Singer-songwriter Neko Case began her career in the mid-’90s, playing drums in various, mostly punk-oriented bands before launching a country-influenced solo project, Neko Case & Her Boyfriends, who debuted in 1997 with the album The Virginian. That same year, she also became part of indie rock collective The New Pornographers and remains a member to this day. She also continued solo work and in March 2006 released her fourth album Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. I decided to pick the captivating Hold On, Hold On.
– Chris & Max Pick …songs from 2006 – Christian’s Music Musings
This fantastic song Hold On, Hold On reminded me of Vika and Linda Bull’s When Will You Fall For Me, but with a country vibe. That’s what I told Christian when he relayed this song on his music blog. I’m so grateful for it because I love listening to few songs as much I do that one by those Melbourne Girls.
Neko Case’s Hold On, Hold On is a relative short song, and it begins unassuming almost like a head cowering beneath the covers (and a woman so jaded about relationships). Then just like a train getting going the horn begins to bellow and the guitar spins on an axis to take us on something out of an alt-rock western. The song evolves and morphs into different wave patterns and stories. It’s in a superposition of sorts and it’s not until you pause it, does it collapse. This is pure music – art. There is too much my ears love about it. I just wish it was longer. So you know the story – I will put it on repeat.
Neko Case told Uncut in 2015: “I still think it might be one of the best songs I’ve written. It’s not so much about being a lone wolf as it is, ‘I don’t want that like that.’ But it doesn’t go on to tell you how you need it.“
Case added “the song is actually about me. It’s not metaphorical about other people. It’s not little pieces of my life made into a story about someone else or someone fictitious.”
The writing in this is fantastic. Her use of the Echo chorus singing “Hold on” is interesting to say the least. For me, the way Neko sings it indicates that someone is telling her to hold on—keep waiting—something great will come your way. It has this sort of “put the past behind, I know times are tough, but you’ve got to hold on” sentiment to it. And hopeless Neko declares this statement as a lie. “That echo chorus lied to me with its ‘Hold on’”. She feels so discouraged, so hopeless.
It reminds me of a line I once wrote in a poem: ‘you popped in to say ‘hi’, your echo drew me here‘. That echo felt like my ‘Hold On‘ on as well, but it was just my past and false dreams manifesting themselves in the present. Much disillusionment.
The most tender place in my heart is for strangers
I know it’s unkind but my own blood is much too dangerous
Hangin’ round the ceiling half the time
Hangin’ round the ceiling half the time
Compared to some I’ve been around
But I really tried so hard
That echo chorus lied to me with its
“Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on”
In the end I was the mean girl
Or somebody’s in-between girl
Now it’s the devil I love
And that’s as funny as real love
I leave the party at 3 A.M
Alone, thank God
With a valium from the bride
It’s the devil I love
It’s the devil I love
And that’s as funny as real love
And that’s as real as true love
That echo chorus lied to me with its
“Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on”
That echo chorus lied to me with its
“Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on”
Hold On, Hold On was released on Fox Confessor Brings the Flood – March 7, 2006. The album was recorded primarily in Tucson, over the course of two years as Case worked on the live The Tigers Have Spoken and continued to play with the New Pornographers. Critics hailed the record not only for Case’s trademark vocals but also her use of stark imagery and non-standard song structures. Fox Confessor Brings the Flood wound up on many “Best of 2006” lists, such as No.1 on the Amazon.com music editors’ picks and No. 2 on NPR’s All Songs Considered.
References:
1. Neko Case – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
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