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.
The Next Time You Say Forever
Neko Case Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Diving music, drowning the sound
waltzing with the hairs upon my arms
And your fire flood alarm, and you tremble
And you stumble, and you scrape up your palms
I can't stay here to hold your hand
I've been away for so long
And that's a dirty fallow feeling
To be the dangling ceiling
From the roof came crashing down
Peeling in the heat, vanish in the rain
The next time you say forever
I'll punch you in your face
Just because you don't believe it
Doesn't mean I didn't mean it
You never know when I'll show you the never
You never know when I'll show you the never
In Neko Case's "The Next Time You Say Forever," the opening lines paint a sensory picture of music, with the tenderest sound creating tiny sparks and diving deep like a flood or waves. The metaphor of waltzing with the hairs on one's arms adds to the emotional intensity of the music, which is matched by the physical intensity of the singer's relationship with the person addressed in the song. The fire flood alarm and physical trembling show how powerful and consuming the connection is, but the singer is also aware of how unstable it is, as shown by the stumbling and scraping of palms.
The second verse suggests that the singer has been away from this person and from home for a long time, losing a sense of belonging and feeling like a dangling ceiling that could fall at any moment. The feeling is dirty and fallow, as if the singer has lost a sense of purpose and growth. The reference to peeling in the heat and vanishing in the rain suggests a lack of permanence or durability. The final lines add a twist to the relationship by indicating that the next time this person says forever, the singer will punch them in the face. This aggression is explained by the frustration and hurt caused by disbelief and lack of trust. The final lines also suggest a power dynamic, with the singer holding the ability to reveal the never, which could be interpreted as an ultimate truth or a devastating reality.
Overall, the song explores the intensity and instability of a relationship, as well as the disorientation and uncertainty that can arise from long absences and loss of home. The imagery and metaphors add a poetic layer to the emotions and experiences conveyed in the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
I hear the tiniest sparks in the tenderest sound
I am perceptive of the subtlest things in the most delicate sounds.
Diving music, drowning the sound
The music is so immersive that it overwhelms all other sounds.
Waltzing with the hairs upon my arms
The sensation is so intense that the hairs on my arms seem to be dancing.
And your fire flood alarm, and you tremble
Your passion is like a fire alarm, and it makes you tremble with excitement.
And you stumble, and you scrape up your palms
Your passion is so strong that you stumble and hurt yourself in the process.
I can't stay here to hold your hand
I cannot commit to you and be there for you at every step of the way.
I've been away for so long
I have been away from home for a long time.
I've lost my taste for home
I no longer feel at home in the place I used to belong.
And that's a dirty fallow feeling
It's a depressing feeling to be disconnected from the place you once called home.
To be the dangling ceiling
To be suspended in limbo, not belonging anywhere.
From the roof came crashing down
Everything I had built up around me came crashing down.
Peeling in the heat, vanish in the rain
I am susceptible to changing circumstances, both extreme heat and heavy rain can impact me.
The next time you say forever
The next time you make a commitment to me.
I'll punch you in your face
I'll be angry because I don't believe in forever anymore.
Just because you don't believe it
You may not believe what I say, but that doesn't mean I don't mean it.
Doesn't mean I didn't mean it
My feelings are genuine, even if they are not reciprocated.
You never know when I'll show you the never
You never know when I'll reveal the truth that forever does not exist.
You never know when I'll show you the never
You never know when I'll reveal the truth that forever does not exist.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Neko Case, Paul Rigby
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
uvp5000
Emily Saliers & Amy Ray often write their respective songs with a brilliant clarity that leaves little doubt what is being communicated. I may not always glean readily what Neko Case had in mind when writing a song but I often find the lyrical images she paints haunting and heart-wrenching and the musical accompaniment touching, unexpected in its direction and sophisticated in its elegant simplicity.
Ed The 1owa pyr0
Wow