Ora Gogan brings a distinctly different interpretation to the traditional ‘Katie Cruel‘, a song that may date back to the American War of Independence and is almost certainly based on an earlier Scottish ballad. It tells of a girl who came to town and was feted (“they called me the roving jewel” and was later scorned (“now they’ve changed their tune, they call me Katie Cruel.” ) It is, Cogan notes, a song about a sex worker, but in her version she has tried to flip the story – rather than focus on a despairing interpretation of the lyrics Cogan sees a strong woman saying: “You can demean a woman and call her ‘Katie Cruel’, so what… Fucked if I care!”
This hypnotic version with a sitar-like guitar part is taken from Cogan’s new album ‘Formless‘ which was released on August 25th.
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