Case moved around often as a child, spending the largest part of her youth in Tacoma, Washington. She left her parents at age 15 and three years later she started playing drums for several bands around the Northwest's punk rock scene. In 1994, she moved to Vancouver, BC to enter art school, and simultaneously joined the punk group Maow, who released a record on the Mint label. She also played with roots rockers the Weasles, and eventually formed her own backing band, the Boyfriends, which initially featured alumni of the Softies, Zumpano, and Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet.
Case released her solo debut, The Virginian, in 1997, delving wholeheartedly into traditional country via a mix of covers and originals. She went on to perform with Carolyn Mark in the old-timey side project the Corn Sisters, and recorded with the Vancouver indie supergroup the New Pornographers, which she continues to be a member of. In 1998, Case completed her studies and, with her student visa expired, returned to Washington and began work on her second solo album. The lovely, melancholy Furnace Room Lullaby was released on Bloodshot Records in 2000 and won high praise from most critics.
Case subsequently relocated to Chicago, home of a thriving alt-country scene, and released the home-recorded Canadian Amp EP in 2001. Its moody, late-night ambiance carried over to 2002's Blacklisted, a darker yet more eclectic affair; it garnered Case her strongest reviews up to that point, making many year-end critics' polls, and landed her a tour slot opening for Nick Cave. Blacklisted was recorded at Wavelab Studio in Tuscon AZ, where Case had moved to in 2002.
In 2004, Case signed with Anti Records in the United States, and that year she released a live album, The Tigers Have Spoken, recorded during several dates with Canadian surf-country band the Sadies.
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, hailed by critics as an instant classic and Case's most realized work yet, followed in 2006. Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino contributed guitar, cello, bass, and drums to the album.
On March 3, 2009, Case released Middle Cyclone. It was her first album to reach the top ten's on the Billboard charts in the US.
Middle Cyclone was followed by "The worse things get, the harder I fight, the harder I fight, the more I love you" which came out September 4th 2013.
Case now lives on her farm in Vermont.
That Teenage Feeling
Neko Case Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴
We can only laugh at these regrets
Common as a winter cold
They're telephone poles
They follow each other
One, after another, after another
Now my heart is green as weeds
Grown to outlive their season
And nothing comforts me the same
As my brave friend who says
"I don't care if forever never comes
'Cause I'm holding out for that teenage feeling
I'm holding out for that teenage feeling"
All the loves we had
All we ever knew
Did they fill me with so many secrets
That keep me from loving you
'Cause it's hard
Hard
to love
When you're giving me such mixed signals
In Neko Case's song "That Teenage Feeling," the lyrics reflect on the fleeting, passionate nature of young love and how it contrasts with the more complicated, nuanced emotions experienced in adulthood. The song's opening lines suggest that the regret and heartbreak experienced in youth are common occurrences, as common as a winter cold. Juxtaposed with this image are telephone poles, which symbolize the linear, predictable path that follows each other.
The singer's heart has grown green like weeds, which suggests a sense of renewal and growth after experiencing these hardships. Despite this, nothing can compare to the comfort of a brave friend who is holding out for that "teenage feeling." This sentiment is echoed in the final lines of the song, which reflect on the many loves of the past and how they have left the singer with secrets that keep them from loving fully in the present. It's a poignant reflection on how our experiences shape us and how we carry them with us through life.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Neko Case
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Cherry Garcia
love this song. the high notes she hits are excellent, I sing it over in my head. she must have a few octave range.
Richard W. Tate
This is a gorgeous song ♥️
ARUNDINACEOUS
Cat Baai