The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You (2013)












Wild Creatures lyrics - Neko Case

When you catch the light
You look like your mother
It crushes me some,
Just right from the side

When you catch the light
There's a flash of wild creatures,
Before the Stone Age of the preachers,
And the husbands, and the wives

When you catch the light
The flood changes direction,
And darkens the lens
That projects my disguise

As you fight along-side,
You'll discover my weakness
I'm not fighting for your freedom,
I am fighting to be wild.

"Hey, little girl, would you like to be
The king's pet or the king?"
"I'd choose odorless and invisible,
But otherwise I would choose the king.
Even though it sounds the loneliest...
And my brother's hands would poison me."

"Hey, little girl, would you like to be
The king's pet or the king?"
"I'd choose odorless and invisible,
But otherwise I would choose the king,
Even though it sounds melodious...
There's no mother's hands to quiet me."

Night Still Comes lyrics - Neko Case

My brain makes drugs to keep me slow,
A hilarious joke for some dead pharaoh.
But now, not even the masons know
What drug will keep night from coming.

There are so many tools that are made for my hands.
But the tide smashes all my best-laid plans to sand.
And there's always someone to say it's easy for me,
But I revenge myself all over myself.
There's nothing you can say to me.

You never held it at the right angle,
You never held it at the right angle,
Catch a, catch a, catch a, catch a falling star,
But wash your hands of it
Catch a, catch a, catch a, catch a falling star
Because you can't hold it.

Did they poison my food? Is it cause I'm a girl?
If I puked up some sonnets, would you call me a miracle?
I'm gonna go where my urge leads no more.
Swallowed, waist-deep, in the gore of the forest
A boreal feast, let it finish me, please.
Cause I revenge myself all over myself.
There's nothing you can do to me.

You never held it at the right angle,
You never held it at the right angle,
Catch a, catch a, catch a, catch a falling star,
But wash your hands of it
Catch a, catch a, catch a, catch a falling star
Because you can't own it.
You never held it at the right angle,
You never held it at the right angle.

You never held it,
You never held it,
You never held it, oh...
You never held it,
You never held it,
You never held it, oh...
You never held it,
You never held it,
You never held it, oh...

Man lyrics - Neko Case

I'm a man
That's what you raised me to be
I'm not an identity crisis
This was planned

I'm a man
There's innocence in all mankind
It's what kind of animal I am
It's that simple, oh

I'm a man
And not just casually
I pull the sparks fulltime
The tree house cannot support me

I'm not the runt of the litter
The fat finger bullies were no match for me
So taste them in my teeth
I'm a man

I'm a man's man
Always been
Make no mistake
I've invested in
A woman's heart
It's the watermark
Of which I measure
Everything

I'm a man
That's what you raised me to be
I'm not your identity crisis
This was planned

I'm a man
You'll have to deal with me
My proxy is mine
You'll deal with me directly

And if I'm dipshit drunk on the pink perfume
I am the man in the fucking moon
'Cause you didn't know what a man was
Until I showed you

I'm From Nowhere lyrics - Neko Case

Goodnight, sunshine
The ghetto-bird shines 4 am,
Welcome to the West
A mosquito to kiss your hands and feet
Welcome to this dirty business

I was surprised
When you called me a lady
Cause I'm still not so sure that that's what I wanna be
Cause I remember the 80's
And I remember its puffy sleeves
You say I'm lucky to be here,
Then maybe you can take this over
And I'll gladly wear the pants into the next century
Past the scanners with ease

Past armies of them,
Who once played in a band
And wasted it complaining like a trust fund kid
Paying you to play here while they hate you because of it.
You say I'm "lucky to be here",
But I've been driving for 21 days.

What's that nasty sound?
The E-brake drags the ground...
God, if you only knew
What my candied fist could do.
The curtain's closing in from all direction,
Just answer my question.
Perhaps it's best if I continue
Starring me as you, me as you.
Starring me as you, me as you.

And there you are,
At the edge of the world...
Dangling with my heart a' pounding.
Above a gulf of hamstrung promises
You sang like "Auld Lang Syne",
You wanted it so badly that you believed them at the time

With every fashion's flame,
Every jet plane-lie,
Every second helping of that off-ramp fame we die,
A little...

You're right, I'm from Nowhere
You're right, I'm from Nowhere
You're right, I'm from Nowhere
You're right.

Bracing For Sunday lyrics - Neko Case

I dropped my gloves into the stove
Hymns echoed out the grate
I fell in love with those electric lights
That drug me into town so late

To nimble, cunning, clever nights
I railed behind them, deputized
To scrape the lens of Christian eyes,

I'm a Friday night girl
Bracing for Sunday to come

I only ever held one love,
Her name was Mary Anne
She died having a child by her brother
He died because I murdered him.

I shot him through his jelly eye
And I won myself his wicked life,
Now I thread-the-needle waltz through mine,

I'm a Friday night girl
Bracing for Sunday to come.

I emptied onto shifting sheets,
Staring rosary holes in my ceiling,
Waiting for my purpose to deliver,
And reveal itself to me
But all I hear are subway trains
Bang against their bedrock lanes
So I bang a little too...

I'm a Friday night girl
Bracing for Sunday to come
Bracing for Sunday to come.

Nearly Midnight, Honolulu lyrics - Neko Case

Hey, little kid that I saw at the bus stop one day
It was nearly midnight in Honolulu (Lulu)
We were waiting for the shuttle to take us to the aeroplane
When your mother said, your mother said
Like I couldn't hear her, she said,
"Get the fuck away from me!
Why don't you ever shut up?
Get the fuck away from me!"
Oh, oh

Well, I just want to say that it happened
'Cause one day when you ask yourself,
"Did it really happen?"
You won't believe it, but yes, it did
And I'm sorry
And I'm sorry
'Cause it happens everyday

They won't believe you
When you tell them
They won't believe you
When you say, "My mother, she did not love me.
My mother, she did not love me"

No (no) [x8]

Some days you feel like a cartoon
And people will rush to make excuses for you
You'll hear yourself complain
But don't you ever shut up please
Kid, have your say
'Cause I still love you
Even if I don't see you again

Calling Cards lyrics - Neko Case

I used a calling card of a pay phone
From the other coast
Just to tell you how good it was to hear you
In those songs you wrote

They made me think there was something coming
Really something worth waiting for
Blah, blah, blah... they talk about, oh oh

Every dial tone, every truck stop, every heartbreak,
I love you more
Looking like you just woke up from making songs,
Shooting satellites that blew up the pay phones...
Singing we'll all be together,
Even when we're not together
With our arms around each other,
With our faith still in each other

I've got calling cards
From 20 years ago.

City Swan lyrics - Neko Case

Baby, come out
I'll meet you in the street
At the place by the old fire station
We'll get something to eat,
Like we talked about.

Baby, come down
It's been a while now
I've got so many things I could tell you,
If my stubborn mouth doesn't let me down.

And I can't look at you straight-on
You're made from something different than I know

I try to slip the marching clock
But centipedes invade my thoughts
Without free will I heel and I go
I step onto that metal plate,
Where it meets the dazzling sound of trains,
And I beg those trains to run.

Cause I can't look at you straight-on
You're made from something different than I know

My eyes are on the sidewalk,
It's gum holding your feet
I swear under my breath
Because I'm starving in your gravity
You're made from something different than I know

You linger just a little long,
I see your gun is drawn with the safety on
You can walk me back to my hotel
Like it was home.
And I smell those fools you made cordwood of
In petty dreams that leave me sleeping here, in your arms.

City swans,
Our crook'd necks long
City swans

And I can't look at you straight-on
You're made from something different than I know

And it breaks my heart just like the day,
That I looked down and I realized
I'd been sailing so long I'd become the shore

City swans,
Our crook'd necks long
City swans

Afraid lyrics - Neko Case

Cease to know or to tell or to see
Or to be your own
Cease to know or to tell or to see
Or to be your own

Have someone else's will as your own
Have someone else's will as your own
You are beautiful and you are alone
You are beautiful and you are alone

Often the adolescent play
Reward your grace
Often the adolescent play
Reward your grace

Confuse your hunger
Capture the fake
Confuse your hunger
Capture the fake

Banish the faceless
Reward your grace
Banish the faceless
Reward your grace

Local Girl lyrics - Neko Case

I pass the light that the young people make
​How joyfully it's wasted
​I feel the weight of the needle's repeat and sigh
​Sang my weight in metric trash
​Trip the light in Saturn's embrace
​You'll give up some local girl while our lights
​Our lights blot out her face
​All of you lie about something
​(You know you do, all of you, shame on you, all of you lie)
​You're on a first-name basis
​All of you lie about something
​(You know you do, all of you, shame on you, all of you lie)
​You're on a first-name basis
​God damn the time
​God damn the miles
​And take me away from you
​And change your face

​And change the way I love you
​And change the way I love you
​And change the way I loved you
​And change the way I loved you

Where Did I Leave That Fire lyrics - Neko Case

A chill ran through me
And I grabbed on tight
That was when I left my body for good
And I shook off all the strength I'd earned

I wanted so badly not to be me
I wanted so badly not to be me
I saw my shadow looking lost
Checking its pockets for some lost receipt

Where did I leave that fire?
Where did I leave that fire?

Will a stranger find it on a curb idling?
Cold cough and the time zone just short of outer space?
Six o'clock tomorrow a strange voice says to me
I do believe we have a fire lady
You can pick it up if you come down with ID

You can pick it up if you come down with ID

Ragtime lyrics - Neko Case

Last night, late, I was watching it snow,
It always goes sideways in the city
It comes right out from the streetlights, you know..,
Pumped out by an engine deep inside the earth's core
It goes sideways in the city

Cover the shapes and erase the date
This could be any evening in any place
The blizzard blows from left to right,
Which is funny cause the piano's playing "Summertime", from 1935
So sounds the alarm of Ragtime
It's Ragtime keeping time

Brave to the waves of its residue,
Its laughter from a marbled room
The white-crowned sounds of possible,
The sound that lures me
It says, "Don't you hurry.
Don't you worry, kid, we'll be seeing you.
We'll see you when you're ready."

Ragtime turning out the sun and moon,
Its gravity is soothing
It winds me in a sleek cocoon
I'll reveal myself when I'm ready,
I'll reveal myself invincible soon.

Madonna Of The Wasps lyrics - Neko Case

Is this love?
Is this love?
Is this, is this, is this love?
Lost Madonna of the wasps,
I wonder where we crossed
I wonder why she lost me

Lost Madonna of the wasps,
she's dying in the frost
I wonder what she cost me
Is this love?

Lost Madonna of the swans,
she waves a magic wand
And then she settles on me
Wise Madonna of the flies,
I look into her eyes
And then she recognizes me
Is this love?
Is this love?

Lost Madonna of the wasps,
I wonder where we crossed
I wonder why she lost me
Lost Madonna of the wasps,
she's lying in the frost
I wonder what she cost me
Is this love?
Is this love?
Is this love?

Magpie To The Morning lyrics - Neko Case

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
In the middle of the night
All his songs are stolen and he hides
He stole them from the Whippoorwills
And the yellow Meadowlark
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

Yon Ferrets Return lyrics - Neko Case

Welcome home, Blackfeet
To all the gophers you can eat
Seed like weeds across the prairie-o
Enjoy your time on the list,
Let us know that you'll be missed,
Cause people have a way of forgetting.
Cause people have a way of forgetting.

Welcome home, Blackfeet,
Come up from underneath,
Put some Al Green on the stereo
The air smells clear, you are the new pioneers
Of the Kansas territory-o

Now's your time, your approval rating is high,
Now's your time

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