Night Still Comes

I think this song is about how all her life she's felt like she's been misunderstood by men. She's diluted her perception, bashed her head against a wall to try to "get them" or ingratiate herself to a man's worldview, or attempted to gain favor with them in an attempt for peaceful coexistence but it's all been for naught. When she refers to it as "the right angle" I completely empathize. Everything we've been taught is skewed since it's been taught to us through a certain type of person's perspective for the most part...cough...straight white men...cough cough.

I agree with some of the other comments here about the first verse referencing depression. I think the depression is the result of a relationship ending, and the author is kind of lashing out at that ex and saying 'you were bad at sex.'

I think 'tools made for my hand' and 'held it at the right angle' delicately describes a sex toy or vibrator. And 'revenge myself' and the lines about catching a falling star refer to orgasm.

There's a lot of strange verbiage in the 3rd verse, but I still think "my urge," "waist-deep" and "finish me" refer to sex in a metaphoric way. I see the author as helping herself feel better by saying out loud that he never satisfied her, but she can still satisfy herself and he can't hurt her anymore ('there's nothing you can do to me').

no comments? One of the best albums of 2013!

no idea what the song means though :(

I feel she's pointing to the hopelessness of things. Despite all her best efforts, things fall apart.

I think this song is about the transient nature of all things and how it's best to not become too attached to anything in this realm because, in the end, night still comes.

But I also have some suspicion that this song might hint at some aspect of ourselves that is not impermanent. Consider the lyrics in the context of ideas regarding the soul, karma, and reincarnation.

"My brain makes drugs to keep me slow" - regarding the illusion that is normal consciousness. What a hilarious joke that is. Very few people really understand this and even fewer are able to "pierce the veil" of illusion.

The second verse is a little more straightforward, but the last line "But I've revenged myself, all over myself" is, to me, the most mysterious. Perhaps it speaks to reincarnation.

"Did it poison my food? Is it 'cause I'm a girl. If I puked up some sonnets would you call me a miracle?" Karma perhaps??

A falling star could be a metaphor for a moment. Catching a falling star could mean "being in the moment", however you cannot hold on to a falling star forever and the same could be said for any moment. "But wash your hands of it" speaks to the principle of detachment.

"You never held it at the right angle" The angle might be the trajectory of one's life. Holding it at the right angle might be the ultimate goal. Prior deviations from this path may be the reason we're here in this incarnation.

LOL I really bent these lyrics to fit my worldview, didn't I? I'd be interested to hear someone else do the same, but differently.

I think the song has to do with having ADHD. Coming up with excuses why you do the things you do. Immersing yourself in things that make you feel normal. Looking at life in a different way. All of these things are part of a person's life that has lived with ADHD. The only reason I came to this conclusion because the first lines had caught my attention, and spoke to me personally. The rest of the lines just made sense. I felt that feeling you get when a song speaks to you. So I google searched Neko Case and ADHD, and found she was diagnosed in her twenties. It's an eye opener. If I am wrong, so be it, but I still love the lyrics!

There are several references to Nietzsche in this song.\n\nFirst, the image of night falling. In Zarathustra, Nietzsche sings "Night has come: now all the songs of lovers awaken. And my soul too is the song of a lover" The night he refers to has to do with the loneliness of a bold spirit who has no one to learn from, that can only shower the world with their light, but has no light to bask in.\n\nTools and the hands made for them refer to sculpting. Nietzsche once accused Christians of making humanity into a divine abortion, suggesting that if there were a god he would be torn between rage and laughter at the sight and would ask "Was this a work for your hands? Look how you have botched my beautiful stone!" Case is establishing her right to her own creative endeavors, a right that no one else could possibly claim. She is even more boldly claiming a multiplicity of tools that were made for her hands, to which only she has a right.\n\nThe tide that smashes her plans is herself. Despite the claims of others that her creation is somehow easy. But as she is the only one she respects to criticize herself, she is also the one who will redeem herself for the suffering she has caused herself. Self-overcoming is a principal theme in Nietzsche\'s work. "There\'s nothing you can say to me" is the arrogance of the artist in refusing to acknowledge that anyone else has a right to presume they know what her art is about. She revenges herself all over herself by producing her art and vanquishing her own doubts and self-sabotage.\n\nThe boreal feast is I think a re-imagining of Nietzsche\'s labyrinth and the minotaur that devours those brave enough to venture into it. Her "urge" leads her into a lonely wilderness far from help. When she is consumed by it there is no way for anyone to rescue her, but she doesn\'t seek rescue. She wants to give herself to her art completely.\n\nThe falling star refers to inspiration. Others are incapable of catching the star she catches. Her inspiration is for her alone (the image of star as inspiration is also present in Nietzsche\'s Night Song). "Wash your hands of it, because you can\'t hold it" implies that our inspiration does not belong to us in any safe or tame way. Compare the image of the falling star from Howl\'s Moving Castle. The falling star is both wonder and calamity at the same time.\n\nAnd I do think the "drugs that keep me slow" is a reference to her ADHD. The dead pharoah line I take as a reference to the fact that cocaine has been discovered in ancient Egyptian mummies. As a stimulant, cocaine may be a useful treatment for ADHD. This feeds into the overall message of her fealty to her art, she sees her ADHD as an obstacle that interferes with her expression. \n\nBut even if she medicates her way around that, the coming of night, the loneliness of the artist cannot be prevented. What I get from the refrain is Case\'s defiance. She doesn\'t care what others say about her, because they can\'t possibly understand her anyway. Her tools were simply not made for their hands.

I think this song speaks about grief and depression. From interviews with Neko Case about what she was going through before she created this album. She talks about all the people in her life she lost, but how at the time, she didn't really grieve until finally it hit her all at once, and she spent a long time struggling with grief and depression. (As a side note, she also talks about how some songs like "Where Did I Leave That Fire" are influenced by industrial music which was the only thing she could stand to listen to during that time)

Anyway, this is how I interpret her lyrics & what they mean to me...

"My brain makes drugs to keep me slow"...this describes the feeling of depression and grief, feeling like your mind and willpower have slowed to the point of stopping. You're just numb, stationary, and can't think straight. You know something is wrong, that your brain is doing something to you, and you hope that the effects will wear off.

"But now not even the masons know, What drug will keep night from coming"...I haven't researched about the Freemasons, but it may be a reference to them. Or, masons may mean therapists, doctors who try to help, but don't know what drugs to prescribe to keep night (the grief and depression) from coming.

"There are so many tools that are made from my hands But the tide smashes all my best laid plans to sand"...you know there are so many things you could and should be doing, but it feels so futile. You don't have the energy to face everyday challenges, and nothing seems to work out.

"But I've revenged myself, all over myself, there’s nothing you can say to me"...you are angry at yourself and beat yourself up over being depressed, and other people are upset with you too, but it doesn't change it. Nothing anyone says has any effect. This could even speak to self-harm, cutting, and suicidal feelings.

"You never held it at the right angle"...an appeal to other people who don't understand to see it from your point of view, and also to yourself to see that the depression is keeping you from seeing things clearly.

"Catch a falling star, but wash your hands of it,Catch a falling star, because you can’t own it"...trying to grasp onto happiness,motivation,desire, or meaning, but it slips away so easily, realizing it isn't lasting. So reach for it, but it's temporary. It's almost saying why even try.

"Did it poison my food, is it ‘cause I’m a girl? If I puked up some sonnets, would you call me a miracle?"...Neko feels like the grief and depression are poisoning her meanwhile people talk saying she's a delicate girl dealing with emotions, and hopefully she'll get over it and "puke up" some more songs for them making a miraculous recovery. She feels like other people just see her as a pretty voice and expect her to "puke up" songs for their enjoyment and for them to make money off of.

"I’m gonna go where my urge leads no more"...the decision to carry on the motions of daily life even though their is no desire to do so anymore.

"Swallowed waist deep in the gore of the forest, Arboreal feast, let it finish me please"....being swallowed in the depths and darkness of grief, and just surrendering, letting it finish hollowing you out and eating you away.