Songfacts®:

• This is the title track of English folk singer-songwriter Laura Marling's second album. The disc was recorded as live onto tape and plays in the order the tracks were recorded. It was produced by Ethan Johns (Kings Of Leon, Ryan Adams, Paolo Nutini), who also plays a selection of unusual instruments including a sitar on this track.
• In this song Marling gazes back into Greek mythology as she steps into the skin of Penelope patiently awaiting the return of her husband Odysseus from his travels. She told The Guardian how this song was written in the studio and rehearsed just once before it was recorded. "I guess it's a mini folk power-ballad," was how she described it. "I feel proud of it because of what it meant for me, that strength." Marling added: "Probably the most pretentious thing I can say about the album is that there's definitely a theme in there, something that I think about a lot, which is womanhood and what one's role is in the world - just feeling the weight of womanhood, or the greatness of it."
• Marling told Q magazine she believes this song to be her most inspired moment to date. She explained why: "I thought I'd finished writing the album (of the same name), then that song came and for me it totally brought together the rest of the album. It made me realise what I was talking about. That song is quite punchy and it's about strength, and standing up and doing what's necessary. I think for me it was a slight shift in confidence."
• When asked by Q which lyric best describes her, Marling replied: "I guess 'anyone I trust enough to listen' (from this song) is the most honest lyric I've ever written."