God is not a contract or a guy
God is an unspecified tide
You cannot time its tables
It sets no glass or gables
God is a lusty tire fire
Its bristles scrape and strike the stage
A rock-paper-scissors rage
Have mercy on the natural world
My voice is not the liquid waves
The perfect rings 'round a heron's legs
My voice a straight garroting wire
A stolen mile of fingerprints
Peeled up quiet from their dunes
Captured and re-spooled as ruin
To be used at a different time
My voice is a fracture
Of a shinbone's lust
Pounding barefoot ground
It lifts you up and sits you just
Just at sorrow's waterline
I drape you on tomorrow's plate
Ferrous, metal marrow spilling
Not yours but mine
I'm an agent of the natural world
Don't you tell me I didn't warn you
That that's some gravity you ought not to play with
Don't you tell me I didn't warn you
That that's some gravity you ought not to play with
Nothing quite so poison as a promise
Nothing quite so poison as a promise
Nothing quite so poison as a promise
Nothing quite so poison as a promise
And me, I am not a mess
I am a wilderness, yes
The undiscovered continent for you to undress
But you'll not be my master
You're barely my guest
You don't have permission to take any pictures
Be careful of the natural world
Nature can't amend its ways
Boils hell-on and then replays
Despite heartfelt springtimes of regret
The storm, she still cries for days
Have mercy on the natural world
God is an unspecified tide
You cannot time its tables
It sets no glass or gables
God is a lusty tire fire
Its bristles scrape and strike the stage
A rock-paper-scissors rage
Have mercy on the natural world
My voice is not the liquid waves
The perfect rings 'round a heron's legs
My voice a straight garroting wire
A stolen mile of fingerprints
Peeled up quiet from their dunes
Captured and re-spooled as ruin
To be used at a different time
My voice is a fracture
Of a shinbone's lust
Pounding barefoot ground
It lifts you up and sits you just
Just at sorrow's waterline
I drape you on tomorrow's plate
Ferrous, metal marrow spilling
Not yours but mine
I'm an agent of the natural world
Don't you tell me I didn't warn you
That that's some gravity you ought not to play with
Don't you tell me I didn't warn you
That that's some gravity you ought not to play with
Nothing quite so poison as a promise
Nothing quite so poison as a promise
Nothing quite so poison as a promise
Nothing quite so poison as a promise
And me, I am not a mess
I am a wilderness, yes
The undiscovered continent for you to undress
But you'll not be my master
You're barely my guest
You don't have permission to take any pictures
Be careful of the natural world
Nature can't amend its ways
Boils hell-on and then replays
Despite heartfelt springtimes of regret
The storm, she still cries for days
Have mercy on the natural world
Neko Case
Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and critics as a "flamethrower", "a powerhouse [which] seems like it might level buildings," "a 120-mph fastball," and a "vocal tornado". Critics also note her idiosyncratic, "cryptic," "imagistic" lyrics, and credit her as a significant figure in the early 21st-century American revival of the tenor guitar. Case's body of work has spanned and drawn on a range of traditions including country, folk, art rock, indie rock, and pop and is frequently described as defying or avoiding easy generic classification.
listen:
The Main Mix
Neko Case exists to make us nervous. If we didn't want to go there, then we simply would not be yuge Neko Case fans.
Ever finish up with that smoke?
I can't bring myself to ever critique an artist like Ms. Case, for fear of being struck down for gross over-stepping of one's little boundaries, but I do get some of that "thinned out" thing referred to below too. Could have been more sinister, fer sure. But, I expect if Ms. Case wanted us to have heavy over thinned out, then she'd have darn well given that.
Great voice. Kind of interesting tune. Lyrics are a bunch of disconnected phrases that each on their own sound intriguing, but taken together leave the listener utterly confused.
Oh, there is quite a theme in these lyrics. My take is basically she's an ass-kicker with her own agenda. And she's letting us know. I suspect being a pretty face who wants to actually be taken seriously (as she should be), she's had to fight many times to be in the position she is. FWIW, I had the pleasure of seeing her on stage a couple of years ago and I loved the show, but was struck by her persona. She really commanded the stage in all the right ways. She isn't a wallflower and will likely tell you what she thinks.
Great voice. Kind of interesting tune. Lyrics are a bunch of disconnected phrases that each on their own sound intriguing, but taken together leave the listener utterly confused.
I'm reasonably sure the lyrics make sense to her. Listeners can make their own interpretations.
Great voice. Kind of interesting tune. Lyrics are a bunch of disconnected phrases that each on their own sound intriguing, but taken together leave the listener utterly confused.
The lyrics are an embarrassing word salad.
I like her vocal style in this (though the angry stuff is fun too). I like how she starts and ends the song in waltz time on either side of that 4/4 "bridge", that has more of a "poppy" feel.
Same on the waltz beat, which I love anyway, but her change-up with the 4/4 here makes the whole song even more interesting to listen to. Love Neko!
I like her vocal style in this (though the angry stuff is fun too). I like how she starts and ends the song in waltz time on either side of that 4/4 "bridge", that has more of a "poppy" feel.
highly recommendable.
Good band and good voice.