As in many other songs on the album, especially “Strange Mercy,” here Clark deals with the imprisonment of her father in 2010 following his involvement in a stock fraud scheme. The song reads as an exchange between father and daughter, with the daughter expressing the hurt and shame she feels in the...
[Verse 1]
Hey, it's your blood
That makes my veins run
It's true
So I tried to give it back to you
Young one, look at me
It's not your beast to leash
Oh, don't hold more than you can stand to carry
[Verse 2]
Must have been the case
Hysterical strength
To stand up
While the room moved off its axis
Old man, look at me
Through the teeth of your grief
Oh, don't grab more than you can stand to carry
'Cause you went off to seize
What no one else could see
Oh, and left more than we could stand to bury
[Chorus]
But it ain't, it ain't, it ain't, it ain't
It ain't on you
No, it ain't, it ain't, it ain't, it ain't
It ain't on you
No, it ain't, it ain't, it ain't, it ain't
It ain't on you
No, it ain't, it ain't, it ain't, it ain't
It ain't on you
No, it ain't, it ain't, it ain't, it ain't
It ain't on you
[Guitar Outro]
Hysterical Strength was written by St. Vincent.
Hysterical Strength was produced by John Congleton.
St. Vincent released Hysterical Strength on Mon Sep 12 2011.