, an immense receptacle that contains all feelings in their origin, for which it is impossible to find moral or pedagogical precepts. All these vocations are drawn into the works of the time, by the dramatic spirit blowing at that moment: “One may hesitate before placing one’s heart in the hands of the public.” It is primarily the actor's own contentment at stake, their relief."
"What is their vocation? Often based on flaws, even vices. But that matters little—whether one wants to be a teacher out of a taste for domination or governance, or a soldier out of a desire for the uniform, it matters little. Most human actions are driven by motives that are somewhat impure, or at least questionable. What is important is to purify them afterward, to ennoble them through the sense of profession one discovers, through practice, through self-knowledge, through a self-improvement that elevates you. To be religious out of fear of hell, or out of fear of struggle, or out of disgust for life, or out of despair from love—the initial motivation should not be despised; the essential thing is to then reach where one must, to place oneself on the true professional level, in the love of God, in the love of one’s vocation."
Louis Jouvet: The Disembodied Actor
Video 503markw on YouTube: Ethel Cain, 'American Teenager', Portland, Oregon, Pioneer Courthouse Square, August 13, 2024
"I do it for my daddy and I do it for Dale
I'm doing what I want and, damn, I'm doing it well
For me, for me
For me, for me, yeah"
ETHEL CAIN. Punish (new song). The Irish Independent: "Like many of Cain’s songs, it takes a slow and meandering musical path before a surprisingly punchy end."
Ethel Cain, August 13, 2024, Portland, Oregon
Live at the Pioneer Courthouse Square. Video by 503markw
'I am punished by love' - Ethel Cain
The Irish Independent: "Gig review: Ethel Cain more than able for sold-out Dublin set. Cain and her band of disciples played an impressive set to an enraptured crowd."
… "Ethel Cain is capable of hitting both high and low registers seemingly all at once. It’s an impressive vocal achievement."
… "Judging by how effusive the crowd is, and how quickly this show sold out, the preacher’s daughter may well fill a bigger church when she returns."