Paris Paloma "Labour" Song Review
On Mar. 23, 2023 Paris Paloma released the full version of her new song “Labour” along with the official video.
Paloma is a singer-songwriter from the United Kingdom who writes songs about the experiences of women and explores their struggles and grief. She released a clip of “Labour” on Mar. 3 on TikTok when she began marketing her latest single. The song began trending on TikTok with videos highlighting the struggles women go through daily such as only receiving Tylenol and ibuprofen after a C-section while men receive stronger doses for stomach aches and vasectomies as well as showcasing women in history like Susan Ahn Cuddy. Cuddy was the first female gunnery officer in the United States Navy.
In the official video, Paloma’s character is serving her husband dinner. He is seated the entire time as she sets a plate in front of him and brings out pie and other dishes onto the table. When her character finally does sit down the plate in front of her is empty. The lyrics and the story being told in the video line up perfectly.
“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.”
Before this particular verse, we are shown only a picture of the husband and wife on a table. This foreshadows the line about if they had a daughter and how she would be subjected to the same subservient role as her mother. Also, the detail of the husband and wife only having pictures of themselves as individuals and not a picture of them together places more distance between them and highlights the unequal dynamic between the two.
I love how soft and quiet it is at the beginning of the song and the way it gradually gets louder. It correlates with the wife’s anger that has been slowly building up until she refuses to fix him something else to drink when he taps the side of his cup with the knife. When she grabs food at the table for herself and starts eating that’s when the background vocals come in.
“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 labor.”
I love the background vocals in this song and the way they sound like chanting. Also, if you listen closely to the background vocals you can tell how young some of the voices are singing in the background with there being women and girls of various ages singing this. It shows how women and girls of all ages can resonate with this song like being raised with the expectation of serving a husband or taking care of a male figure in their life.
Overall, “Labour” is a great song that captures some of the struggles women go through with an official video that tells a compelling narrative between a husband and wife that perfectly aligns with the lyrics of the song. I highly recommend listening to this song. The official video for “Labour” is on Paris Paloma’s YouTube channel and the song can be streamed on Spotify and other platforms.
