Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 2006…
#2 – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood – Neko Case
The fourth album by alt-country singer-songwriter Neko Case is a gothic treasure, as rich and tactile as maple syrup from her home in rural Vermont.
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood spins everyday life into romantic fairy tales, with Case’s pure, aching vocals bringing conviction to every note.
I got this album when it first came out and it quickly became a favorite of my 4-year-old daughter Sophia. We would play it in the car on the way to school, singing along to the often dark lyrics.
I wonder what her young ears thought about Margaret in ‘Margaret vs. Pauline,’ who lost three fingers working at the cannery, or the young boy dying after a gang shooting in ‘Star Witness.’ Or the young woman, high on valium, stumbling out of a wedding in ‘Hold On, Hold On.’ Or the dead sparrow in today’s SOTD.
I’m guessing she thought the same thing I did, which is that Neko Case has a gift for spinning ornate poetry into a sonic gut-punch, and sounding impossibly beautiful while she does it.
Either that, or she just liked the foxes on the cover.
The hawks alight till morning
You’ll never pass beyond the gate
If you don’t hear my warning
Notes are hung so effortless
With the rise and fall of a sparrow’s breast
It’s a drowning dive and back to the chorus
La de da de da de da
La de da de da de da
Oh, my sparrow, it’s too late
Your body limp beneath my feet
Your dusty eyes as cold as clay
You didn’t hear my warning
Didn’t hear my warning
Maybe, sparrow, it’s too late
The moonlight glanced off metal wings
In a thunderstorm above the clouds
The engine hums a sparrow’s phrase
For those who cannot hear the words
Those who cannot hear the words
Those who will not hear the words
La de da de da de da
La de da de da de da
Maybe sparrow
Maybe sparrow
Maybe sparrow
Meet Me In Montauk 