Paris Paloma - labour [Official Video]

Lyrics for "Labour" by Paris Poloma

Released: 2024

Artist: Paris Paloma

Album: Cacophony

Genre: Alternative/Indie

According to an overview Labour found in the internet, “The title of the song "Labour" by Paris Paloma has a double meaning: it refers to the emotional, mental, and physical labor women perform in relationships and households, and it also alludes to childbirth and child-rearing. The song is a "fiery feminist anthem" about escaping a toxic relationship, critiquing patriarchal expectations that women shoulder the burden of domestic duties while their male partners do not. The lyrics and visuals depict a woman at her breaking point, preparing to "escape" the domestic paradise she built for a partner who takes her for granted.”

Key themes and interpretations

Double meaning of "labour": Domestic and emotional labor: The song highlights the often-invisible work of maintaining a household, including "therapist, mother, and maid" roles that women are expected to perform for a partner who contributes little. 

Childbirth and child-rearing: The title also refers to the physical labor of giving birth and the long-term work of raising children. 

Escaping a toxic relationship: The lyrics and official video use a metaphor of a woman escaping an island, symbolizing the difficult and dangerous process of leaving an abusive or unbalanced relationship. 

The line "So that he never lifts a finger" has a double meaning, one of laziness and another of a woman working to avoid physical violence. 

Critique of the patriarchy: The song challenges societal expectations that place the burden of unpaid domestic labor on women, even when they also work outside the home. It addresses issues like weaponized incompetence, where a partner feigns helplessness to avoid chores. 

A broader community movement: The song has resonated globally, with women using its lyrics to create videos about their own experiences with gender inequality and misogyny. 

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"Labour" - Paris Paloma with the Resistance Revival Chorus (LIVE on The Late Show) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hyaYHqUSiY&list=RD4hyaYHqUSiY&start_radio=1 

This information has been compiled and assembled from multiple sources and-or a result of my original research and compilation. No claim to original authorship is either claimed or implied.

Lyrics

One, two, three

Why are you hanging on so tight

To the rope that I'm hanging from?

Off this island, this was an escape plan (this was an escape plan)

Carefully timed it, so let me go

And dive into the waves below

Who tends the orchards? Who fixes up the gables?

Emotional torture from the head of your high table

Who fetches the water from the rocky mountain spring?

And walk back down again to feel your words

And their sharp sting

And I'm getting fucking tired

The capillaries in my eyes are bursting

If our love died, would that be the worst thing?

For somebody I thought was my saviour

You sure make me do a whole lot of labour

The calloused skin on my hands is cracking

If our love ends, would that be a bad thing?

And the silence haunts our bed chamber

You make me do too much labour

You make me do too much labour

Apologies from my tongue, and never yours

Busy lapping from flowing cup and stabbing with your fork

I know you're a smart man (I know you're a smart man)

And weaponise

The false incompetence, it's dominance under a guise

If we had a daughter, I'd watch and could not save her

The emotional torture from the head of your high table

She'd do what you taught her

She'd meet the same cruel fate

So now I've gotta run, so I can undo this mistake

At least I've gotta try

The capillaries in my eyes are bursting

If our love died, would that be the worst thing?

For somebody I thought was my saviour

You sure make me do a whole lot of labour

The calloused skin on my hands is cracking

If our love ends, would that be a bad thing?

And the silence haunts our bed chamber

You make me do too much labour

All day, every day, therapist, mother, maid

Nymph, then a virgin, nurse, then a servant

Just an appendage, live to attend him

So that he never lifts a finger

24/7 baby machine

So he can live out his picket-fence dreams

It's not an act of love if you make her

You make me do too much labour

All day, every day, therapist, mother, maid

Nymph, then virgin, nurse, then a servant

Just an appendage, live to attend him

So that he never lifts a finger

24/7 baby machine

So he can live out his picket-fence dreams

It's not an act of love if you make her

You make me do too much labour

The capillaries in my eyes (all day, every day)

Are bursting (therapist, mother, maid)

If our love died (nymph, then virgin)

Would that be the worst thing? (Nurse, then a servant)

For somebody (just an appendage)

I thought was my saviour (live to attend him)

You sure make me do (so that)

A whole lot of labour (he never lifts a finger)

The calloused skin on my hands (24/7)

Is cracking (baby machine)

If our love ends (so he can live out)

Would that be a bad thing? (His picket-fence dreams)

And the silence (it's not an act of love)

Haunts our bed chamber (if you make her)

You make me do too much labour

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Paris Paloma