Famous Last Words: An Ode to Bones & All

Hello Midwest Muse enjoyers (or hate readers)! This blog has been long in the making, and it is the perfect time to write it. I am currently writing this at 5:56 p.m. at work on Friday, September 19. In 24 hours, I will be waiting in line to see Ethel Cain in the flesh at the Salt Shed. I am absolutely ecstatic, and it does not feel real.

If you know me, you know that Ethel Cain is my favorite artist and has impacted many different parts of my life. One of my favorite Ethel Cain songs is "Famous Last Words (An Ode to Eaters)," which was released on COMPLIATION VOL I by 1017 ALYX 9SM in 2023. Hayden Silas Anhedönia, the mastermind behind Ethel Cain, wrote and produced the song as an ode to Bones and All's Lee and Maren. If you have read my blog about Bones and All (Guadagnino, 2022), you also know how much the film means to me. Now imagine how I felt when I found out that two of my obsessions are CONNECTED.

Anhedönia wrote "Famous Last Words" after watching Bones and All. She released it on SoundCloud and Tumbler on November 24th, 2022, along with a caption that said "can't stop thinking abt bones and all. this one's for lee and maren <3." Nine months later, the song was officially released on COMPLIATION VOL I on July 21, 2023.

BONES AND ALL SPOILERS AHEAD

I first saw the song and the movie compared from an edit. I thought they seemed so similar, and that the song fit with the movie so well. For example, in the second verse, Cain sings, "I'll clean up the bathtub, and we'll leave the state," a reference to Lee and Maren's travels throughout the Midwest. The chorus references Lee and Maren's urge for human flesh and when Maren went looking for Lee in his hometown:

You were the one I'd starved with

'Til I can't hold out no more

You were the one I'd come looking for

Over and over and over again

In the third verse, Cain references the end of the film, when Lee is eaten by Maren. In Bones and All and "Famous Last Words," cannibalism is an intimate gesture, romantic and loving. Lee begs and pleads for Maren to eat him: "Love me. I want you to eat me. I want you to feed! Bones and all":

Look at me baby, dead in the eyes

It's the end of our holiday, but it isn't goodbye

Carry me with you all of the time

Eat of me baby, skin to the bone

Body on body, until I'm gone

But I'm with you, inside

In the film, cannibals were called eaters, like the title of "Famous Last Words (An Ode to Eaters)," which I thought was a crazy coincidence before I knew the song was written about Bones and All. Lee also said "famous last words" in the film. I heard that on my fifth watch, so I finally decided to look up if "Famous Last Words" was written about Bones and All. I don't know why I didn't look it up sooner.

Finally, the music video for "Famous Last Words" matches the aesthetic of Bones and All quite well. It was released on July 21, 2023, and directed by Anhedönia and Silken Weinberg. You can watch it here:

Lyrics from Genius. Video from Ethel Cain on YouTube.