Today’s random weekend selection is the title track of Neko Case’s 2009 album Middle Cyclone, her fifth solo release. This album was the follow-up to 2006’s Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, my favorite Case album.
Recorded partly in a barn in Vermont, Middle Cyclone has the same earthy richness that makes all of Case’s work so resonant. Her powerful but melancholy vocals are the perfect complement to the music.
Though the instrumentation and vocals often receive the most praise in any Neko Case song, I’m just as impressed by her poetic lyrics. This song is a lovely example.
Did someone make a fool of me
Before I could show ’em how it’s done?
Na na na na na, na na na
Na na na na na, na na na
I can’t give up acting 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, retching pennies in a boiling well, in a dream
That, at 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 spider web trapped in your lashes
For that, I would trade you my empire for ashes
But I choke it back, how much I need love
Na na na na na, na na na
Na na na na na, na na na
Meet Me In Montauk 
Speaking of a talented artist who never had even one hit song….
I really like her voice and the fact she recorded in a barn in Vermont ❤️