Synopsis

The video accompanies a bittersweet song about an absent former lover in Nashville. The narrator remembers their first kiss, the disapproval of the lover's mother, and the couple's old meeting place at the Parthenon. While waiting for the other person to return, the narrator fills the lonely days with books and the fantasy of rebuilding their relationship. The longing is complicated by a confession about attraction to other men, leaving the song suspended between devotion, regret, and the fear of being alone.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Nashville Parthenon" appears on Casiotone for the Painfully Alone's 2006 album "Etiquette," released March 7, 2006.

• Owen Ashworth wrote the song and performed the electronics and vocals.

• Stan Tangeman contributes the pedal steel guitar, an important contrast to the track's spare electronic backing. Critics singled out the unexpected arrival of the pedal steel as one of the song's defining musical details.

• "Nashville Parthenon" runs for approximately 2:55 and is the fifth track on "Etiquette."

• The song reflects Ashworth's recurring focus on small, emotionally specific stories about separation, memory, and loneliness.

• The Nashville Parthenon is a full-scale replica of the ancient Greek temple in Centennial Park. Its use as a meeting place gives the song a distinctly local landmark while also connecting the private breakup story to one of Nashville's most recognizable sites.

• The song later received a thematic continuation in "Goodbye Parthenon," released in 2011.