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.
Timber
Neko Case Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The root was not as strong as it could be
And as the years went on, you weren't enchanted
So you fell it like a great big tree
Now I'm falling timber
Timber the falling tree....
So loosen up your home and let me be
And if I had my way you would be planted
Drowning in the shade with me.
Now I'm calling timber...
Timber the falling tree-heeee.
The lyrics of "Timber" by Neko Case and Her Boyfriends depict a heartbroken person shattered due to unreciprocated love. The singer compares her love to a seed planted by her lover, but the root was never strong enough to hold it firmly. The singer implores her lover to loosen up and let her go if he cannot keep her, and she would willingly let him drown in the shade with her if given a chance.
The chorus, "Now I'm falling timber, timber the falling tree," is an allegory that denotes how the singer's life is falling apart since her lover has gone away. The use of timber denotes that the fall is significant, painful, and irreversible, just as a tree that falls.
Overall, the track "Timber" is a poignant take on a failed relationship, where the singer is voicing her pain through poetic metaphors and striking imagery.
Line by Line Meaning
My love was like a seed that you had planted
My affection for you was growing and developing, but it wasn't very strong or sturdy from the beginning.
The root was not as strong as it could be
The foundation of our relationship wasn't deeply rooted or stable, leaving it open to vulnerability.
And as the years went on, you weren't enchanted
Over time, you lost interest and the relationship didn't have the same magic or spark that it once did.
So you fell it like a great big tree
As a result, you ended the relationship abruptly and unhesitatingly like the way a large tree is chopped down.
Now I'm falling timber
I am experiencing the same fate as the tree you cut down. My life and emotions are collapsing and not thriving.
Timber the falling tree....
I am ready to be let go and fall away from this relationship just like the tree.
My heart was not a thing to take for granted
My feelings and emotions for you were not something to be underestimated or ignored.
So loosen up your home and let me be
Release yourself from this relationship and let me walk away so I can find what I need and deserve elsewhere.
And if I had my way you would be planted
If I had control over this situation, I would leave you stuck in the same place to rot, just like a planted tree.
Drowning in the shade with me.
I would be the only one to benefit from the relationship, while you're left feeling overwhelmed and unable to thrive in the shadow of my emotions.
Now I'm calling timber...
I am setting a boundary and ending this entanglement for my own well-being and growth.
Timber the falling tree-heeee.
It's time to move on and let this relationship come to an end.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Brad Lampert, Eric Napier, Neko Case
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind