My love, I am the speed of sound
I left them motherless, fatherless
Their souls they hang inside-out from their mouths
But it's never enough
I want you
Carved your name across three counties
Ground it in with bloody hides
Their broken necks will line the ditch
'til you stop it, stop it
Stop this madness
I want you
I have waited with a glacier's patience
Smashed every transformer with every trailer
'til nothing was standing
65 miles wide
Still you are nowhere
Still you are nowhere
Nowhere in sight
Come out to meet me
Run out to meet me
Come in to the light
Climb the boxcars to the engine through the smoke into the sky
Your rails have always outrun mine
So I pick them up and crash them down
In a moment close to now
Cuz I miss, I miss, I miss, I miss, I miss
I miss how you'd sigh yourself to sleep
My love, I am the speed of sound
I left them motherless, fatherless
Their souls they hang inside-out from their mouths
But it's never enough
My love
I'm an owl on the sill in the evening
But morning finds you
Still warm and breathing
This tornado loves you
What will make you believe me?
This tornado loves you
What will make you believe me?
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone Album Lyrics
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone Lyrics
Writer: Neko Case, Paul Rigby
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
The Next Time You Say "Forever"
I hear the tiniest sparks in the tenderest sound.
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.
I've lost my taste for home, and thats 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.
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.
I've lost my taste for home, and thats 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.
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
People Got A Lotta Nerve
So the saying says
An elephant never forgets
Standing in the concrete cave
Swaying side and sing
They walked over the ocean
And their dreams they dreamed awake
Until the lights grew dim
Until the cop cars came
Everybody tells me this is crazy, yes I know
But I'm a man man man man man man man eater
But still you're surprised when I eat ya
You know they call them killer whales
But you seem surprised
When it pinned you down to the bottom of the tank
Where you can't turn around
It took half your leg and both your lungs
And I craved I ate hearts of sharks, I know you know it
I'm a man, man, man, man, man, man, man eater
But still you're surprised when I eat ya
It will end again in moonlit song
It will end again in moonlit song
An elephant never forgets
Standing in the concrete cave
Swaying side and sing
They walked over the ocean
And their dreams they dreamed awake
Until the lights grew dim
Until the cop cars came
Everybody tells me this is crazy, yes I know
But I'm a man man man man man man man eater
But still you're surprised when I eat ya
You know they call them killer whales
But you seem surprised
When it pinned you down to the bottom of the tank
Where you can't turn around
It took half your leg and both your lungs
And I craved I ate hearts of sharks, I know you know it
I'm a man, man, man, man, man, man, man eater
But still you're surprised when I eat ya
It will end again in moonlit song
It will end again in moonlit song
Writer: Neko Case, Paul Rigby
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Polar Nettles
He takes his dinner in the bath
Love sickened and infirmed
The orderly found him there
Fileted on the marble stairs
Hat still in hand
His smoking remains
Blown out by a kiss from the Sunday scene
Sunday soon Sunday soon someday soon
Someday, someday, someday
His eyes are closed his mouth has named her rosary her lips and tongue
She is the centrifuge that throws the spies from the sun
The Sistine Chapel dated with the gattling gun
Someday soon
Oh the meadows set on him
Move like starlings of the clearing and tenor of a foggy tongue
The force field round his frosty hips
Whose shape recalls the wicked spade
That buried him but on his lips the last rites of man
Someday soon
Love sickened and infirmed
The orderly found him there
Fileted on the marble stairs
Hat still in hand
His smoking remains
Blown out by a kiss from the Sunday scene
Sunday soon Sunday soon someday soon
Someday, someday, someday
His eyes are closed his mouth has named her rosary her lips and tongue
She is the centrifuge that throws the spies from the sun
The Sistine Chapel dated with the gattling gun
Someday soon
Oh the meadows set on him
Move like starlings of the clearing and tenor of a foggy tongue
The force field round his frosty hips
Whose shape recalls the wicked spade
That buried him but on his lips the last rites of man
Someday soon
Writer: Neko Case, Paul Rigby
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Vengeance Is Sleeping
I didn't know what a brute I was
I dipped my cigarette and rode the bus
Vengeance built me hastily
And I drag the clanging notion I was nobody, nobody
Nobody
All I had was my invention
And my love it fitted on you
Oh, look what thoughts can do
What thoughts can do
If you're not by now dead and buried
You're most certifiably married
Oh, married
I'm sure you're sleeping sound
With a mistress of the hours
The hours that grind your life to dust
Oh, easy loves
You keep lap pets
Denied them you are powerless
Whatever keeps you sleeping through the night
I'm not the man you thought I was
My love has never lived indoors
I had to drag it home by force
Hired hounds at both my wrists
Damp and bruised by stranger's kisses on my lips
But you're the one that I still miss
You're the one that I still miss
And the truth is that it comes as no surprise
I'm not the man you think I am
I'm not the man you think I am
I dipped my cigarette and rode the bus
Vengeance built me hastily
And I drag the clanging notion I was nobody, nobody
Nobody
All I had was my invention
And my love it fitted on you
Oh, look what thoughts can do
What thoughts can do
If you're not by now dead and buried
You're most certifiably married
Oh, married
I'm sure you're sleeping sound
With a mistress of the hours
The hours that grind your life to dust
Oh, easy loves
You keep lap pets
Denied them you are powerless
Whatever keeps you sleeping through the night
I'm not the man you thought I was
My love has never lived indoors
I had to drag it home by force
Hired hounds at both my wrists
Damp and bruised by stranger's kisses on my lips
But you're the one that I still miss
You're the one that I still miss
And the truth is that it comes as no surprise
I'm not the man you think I am
I'm not the man you think I am
Writer: Neko Case, Paul Rigby
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth
When she's on her best behavior
Don't be tempted by her favors
Never turn your back on mother earth
Towns are hurled from A to B
By hands that looked so smooth to me
Never turn your back on mother earth
Grasp at straws that don't want grasping
Gaze at clouds that come down crushing
Never turn your back on mother earth
Three days, two nights away from my friends
Amen to anything that brings quick return
To my friends, to my friends
I'll admit I was unfaithful
From now on I'll be more faithful
Never turn your back on mother
(Never turn your back)
Never turn your back on mother
(Never turn your back)
Never turn your back on mother earth
(Never turn your back)
Don't be tempted by her favors
Never turn your back on mother earth
Towns are hurled from A to B
By hands that looked so smooth to me
Never turn your back on mother earth
Grasp at straws that don't want grasping
Gaze at clouds that come down crushing
Never turn your back on mother earth
Three days, two nights away from my friends
Amen to anything that brings quick return
To my friends, to my friends
I'll admit I was unfaithful
From now on I'll be more faithful
Never turn your back on mother
(Never turn your back)
Never turn your back on mother
(Never turn your back)
Never turn your back on mother earth
(Never turn your back)
Writer: RON MAEL
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc., BMG Rights Management
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc., BMG Rights Management
Middle Cyclone
Baby, why'm I worried now,
Did someone make a fool of me
'fore I could show 'em how it's done?
Can't give up actin' tough,
It's all that I'm made of.
Can't scrape together quite enough
To ride the bus to the outskirts
Of the fact that I need love.
There were times that I tried,
One for every glass of water
That I spilled next to the bed,
Wrenching pennies in a boiling well
In a dream that it once becomes
A foundry of mute and heavy bells.
They shake me deaf and dumb
Say, "Someone made a fool of me
'fore I could show 'em how it's done."
It was so clear to me
That it was almost invisible.
I lie across the path waiting,
Just for a chance to be a spiderweb
Trapped in your lashes.
For that, I would trade you my empire for ashes.
But I choke it back, how much I need love...
Did someone make a fool of me
'fore I could show 'em how it's done?
Can't give up actin' tough,
It's all that I'm made of.
Can't scrape together quite enough
To ride the bus to the outskirts
Of the fact that I need love.
There were times that I tried,
One for every glass of water
That I spilled next to the bed,
Wrenching pennies in a boiling well
In a dream that it once becomes
A foundry of mute and heavy bells.
They shake me deaf and dumb
Say, "Someone made a fool of me
'fore I could show 'em how it's done."
It was so clear to me
That it was almost invisible.
I lie across the path waiting,
Just for a chance to be a spiderweb
Trapped in your lashes.
For that, I would trade you my empire for ashes.
But I choke it back, how much I need love...
Writer: Neko Case, Paul Rigby
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Fever
In an open field at dusk, to footfalls I awoke
Marching ants across my temples, oh
Their feet had no intention
They followed some magnetic drum
Prisoners of their destination
From the slats of the factory come
Where once they did make rails
Old Death's peculiar songs
He didn't know I was listening
So he crowed out nice and long
To the spiders and the lumber
And the dust of his conquest
And his hunger and his lust
I heard his feet rejoice
I heard him tap his cane
As if he had his own review
On stage at the F and M
I caught his words in my open mouth
I gagged and choked and spit them out
I heard him turn his heated hear
My tiny heart beat in his ear
I was already running
Oh, I heard him coming
Shrapnel spitting from his wheels
His sobbing arms raked for my heels
I dove and rolled and hid my face
And I said these magic words
My dove is home
Her breast is warm
My dove is home
And I said these magic words
And fell down, down the ant hill for days
My dove is home
Her breast is warm
My dove is home
My dove is home
Her breast is warm
My dove is home
Marching ants across my temples, oh
Their feet had no intention
They followed some magnetic drum
Prisoners of their destination
From the slats of the factory come
Where once they did make rails
Old Death's peculiar songs
He didn't know I was listening
So he crowed out nice and long
To the spiders and the lumber
And the dust of his conquest
And his hunger and his lust
I heard his feet rejoice
I heard him tap his cane
As if he had his own review
On stage at the F and M
I caught his words in my open mouth
I gagged and choked and spit them out
I heard him turn his heated hear
My tiny heart beat in his ear
I was already running
Oh, I heard him coming
Shrapnel spitting from his wheels
His sobbing arms raked for my heels
I dove and rolled and hid my face
And I said these magic words
My dove is home
Her breast is warm
My dove is home
And I said these magic words
And fell down, down the ant hill for days
My dove is home
Her breast is warm
My dove is home
My dove is home
Her breast is warm
My dove is home
Writer: Neko Case, Paul Rigby
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Magpie To The Morning
Magpie comes a calling
Drops a marble from the sky
Tin roof sounds alarming
"Wake up child"
"Let this be a warning"
Says the magpie to the morning
"Don't let this fading summer pass you by"
"Don't let this fading summer pass you by"
Come on sorrow
Take your own advice
This thundering and lightning gets you rain
I'm on a top secret mission
A Cousteau expedition
To find a diamond at the bottom of the drain
A diamond at the bottom of the drain
A diamond at the bottom of the drain
Mocking bird sings
Middle of the night
All his songs are stolen and he hides
He stole them from the Whippoorwills
And the yellow little light
He sings them for you special
He knows you're afraid of the dark
Come on sorrow
Take your own advice
Hide under the bed
Turn out the light
The stars this night in the sky are ringing out
You can almost hear them saying
"Close your eyes now kid"
"Close your eyes now kid"
"These old dreams are hid"
They are waiting
Waiting
They are waiting
Drops a marble from the sky
Tin roof sounds alarming
"Wake up child"
"Let this be a warning"
Says the magpie to the morning
"Don't let this fading summer pass you by"
"Don't let this fading summer pass you by"
Come on sorrow
Take your own advice
This thundering and lightning gets you rain
I'm on a top secret mission
A Cousteau expedition
To find a diamond at the bottom of the drain
A diamond at the bottom of the drain
A diamond at the bottom of the drain
Mocking bird sings
Middle of the night
All his songs are stolen and he hides
He stole them from the Whippoorwills
And the yellow little light
He sings them for you special
He knows you're afraid of the dark
Come on sorrow
Take your own advice
Hide under the bed
Turn out the light
The stars this night in the sky are ringing out
You can almost hear them saying
"Close your eyes now kid"
"Close your eyes now kid"
"These old dreams are hid"
They are waiting
Waiting
They are waiting
Writer: Neko Case, Paul Rigby
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Im An Animal
You could say it's my instinct
Yes I still have one.
There's no time to second-guess it
Yes there are things that I'm still so afraid of
But my courage is roaring like the sound of the sun
'Cause it's vain about its mane
And will reveal
I'm an animal
You're an animal too
Pick up that rock
That mane
I do my best
But I made a mistake
Yes there are things I'm still quite sure of
I love you this hour
This hour today
And heaven will smell like the airport
But I may never get that proven
So let's not waste our time
Thinking how that ain't fair
I'm an animal
You're an animal too
You're an animal too
Yes I still have one.
There's no time to second-guess it
Yes there are things that I'm still so afraid of
But my courage is roaring like the sound of the sun
'Cause it's vain about its mane
And will reveal
I'm an animal
You're an animal too
Pick up that rock
That mane
I do my best
But I made a mistake
Yes there are things I'm still quite sure of
I love you this hour
This hour today
And heaven will smell like the airport
But I may never get that proven
So let's not waste our time
Thinking how that ain't fair
I'm an animal
You're an animal too
You're an animal too
Writer: Neko Case, Paul Rigby
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Prison Girls
Where am I tonight? La, da, da
My hotel room won't remember me
And this dream will die, die by morning
And this dream won't remember me
Awakened by a droning voice
I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes
Is it a lady or is it a man
Humming helicopters through the blades of a fan
I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes
I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes
On my feet to chase it down
The lights were spokes and rungs away
I stumbled back and hit the floor
Long shadows crawl beneath the door
To a passage so poorly lit
There's moths flying away from it
Who am I tonight? La, da, da
My hotel room won't remember me
Darkness enter prison girls
Pushing mops and kicking pails
Now's my chance
I clasp my chest
And declare unto my audience
I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes
I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes
Prison girls are not impressed
They're the ones that have to clean this mess
They've traded more for cigarettes
Than I've managed to express
Filing past miles long
The cheek is frozen to the floor
The prison girls have filled their beds
Their thoughts too dry above their heads
I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes
My hotel room won't remember me
And this dream will die, die by morning
And this dream won't remember me
Awakened by a droning voice
I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes
Is it a lady or is it a man
Humming helicopters through the blades of a fan
I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes
I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes
On my feet to chase it down
The lights were spokes and rungs away
I stumbled back and hit the floor
Long shadows crawl beneath the door
To a passage so poorly lit
There's moths flying away from it
Who am I tonight? La, da, da
My hotel room won't remember me
Darkness enter prison girls
Pushing mops and kicking pails
Now's my chance
I clasp my chest
And declare unto my audience
I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes
I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes
Prison girls are not impressed
They're the ones that have to clean this mess
They've traded more for cigarettes
Than I've managed to express
Filing past miles long
The cheek is frozen to the floor
The prison girls have filled their beds
Their thoughts too dry above their heads
I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes
Writer: Neko Case, Paul Rigby
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Dont Forget Me
In the wintertime keep your feet warm
But keep your clothes on and don't forget me
Keep your memories
But keep your powder dry too
In the summer by the poolside
While the fireflies are all around you
I'll miss you when I'm lonely
I'll miss the alimony too
Don't forget me, don't forget me
Make it easy, only just for a little while
You know I think about you
Let me know you think about me too
And when we're older and full of cancer
It doesn't matter now, come on get happy
'Cause nothing lasts forever
But I will always love you
Don't forget me, please don't forget me
Make it easy, only just for a little while
You know I think about you
Let me know you think about me too
But keep your clothes on and don't forget me
Keep your memories
But keep your powder dry too
In the summer by the poolside
While the fireflies are all around you
I'll miss you when I'm lonely
I'll miss the alimony too
Don't forget me, don't forget me
Make it easy, only just for a little while
You know I think about you
Let me know you think about me too
And when we're older and full of cancer
It doesn't matter now, come on get happy
'Cause nothing lasts forever
But I will always love you
Don't forget me, please don't forget me
Make it easy, only just for a little while
You know I think about you
Let me know you think about me too
Writer: HARRY NILSSON
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
The Pharaohs
You were married in the mirrored hall when I was 16
You spoke the words, "I love girls in white leather jackets"
That was good enough for love, it was good enough for me
I listened in when you thought you were alone
Calling the sphinx on a tornado's phone
Who knows what she'll say
I only heard what I wanted
You said I was your blue, blue baby
And you were right
You said I was your blue, blue baby
And you were right
Wandered the halls all the nighttime
My body burned, my legs ached
But you never came to bed
You just left me there awake
You kept me wanting wanting wanting
Like the wanting in the movies and the hymns
I want the pharaohs, but there's only men
I want the pharaohs, but there's only men
You said I was your blue, blue baby
And you were right
You said I was your blue, blue baby
And you were right
You spoke the words, "I love girls in white leather jackets"
That was good enough for love, it was good enough for me
I listened in when you thought you were alone
Calling the sphinx on a tornado's phone
Who knows what she'll say
I only heard what I wanted
You said I was your blue, blue baby
And you were right
You said I was your blue, blue baby
And you were right
Wandered the halls all the nighttime
My body burned, my legs ached
But you never came to bed
You just left me there awake
You kept me wanting wanting wanting
Like the wanting in the movies and the hymns
I want the pharaohs, but there's only men
I want the pharaohs, but there's only men
You said I was your blue, blue baby
And you were right
You said I was your blue, blue baby
And you were right
Writer: Dallas Good, Michael Jonathan Belitsky, Neko Case, Sean Dean, Travis Good
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Red Tide
There's a smell here that stands my hairs on end
Dog hair in the heater, gas pumps and cedar
And jackknifes on the nine
and seabirds choked on fishing line
Clouds say hush but the chainsaws mush on to Custer and Columbia
Salty tentacles shrink in the sun but the red tide is over
The mollusks they have won
There's a smell here of gravel and cigarettes lit
When the match made them sweet
When the engine turned over and beat up our street
Oh, that was the day
To remember
I remember because of the fires that leapt
From the caves of the things that have not happened yet
When I think of it now they smell to me quite sinister
I want to go back and die at the drive in
Die before strangers can say
I hate the rain
I hate the rain
Dog hair in the heater, gas pumps and cedar
And jackknifes on the nine
and seabirds choked on fishing line
Clouds say hush but the chainsaws mush on to Custer and Columbia
Salty tentacles shrink in the sun but the red tide is over
The mollusks they have won
There's a smell here of gravel and cigarettes lit
When the match made them sweet
When the engine turned over and beat up our street
Oh, that was the day
To remember
I remember because of the fires that leapt
From the caves of the things that have not happened yet
When I think of it now they smell to me quite sinister
I want to go back and die at the drive in
Die before strangers can say
I hate the rain
I hate the rain
Writer: ROB BEATTIE
Copyright: Lyrics © THE ROYALTY NETWORK INC.
Copyright: Lyrics © THE ROYALTY NETWORK INC.
Writer: Neko Case
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Middle Cyclone is the fifth studio album of American alternative country singer-songwriter Neko Case, released on March 3, 2009, on the ANTI- record label. Her first solo effort in three years, Case stated that "it took a very long time to make". As the title of the album suggests, the record's lyrics are permeated with imagery of tornadoes and, more generally, nature. Thematically Middle Cyclone concerns how Case's upbringing socialized her to form strong emotional attachments to nature and animals, to the neglect of human relationships, and her reconciling "the fact that I need love".
Middle Cyclone features a variety of guest performers, including M. Ward, Garth Hudson, Sarah Harmer, and members of The New Pornographers, Los Lobos, Calexico, The Sadies, Visqueen, Kurt Heasley of Lilys, and Giant Sand. It also features two prominent covers: "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth" by Sparks and "Don't Forget Me" by Harry Nilsson.
Middle Cyclone debuted to strong reviews from contemporary mainstream and independent music critics. In particular, Case's voice garnered unanimous praise for its strength, clarity, and emotional range. In December 2009 Case was nominated for two Grammys for her work on Middle Cyclone: Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Recording Package (the latter nomination shared with artist Kathleen Judge).
Performed By:
Neko CaseMiddle Cyclone features a variety of guest performers, including M. Ward, Garth Hudson, Sarah Harmer, and members of The New Pornographers, Los Lobos, Calexico, The Sadies, Visqueen, Kurt Heasley of Lilys, and Giant Sand. It also features two prominent covers: "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth" by Sparks and "Don't Forget Me" by Harry Nilsson.
Middle Cyclone debuted to strong reviews from contemporary mainstream and independent music critics. In particular, Case's voice garnered unanimous praise for its strength, clarity, and emotional range. In December 2009 Case was nominated for two Grammys for her work on Middle Cyclone: Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Recording Package (the latter nomination shared with artist Kathleen Judge).
Genre(s): Alternative country, indie folk
Producer(s): Neko Case, Darryl Neudorf
Length: 74:29
Released: March 3rd, 2009
Year: 2009