Ethel Cain explains what her 'Nettles' lyrics are about and how they relate to Willoughby Tucker

4 June 2025, 17:57

By Sam Prance

What are Ethel Cain's 'Nettle's lyrics about? Here's what she's said about the meaning behind the Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You lead single.

Ethel Cain has opened up about the real meaning behind her 'Nettles' lyrics and how it fits into her upcoming album.

Ethel Cain season is in full swing again. After wowing critics and fans alike with her debut album Preacher's Daughter in 2022, all eyes have been on Ethel to see what she would do next. In January, Ethel released her concept project Perverts and, in March, Ethel announced her official second album Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You.

Now, Ethel has released 'Nettles' as the first taste of the album but what is the song about? Here's what she's said.

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'Nettles' is a devastatingly romantic eight minute song in which Ethel asks a lover to comfort her after she has a vivid nightmare about them dying. Ethel sings: "Tell me all the time not to worry / And think of all the time I'll, I'll have with you / When I won't wake up on my own / Held close all the time, knowing I'm half of you."

Speaking to The Line of Best Fit about 'Nettles', Ethel revealed: "This song and the last track on the record were both written the same week, the very first week I moved into the house in Alabama where I finished Preacher’s Daughter."

Ethel added: "In similar fashion to Preacher’s Daughter (specifically “A House in Nebraska” and “Strangers”), I wrote what essentially became the beginning and end of the story without realizing it. What were originally just little vignettes of emotion I was feeling at the time ultimately became the tentpoles for a larger narrative."

She then said: “'Nettles' became a dream of losing the one you love, asking them to reassure you that it won’t come true and to dream, instead, of all the time you’ll have together as you grow old side by side."

Ethel Cain - Nettles (Official Visualizer)

Ethel ended the interview by saying: "Every once in a blue moon, it feels good to slough off the macabre and to simply let love be."

Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You comes out in full on August 8th.

Ethel Cain - 'Nettles' lyrics

VERSE 1
We were in a race to grow up
Yesterday, through today, 'til tomorrow
But when the plant blew up
A piece of shrapnel flew and slowed that part of you
The doctors gave you until the end of the night
But not 'til daylight (Not 'til daylight), not 'til daylight (Not 'til daylight)
Time passes slower in the flicker of the hospital light
I pray the race is worth the fight
Made a fool of myself down on Tennessee Street
It wasn't pretty like the movies
It was ugly, like what they all did to me
And they did to me what I wouldn't do to anyone
You know that's for sure

CHORUS
Tell me all the time not to worry
And think of all the time I'll, I'll have with you
When I won't wake up on my own (Wake up on my own), wake up on my own
Held close all the time, knowing I'm half of you

POST-CHORUS
(Mm-mm-mm, mm-mm-mm)
(Mm-mm-mm, mm-mm-mm)
(Mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm-mm)
(Mm-mm-mm, mm-mm-mm)
(Mm-mm-mm, mm-mm-mm)

VERSE 2
Lay me down where the trees bend low
Put me down where the greenery stings
I can hear them singin'
"To love me is to suffer me", and I believe it
When I lay with you in that auld lang room
Wishin' I was the way you say that you are
You'll go fight a war, I'll go missing
I warned you, for me, it's not that hard

PRE-CHORUS
That picture on the wall you're scared of looks just like you
I wanna bleed, I wanna hurt the way that boys do
Maybe you're right and we should stop watchin' the news
'Cause, baby, I've never seen brown eyes look so blue

CHORUS
Tell me all the time (Tell me all the time) not to worry (Not to worry)
And think of all the time I'll, I'll have with you
When I won't wake up on my own (Wake up on my own), wake up on my own
Held close all the time, knowin' I'm half of you
Think of us inside (Think of us inside), after the wedding (After the wedding)
Sufferin' the while to lie a time or two
When we won't wake up on our own (Wake up on our own), wake up on our own (Wake up on our own)
Held close all the time, knowin' (Knowin')
This was all for you

POST-CHORUS
Think of us inside
Gardenias on the tile, where it makes no difference who held back from who

INSTRUMENTAL BREAK

OUTRO
To love me is to suffer me

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