Women's reproductive rights — which account for just about the most intimate personal choices a human can make — are constantly being challenged in the United States. There are legal fights, like the one currently underway in Texas. And there’s also a heap of social pressure. Some of it is direct and overt, as in statements from conservative religious leaders. While plenty of it is a lot less formal, that doesn’t mean it’s less painful.
Canada-born and Nashville-residing rocker Brandy Zdan’s song “The Worst Thing” is about calling out and breaking apart the taboos around abortion and miscarriage — the idea that these profound experiences are something women shouldn’t talk about. “Beauty or pain it does not matter,” she sings in the refrain. “It can be both, somehow / That's how we got here.”
Today, we’re very pleased to premiere the video for the piece. Above, see director Taylor McFadden and cinematographer Julie Rooney follow Zdan out into the wilderness, where she can remember the loss of a not-yet-born child in the only way that seems socially acceptable: alone.
“Who needs a fist-in-the-air riff-rock song about miscarriage and abortion?” asks Zdan in a note shared with the Scene. “Every woman does. ‘The Worst Thing’ is simply a song about having to remain silent about the tragic events that can happen to women’s bodies.”
The song comes from Zdan’s forthcoming third solo LP Falcon, set for release on Oct. 29. The singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer made the vast majority of the album herself, at home, in addition to caring for her own new baby. Read much more about that in an in-depth interview published on the blog of gear marketplace Reverb, and see Zdan’s website for all the details on preordering Falcon.
