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Nearly Midnight, Honolulu Lyrics
Hey little kid
That I saw at the bus stop one day
It was nearly midnight in Honolulu
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 wanna 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 every day
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, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
Some days you'll 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
That I saw at the bus stop one day
It was nearly midnight in Honolulu
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
Why don't you ever shut up?
Get the fuck away from me'
Oh, oh
'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 every day
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
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
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This could have been my mother and me on any given day. Every word of this song breaks my heart.
Just about everyone else still loves you.
Just about everyone else still loves you.
I'm just so sorry for everyone who identifies with this song and ends up here...there's no need for an "explanation", it's pretty explicit.
I just want to say that someone loves you I guess and it's not who you want, but you're still important.
I've read several interviews in which Neko Case has stated she is not close with her parents. I don't know the specifics, but I can't help but to wonder if this song has some autobiographical context to it. I think she so deeply feels for this girl because in some way she identifies with that girl - the last chorus of the song she speaks to her as if from experience, from someone who has been in that girl's shoes and is looking back.
The lines: When you say, "My mother, she did not love me. My mother, she did not love me"
I think could also work with the quotes moved as follows: When you say, "My mother, she did not love me." My mother, she did not love me
With the repeat of "my mother, she did not love me" being a very direct autobiographical statement, and I think her delivery of this line in the song sounds like a lament instead of statement.
I also wonder if the kid at the end of the side is both the girl at the bus stop and the little girl that Neko Case once was, so it works on both the level of having her love extended to the little girl at the bus stop and to who she was at that age and is now advising the girl at the bus stop based on her own experiences.
Nonetheless, this is one of the most affecting songs on the album - sad and moving and unfortunately relevant.