Last night, late, I was watching it snow
It always goes sideways in the city
It comes right out from the street lights, you know
Pumped out by an engine deep inside the earth's core
It goes sideways in the city
Cover the shades and erase the day
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
It's laughter from a marbled room
white crowned sounds of possible sound that lures me
That 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 sleep cocoon
Reveal myself when I'm ready
I'll reveal myself invincible soon
(I am one and the same
I am useful and strange
I am one and the same
I am useful and strange
I am one and the same
I am useful and strange
I am one and the same
I am useful and strange
There's a wisdom that's woe and a woe that is madness
There's a wisdom that's woe and a woe that is madness
There's a wisdom that's woe and a woe that is madness
I am one and the same
I am useful and strange
There's a wisdom that's woe
It always goes sideways in the city
It comes right out from the street lights, you know
Pumped out by an engine deep inside the earth's core
It goes sideways in the city
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
It's laughter from a marbled room
white crowned sounds of possible sound that lures me
That says "Don't you hurry, don't you worry kid
We'll be seeing you, we'll see you when you're ready"
Its gravity is soothing
It winds me in a sleep cocoon
Reveal myself when I'm ready
I'll reveal myself invincible soon
I am useful and strange
I am useful and strange
I am useful and strange
I am useful and strange
I am useful and strange
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If you read about her 4 year long bout with depression and the recovery from it that was brought on by the deaths of her mother, father and grandmother, this song is it's anthem.
Neko said during this period she hated listening to music, especially music with lyrics. So she found the instrumental nature of ragtime music a way to a place where she was as happy as she could be.
These 2 lines ...
That says "Don't you hurry, don't you worry kid We'll be seeing you, we'll see you when you're ready"
and these two...
Reveal myself when I'm ready I'll reveal myself invincible soon
...pretty much say it all.
Ragtime was the thing that got her through a tough period.
I read that she doesn't remember writing all of her latest album. I wonder if this is one of the songs ...or part of it, that is missing.
If you haven;t seen her on this tour, you should becasue she is mesmerizing.
Please let me know what corrections you guys have. Towards the end, when everything starts to layer, I couldn't pick out everything.
You may have known this, but,"There's a wisdom that's woe..." is from the novel "Moby Dick" http://www.electricfactory.info/Event/9/25/2013/neko-case , so definitely right there. I don't know the context, read this book decades ago. Here's the full paragraph: “There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness. And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces. And even if he for ever flies within the gorge, that gorge is in the mountains; so that even in...
You may have known this, but,"There's a wisdom that's woe..." is from the novel "Moby Dick" http://www.electricfactory.info/Event/9/25/2013/neko-case , so definitely right there. I don't know the context, read this book decades ago. Here's the full paragraph: “There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness. And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces. And even if he for ever flies within the gorge, that gorge is in the mountains; so that even in his lowest swoop the mountain eagle is still higher than other birds upon the plain, even though they soar. ”
I think you might have the ending exactly right, only it's funny because no web site has the same lyrics haha. I've seen people interpret her at the end to say "There's a reason no clouds pour anymore. It's madness," rather than the "There's a wisdom that's woe and a woe that is madness," you and others suggest.
I kind of like the "cloud" lyric because it reminds me of her song "I Missed the Point," with her lyric "Dark clouds gather. Velvet holes gaping wide and they pour it down. And they sing to me." Kind of like to acknowledge she's no longer as naive as she once was.
If you read about her 4 year long bout with depression and the recovery from it that was brought on by the deaths of her mother, father and grandmother, this song is it's anthem.
Neko said during this period she hated listening to music, especially music with lyrics. So she found the instrumental nature of ragtime music a way to a place where she was as happy as she could be.
These 2 lines ...
That says "Don't you hurry, don't you worry kid We'll be seeing you, we'll see you when you're ready"
and these two...
Reveal myself when I'm ready I'll reveal myself invincible soon
...pretty much say it all.
Ragtime was the thing that got her through a tough period.
I read that she doesn't remember writing all of her latest album. I wonder if this is one of the songs ...or part of it, that is missing.
If you haven;t seen her on this tour, you should becasue she is mesmerizing.