Name: The Tornado Lessons by Cloud Cult
Duration: 2 min 34 s
Description: 2008: This album marked a turning point for the band. With heavier orchestration and a tight lyrical focus on the call for inner strength during times of struggle, "Feel Good Ghosts" had more songs receive radio charting than any of the previous albums.

Oxford City is a traditional song nearly 200 years old, but when I first read the lyrics I was reminded of things happening right now: incel culture and drink spiking. It’s tempting to think about old songs of times gone by, especially of songs dealing with the way women were treated and the awful things they faced, and say ‘wasn’t it awful back in the day, I’m so glad it’s not like that now’. While some things generally have gotten better, women still face male violence just sometimes in different forms. The poison wine in this song is a man spiking a woman’s drink to do her harm. Murdering her is an expression of rejection and jealousy which manifests as the same hate against women that incel culture feeds on: “if you won’t be my true lover, you’ll never be no other man’s bride”. 

This makes me think also of being hit on by guys who would not take no for an answer, and who were only satisfied and would only back off with an explanation (a lie) of ‘I’m taken’. Even then sometimes this can be seen as a challenge, ‘who is he, I’m better than him anyway’. This perception of women and girls as objects, as property, as prizes to be won, is so deep rooted in our culture. Whether you’re reading lyrics of a 100-year-old song or on a night out and seeing women get unwanted and persistent attention from men, the root is the same. So women have worked very hard to progress towards equality, and there is clearly still a long way to go.

Although it doesn’t feel like it in the song, the time signature is changing all the time. It feels like it reflects the 2 steps forward and one step back nature of the fight for equality. We are improving some things and still so far behind on others.
_______________________________
trad arr. Frankie Archer
recorded and produced by Frankie Archer and Jim Moray
mixed by Jim Moray
mastered by Piper Payne
artwork by Frankie Archer

Oxford City

Black / Red

The Knock

Do One

You and I

Lost My Shadow

All You'll Ever Be

IGNORE THIS

the antagonist is ignorance

Unprecedented Sh!t

You Forgot to Speak

Here Comes The Fear

CWK EP

Feel Too Much

2008: This album marked a turning point for the band. With heavier orchestration and a tight lyrical focus on the call for inner strength during times of struggle, "Feel Good Ghosts" had more songs receive radio charting than any of the previous albums. 

The Tornado Lessons

Hailed as one of the Top 10 green bands by Rollingstone, Cloud Cult has an 11 album history of bucking the mainstream music industry in favor of releasing their music under their own terms and under their own environmental record label (Earthology Records). Lauded by critics as "insane genius" (Pitchfork) and "an invocation of the lifeforce" (NY Times), Cloud Cult's philosophical lyrics and alternative-orchestral-folk-rock sound have gained the band a staunch following of listeners in what has become the band's own unique genre of "Self-Help Rock". Cloud Cult, also known for incorporating live art into its concerts, began as Craig Minowa's solo studio project after the unexpected loss of his son and has grown to the present day with an evolving lineup of musicians.

The Tornado Lessons

Cloud Cult

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