Songfacts®:

• During this psychedelic song, St. Vincent pays tribute to some women in the entertainment industry whose brilliance got stifled. People only recognized their true genius after time had passed; or as the singer puts it, after the sun had melted away the attempts to mute their artistic vision.
• So who are these heroes that St. Vincent salutes in this song? During the first verse, she celebrates 1950s actress Jayne Mansfield. The second verse finds her paying tribute to "Saint Joni" Mitchell, and "My Marilyn" Monroe. In the third verse she bigs up "Brave Tori" Amos and "Proud Nina" Simone.
  
  St. Vincent explained to The Guardian these were women whose "particular genius was not recognized at the time, or when they spoke out they weren't listened to or they were actively suppressed. What they were doing was powerful, but they were met with a hostile world."
• Nina Simone wrote the song "Mississippi Goddam" in response to the murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. After citing the way "Mississippi Goddam" damaged Simone's career, St. Vincent compares herself unfavorably with the women who helped pave the way for her.
  
  But me, I never cried
  To tell the truth, I lied
  
  St. Vincent despairs of her lack of courage in her music. "I hope I wasn't a coward when you guys were brave," she told The Guardian.
• St. Vincent gave the soulful song its live debut on the April 3, 2021 episode of Saturday Night Live. She also sang "Pay Your Way In Pain" during the show.
• St. Vincent and Bill Benz co-directed the trippy video, which pays animated tribute to some of the women name-checked in the lyrics.