Paris Paloma’s Labour: The Song That Became an Anthem
How Labour Became the Soundtrack for Women's Silent Struggles
“All day, every day, therapist, mother, maid/ Nymph then virgin, nurse then a servant/ Just an appendage, live to attend him/ So that he never lifts a finger/ 24/7 baby machine/ So he can live out his picket fence dreams/ It’s not an act of love if you make her/ You make me do too much labour.”
Rarely has a chorus so succinctly captured the realities of women’s lives. It is no wonder the song became a social media sensation.
Even before its official release, snippets of Labour gained traction on TikTok, striking a nerve with listeners. After its debut, the song sparked a viral trend, with women sharing personal experiences of sexism against the song’s powerful backdrop.
According to Broadway World, this organic movement propelled the track’s success. Within 24 hours, it had over 1.5 million Spotify streams and 1 million YouTube views shortly after.
As someone without a TikTok account, I was late to the Labour phenomenon.
I first heard the song earlier this year and instantly sent it to my best friend, with chills running down my spine. A frantic Google search followed: “Is Paris Paloma touring? Can I see her live?” Only to realise I had already booked a ticket for Jordan Smith for the same night as her London show. Typical!! But like millions of others who fell under her spell overnight, I’ve since devoured her entire album and lost track of how many times I’ve played Labour.
Now surpassing 250 million streams, the song reached a peak position of number 22 on the UK Official Singles Chart. In the United States, "Labour" peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and number 13 on the Digital Song Sales chart.
The song’s raw and unfiltered portrayal of women’s struggles resonated deeply, becoming an anthem of frustration over relationships, work, and the burden of societal expectations.
It fuelled conversations about sexism, unpaid domestic labour, and the often-overlooked emotional toll on women
The Anger and the Power in Labour
For decades, women have heard soft, sorrowful songs about heartbreak and disappointment. But Labour by Paris Paloma struck a different chord. It is not just sad, but furious, unapologetic, and demanding recognition.
At its core, Labour is about emotional, mental and physical exhaustion, inequality, and the frustration of being unseen. Feelings that remain painfully relevant in 2025.
In the U.S., women still earn just 82 cents to a man’s dollar, while in the UK, wage gaps persist, particularly in finance and tech. Reproductive rights continue to be challenged, with abortion restrictions in the U.S. sparking ongoing protests. At home, women perform 2.5 times more unpaid labour than men, carrying the relentless burden of the “mental load.” In the workplace, where progress is slow, they hold fewer than 16% of executive roles in G20 companies.
The song resonates because it taps into the lived experience of women who juggle full-time jobs while still being expected to cook, clean, plan, care, and nurture. All while rarely being acknowledged for it.
Like many feminist protest songs, Labour starts soft, weary, resigned, before swelling into something fiery and defiant. By the chorus, it’s no longer just one woman’s frustration, it’s a collective outcry.
And that’s what makes Labour different. It doesn’t just invite reflection, it ignites action. It makes you want to stand up and say, I deserve more.
Who is Paris Paloma
Paris Paloma is a British singer-songwriter from Derbyshire, known for her poetic and hauntingly ethereal sound.
She began her music career in 2020 with singles like Narcissus and Ocean Baby, followed by her debut EP Cemeteries and Socials in 2021. In 2022, she signed with Nettwerk and released Forsaken and Notre Dame, gradually building a loyal fanbase. But it was Labour in 2023 that changed everything.
Rather than shying away, Paloma embraced the moment. In interviews, she spoke about how Labour was born from both personal experience and the collective exhaustion of countless women.
Suddenly, she found herself an unintentional spokesperson for modern feminist rage, a role she stepped into with grace and intelligence.
In an interview with Notion Online in April last year, Paris Paloma reflected on the impact of her music, saying, "I'm incredibly moved by how empowered so many women feel through my songs, and equally by how reflective many men become when they listen. That’s the ideal response, I just want to give people the space and the words to feel heard, understood, and truly seen."
Determined to prove she wasn’t a one-hit feminist wonder, Paloma released Cacophony in August 2024, a debut album that further explored themes of feminine rage and societal expectations. Tracks like The Fruits (2022) captured the vulnerability of growth, while My Mind (Now) (2024) tackled the raw reality of mental health and resilience.
Her music isn’t just poetic, it’s deeply relatable, offering a voice to emotions many struggle to articulate.
What’s Next for Paris Paloma
Fresh off the success of Labour and Cacophony, fans eagerly await her next move.
Her global influence continues to grow. On March 6, 2025, Paloma made her U.S. late-night debut on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, delivering a spellbinding performance of Labour.
Featuring backing vocals from The Resistance Revival Chorus (a collective of women and nonbinary singers dedicated to uplifting protest music) and a set inspired by The Dinner Party feminist art installation, the performance was a statement, solidifying Paloma as an artist unafraid to make an impact.
Critics continue to praise her. Pitchfork called Cacophony "a stunning, visceral debut that blends history, myth, and modern feminist discourse into something timeless and urgent." The Guardian described Labour as "an unflinching battle cry wrapped in poetic lyricism, balancing rage and vulnerability with astonishing precision." Rolling Stone UK hailed her as "the folk revival’s fiercest new voice."
With critical acclaim, major festival bookings, and an ever-growing global fanbase, Paloma isn’t just an artist to watch, she’s shaping the conversation. If Labour was just the beginning, the future looks unstoppable.