"Labour" is an

alternative folk Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by contemporary folk music, folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of Folk music#Traditional folk music, traditional folk ...

song by British singer-songwriter Paris Paloma released on 24 March 2023. The track is described as an

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...

that addresses issues of

gender inequality Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which men and women are not treated equally. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empi ...

within societal structures.

Background and release

The song was written by Paris Paloma, a British artist born in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. Paloma decided to combine two separate songs she had been writing into a single track, which became "Labour". The song, which was produced by Justin Glasco, was recorded in Los Angeles by Paloma with backup singers Natalie Duque, Nolyn Ducich and Annabel Lee. The song was released on 24 March 2023. An official music video was released on 27 March.

Composition

"Labour" is an

ballad. The song features an acoustic arrangement of bass and guitar over a chorus of background singers. The lyrics deal with an abusive relationship in which the singer's own emotional needs are subjugated beneath her husband's expectations that she perform emotional and physical labour. It focuses on the history of women performing unpaid domestic labour, particularly

homemaking Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a house o ...

and

childrearing Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for a ...

, and criticizes patriarchal expectations of women within marriage. The song also explores concepts of weaponized incompetence and the

cycle of abuse The cycle of abuse is a social cycle theory developed in 1979 by Lenore E. Walker to explain patterns of behavior in an abusive relationship. The phrase is also used more generally to describe any set of conditions which perpetuate abusive and ...

Music video

Dressed in historic clothing, Paloma brings out dishes of food to complete a candlelit feast. The man at the head of the table (Henry Hayward) fills his plate and gobbles up meat and fruit while she watches. He pushes his plate away and taps his knife against the gravy boat. She fingers her

wedding ring A wedding ring or wedding band is a finger ring that indicates that its wearer is married. It is usually forged from metal, traditionally gold or another precious metal. Rings were used in ancient Rome during marriage, though the modern pract ...

before getting up with her plate and cup, only to sit back down. Then, she breaks a

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

open and it sprays all over her dress; she stuffs berry pie into her mouth with her bare hands and makes a mess. She smiles and he laughs. When he lifts his head again, she is gone and her candle is out.

Critical reception

Critics described the song as a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

anthem, and linked the song to the phenomenon of "female rage" in response to unbalanced domestic and

emotional labour Emotional labor is the process of managing feelings and expressions to fulfill the emotional requirements of a job. More specifically, workers are expected to regulate their emotions during interactions with customers, co-workers, clients and man ...

in heterosexual relationships. Evie Breese of ''

The Big Issue ''The Big Issue'' is a street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. ''The Big Issue'' is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer homeless people, or indivi ...

'' compared the song's themes to the 2019 film ''

Midsommar ''Midsommar'' is a 2019 folk horror film written and directed by Ari Aster. The film stars Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor as a dysfunctional couple who travel to Sweden with a group of friends for a midsummer festival, only to find themselves ...

''.

Commercial performance

Prior to its release, snippets from the song went viral on TikTok. The song received 1 million streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

within 24 hours of release, and 1 million views on YouTube. After the single's release, it started a viral trend in which women posted

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

videos with the song where they described their own personal experiences with sexism.

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2023 songs British folk songs Nettwerk Records singles Songs with feminist themes