Honestly, it takes a certain kind of audacity to take a three-minute midwest emo staple and stretch it into a ten-minute gothic odyssey. But that’s exactly what Hayden Anhedönia—the mastermind behind the Ethel Cain project—did with her cover of American Football’s "For Sure." When the LP1 (Covers) album dropped late in 2024 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of that iconic record, most people expected a nice, acoustic tribute.
They didn't expect a wall of sound that feels like being submerged in a humid, haunted Florida swamp.
If you’ve been hanging out on the corner of the internet where Southern Gothic meets shoegaze, you've probably seen the phrase "for sure ethel cain" popping up everywhere. It’s not just a song anymore; it’s a mood. It’s the official soundtrack for staring out a rainy car window while contemplating every bad decision you’ve ever made. The track has taken on a life of its own in 2026, especially as Cain’s Willoughby Tucker Forever tour winds its way through Australia and North America.
Why the "For Sure" Cover Hit Different
The original American Football track is a masterpiece of restraint. It's short, instrumental-heavy, and captures that specific "college town in autumn" sadness. Ethel Cain took that DNA and mutated it.
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Her version starts with two full minutes of ambient noise. You can hear the distant rumble of a train—specifically a train that ran past her old apartment in Pennsylvania. She stretched that sound out until it became a synth pad. It’s eerie. It’s tactile. By the time the actual guitar melody kicks in, you’re already halfway into a trance.
When she finally sings—"June seems too late / Delayed"—it doesn't sound like a breakup. It sounds like a funeral.
The Break in the Middle
About five minutes in, the song shifts. This is the part everyone talks about. The delicate synth layers get absolutely crushed by a surge of heavy, distorted guitar. It’s a gut-punch. If you’re listening on headphones, this is where the "out of body experience" usually happens. She repeats the phrase "for sure" like a mantra, or maybe a prayer that isn't being answered.
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Critics and fans have been dissecting this since it came out. Even Steve Lamos from American Football admitted that when the band plays the song live now, it feels like they’re covering Ethel Cain instead of playing their own track. That’s a hell of a compliment.
The Lore of the "Cain-verse" in 2026
You can't talk about any Ethel Cain song without talking about the lore. In 2025, Hayden released the official prequel to Preacher’s Daughter, titled Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You. It filled in the gaps about Ethel's high school years and her doomed romance with Willoughby.
Fans have been trying to slot the "For Sure" cover into this timeline. While it's technically a cover and not a "lore song," the themes of uncertainty and "delayed" futures fit perfectly with the story of a girl trapped in a small town.
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- The Characters: We finally met Janie and Holly Reddick in the 2025 album.
- The Sounds: The pink noise from her experimental project Perverts (released early 2025) bled into the production of "For Sure."
- The Tour: The 2026 tour dates have been selling out in minutes, proving that the cult of Mother Cain is only getting bigger.
Is it Better Than the Original?
That’s the wrong question. They aren't even the same genre. American Football is the sound of an ending; Ethel Cain is the sound of the decay that follows.
Her version is meant to be lived in. It’s for the people who want to feel the weight of every note. It’s slowcore at its most indulgent. If you don't like 10-minute songs where nothing "happens" for the first 120 seconds, you’ll probably hate it. But for the "Daughters of Cain," it’s basically sacred text at this point.
What You Should Do Next
If you haven't actually sat down with the full 10-minute version, do it tonight. Put on some good headphones. Turn off the lights. Don't look at your phone.
Actionable Listening Guide:
- Listen to the original 1999 version first. Get the melody stuck in your head.
- Queue up the Ethel Cain version. Notice the train sample at the beginning. That’s the "ghost" of the original song trying to find its way back.
- Watch the music video. Hayden shot and edited it herself using blurry, low-res footage of the South. It adds a layer of visual grit that the audio alone can't quite capture.
- Check the 2026 tour dates. She’s hitting Red Rocks in April and ending with a three-night run at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa this May. If you want to see "For Sure" live, those are the shows to aim for.
The "For Sure" cover isn't just a placeholder between albums. It’s the bridge between the high-concept tragedy of Preacher's Daughter and the more experimental, ambient future Hayden is building. It’s long, it’s loud, and it’s exactly what we needed.