Gracie Abrams is opening up about the title track of her new album, Daughter From Hell.
The 26-year-old singer-songwriter is the daughter of director J.J. Abrams and producer Katie McGrath, who are also the co-CEOs of Bad Robot Productions.
During a conversation with Olivia Rodrigo for Spotify, Gracie opened up about that song in particular.
Gracie Abrams Reveals Why She Named Her Album Daughter From Hell
“‘Daughter from Hell’ is a track on the album. That was one of the last…maybe it was the last song we wrote. It was one of the last days in the studio for the album, and it felt so obvious to me as soon as I wrote it that that would be the title, which was amazing, because I’ve never had that feeling with naming things in the past,” she said.
Gracie Abrams Says “Daughter From Hell” Is a Love Letter and Apology to Her Mom
“It’s hard, and this felt so right. And I feel like throughout the process of this whole album, like, every—how do I say it? I think…in having time to sort of hibernate, hearing my own voice inside my body again for the first time, there’s just, like, more clarity that comes with that. And I was sort of letting that feeling dictate lots of the choices around this album. So, ‘Daughter from Hell’ is a song that really is a love letter to my mom. And, like, an apology,” Gracie went on to say.
Gracie Abrams Cried While Writing the Emotional Title Track
“And also, like, the big reveal that I don’t know if I will ever live up to the woman that she is…I went into a room by myself, and I started writing it. And I was, like, crying in a way where then, when I was in there, I was like, ‘How do I go back?’ My eyes get so swollen. And, like, when I cry, I look like I have an allergic reaction. Like, a huge, puffy, awful…and then, anyway, I went back in the studio and did the whole thing, and it felt—it just really, like, hurt in a great—it just ached: It aches. I love my mom. Like, I call her all the time. I love her. I want to—I want—that’s the song of hoping I can be the kind of person that she is.”
Gracie Abrams Reflects on Being “Really Hard” on Her Parents Growing Up
“I think, the reason that that felt like the right title as well is because I would not, at any point prior to that day and at this age in my life, have had the perspective to write it. And, like, I was brutal growing up to my parents. I was, like, really hard on them. And I think when you’re in a place where your relationships with your family are, like, full of intense friction, you never—when you’re a kid and that’s your reality, you never think they’ll be different. And you certainly never think you’ll want as much time as you can get with them,” Gracie added.
Gracie Abrams Explains How Her Family Relationships Changed With Age
“And I think the way that I feel right now, in terms of the kind of fun we’re talking about and peace we want to sustain and, like, having our feet rooted where we are—I don’t know what it is. Probably the times that we’re living in and the amount of pain in the world, but, like, none of us have any idea how long we’re going to be here. And I want as much of my time left here spent with the people that I love. And there’s no one in the world I love the way that I love my mom. And so this album as a whole, I think—like, regardless of that song—I think I was careful about writing about conflict and pain from less of a place of pointing fingers and more so of having been on both sides, like, of both the protagonist and the antagonist of each song. Like, there’s songs about tough friendships or a—you know, a kind of a breakup.”
Gracie Abrams Says the Album Reflects the Adult She Hopes to Become
“And it’s like, I’ve now lived long enough to have been both the unreliable friend and both the person who’s been dumped, like the person that’s left. And I was careless in the past writing music about how it might impact the subject. And I don’t like that. I don’t like having done that. I wish I could go back and fix it. And I feel like moving forward, starting with this album, just—I think there’s a way that you can write music about people and be as honest as you want and need to be, and deliver it without cruelty,” Gracie added.
“Maybe this album is, like, full of just, like, new aspirations for the kind of adult I hope to become,” she concluded.
Listen to “Daughter From Hell”…
Read the lyrics to “Daughter From Hell”…
See the meaning behind her other new song, “Good Reason.”
Posted To:Daughter From Hell Gracie Abrams J.J. Abrams Katie McGrath Lyrics Music
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