Album: The Art Of Losing (2021)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The Anchoress is the stage name of Welsh-born singer-songwriter Catherine Anne Davies. During this brutal, heartbreaking song, she recounts three different experiences of trauma: domestic abuse, sexual assault and a miscarriage. The first two take place at 5 a.m. and the third at 9 a.m.

    "I think what I wanted to do with that song was present it as a triptych; three different scenes that are very common to female experience," Davies told The Scottish Herald. "It would be more unusual for me to talk to a female friend who has not experienced one of those things and perhaps that's not readily acknowledged."
  • Davies experienced multiple miscarriages between her 2016 debut album, Confessions of a Romance Novelist, and her second record, The Art Of Losing. She decided to include this song on The Art Of Losing two weeks before she finished the record. Davies told The Sun:

    "When I was going through it, I was like a cat curled up. I didn't want anyone to know. I kept my first miscarriage very private and didn't find out until the first scan. It was really difficult. Then the second time, it was more difficult to keep it to myself. I was bleeding for 3-months. Hemorrhaging. The third time it was more physically grueling. I was losing the baby into my hands. It doesn't get more physical than that."
  • Davis has a PhD in literature and her love of books and poems served as inspiration for The Art Of Losing. She told The Sun: "The album title comes from an Elizabeth Bishop poem and I was also going through writers Joan Didion and CS Lewis. It's a reason the album cover depicts me vomiting out book pages. I've always looked to books to articulate what I'm feeling or experiencing."
  • Davies made the song's music video in early 2020, but was afraid to share it at the time. She eventually posted the visuals on March 14, 2021 following the abduction and murder of Sarah Everard. The tragedy prompted a widespread discussion over women's safety and countrywide vigils organized by the Reclaim These Streets group. Davies explained that "the events of this week have given me the confidence, knowing that it is not just my story, it is all of ours."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")Songwriter Interviews

Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The Remasters

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The RemastersSong Writing

Brian has unearthed outtakes by Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello and hundreds of other artists for reissues. Here's how he does it.

Reverend Horton Heat

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.

British Invasion

British InvasionFact or Fiction

Go beyond The Beatles to see what you know about the British Invasion.

Chris Rea

Chris ReaSongwriter Interviews

It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.