Neko Case - Curse Of The I-5 Corridor Lyrics






I waited too long to write this down
The startling sensation is fading
The sweet sweet burn of the
First drink of the night underaged
Knowing that you're gonna get away with it

You were a good man before you knew it
And I'm not vain enough to think that
I'd have been good for you if I'd stayed
In the current of your life
I was an eyelash in the shipping lanes

And now I'm so scared about mystery
I fear I smell extinction in the
Folds of this novacaine age coming on
I miss the smell of mystery
Reverb leaking outta tavern doors
And not knowing how the sounds were made

So I left home and faked my ID
I fucked every man that I wanted to be
I was so stupid then
Why should mystery give its last name

Baby I'm afraid
But it's not your fault
Maybe I should go
Home alone tonight

Baby I'm afraid
But it's not your fault
Maybe I should go
Home alone tonight

Now I'll see you in our old home
Where I'm always scared to go
Those thirty garbage miles
Making with cigarette butts and used tires
To be poor is the anchor that makes us so sure

Your sandy voice across my brow you haven't aged a day
Is it because you took a shortcut that
Makes people say you're crazy
Is it true
You're a time traveler you
Is it true
I've seen crazy too

Can it be a comfort between us
Because I never want to know for sure

Baby I'm afraid
But it's not your fault
Maybe I should go
Home alone tonight

Baby I'm afraid
But it's not your fault
Maybe I should go
Home alone tonight

The instrumental over the bridge

Now I write this in a pale town
Where excitement is a yellow curd
My dream awake leaps through my window
From the highway

You turn my handles at the brake too late
It needs to tease metric tons
The crash comes
It goes down my public face
Behind the reservoir of collar bones
Forms two private lakes

Baby I'm a fool

Hopping is so easy
You haven't gained a day
To self fulfilling prophecies
Who don't even have each other
Not that we would ever get away with it





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Neko Case Curse Of The I-5 Corridor Comments
  1. S.... A....

    Are you intentionally trying to write about Porkshanks? You need to know that she lived across the street from insane escaped convict Lester Eugene, who slept in a dirt hole under the I-5 bridge in Seattle and was going by the alias "Stanley".

  2. R.... C....

    I love finding music that has inspired other art and literature

  3. e.... l....

    Love it

  4. h.... w....

    Can't stop listening. This collection is polished, perfect, the vocals are like a bell choir.

  5. T.... S....

    This album can do no wrong in my eyes. Love the weirdness of the cover art.

  6. M.... S....

    I don’t believe you did that

  7. k.... ....

    Neko Case did something Extraordinary for the Vocal Gods in a past life!!!! She has The Voice you can only be born with, she must have saved the Universe for them!!! For Us All!!!

  8. M.... ....

    I don't usually like this genre, but this is a superb song

  9. E.... H....

    Sublime.

  10. D.... B....

    This song is astonishing. Holy shit, Neko.

  11. H.... ....

    I genuinely liked the cover art when I saw it. Then I saw how many people hated it and it made me love it more :b

    H.... ....

    I don't like or dislike it. I just want to know why a cigarette wig (Wigarette?)?

    H.... ....

    Her house burned down during the recording of this album. So, y'know... why not a wigarette? Ninja-level taking a misfortune in stride.

  12. S.... ....

    3:22 "...Instrumental break" lol!

  13. H.... ....

    All the people who 'can't get over the album art'....get over yourself. Is that really how you judge music? Does it really RUIN it for you? Wow...

    H.... ....

    HopMalt81 since it is the first picture the listener is going to have in his mind while listening to the song, yes it is relevent to say that this artwork is not that good...

  14. D.... D....

    I wonder what album cover ideas got rejected to have this make the cut

  15. S.... Y....

    I can really relate to this song!! KEEP UP THE EXCELLENT SONGS NEKO!!!!

  16. S.... M....

    Her voice is unreal, ethereal. She could sing the phone book and I'd listen.

  17. V.... ....

    LOVE THE DRAMA IN THIS SONG. And I personally adore the album cover - it's very Cindy Sherman-esque.

  18. b.... b....

    Sorry I 'm a fan but this is probably the worst thing she's ever done. The other two pre-release tracks are great.

    b.... b....

    ...and Lanegan has always been a total bore.

  19. C.... ....

    This cover art repulses me so deep to my core I can't even explain. Song is pretty good though

    C.... ....

    Ask yourself why it repulses you - you might figure out what assumptions she was challenging with the cover art.

    C.... ....

    grow up

    C.... ....

    man who the hell cares

  20. M.... W....

    give me moooor...Love her.

  21. F.... S....

    Other vocalist ruins the song for me.

  22. C.... v....

    Okay everyone,... say something negative about everything first; it's how you've been trained. Wait..does your neck hurt from looking down at your device? How's your thumb? Neko sounds pretty good, we are lucky to have a voice like hers to listen to. I'm glad to hear something new from a woman with power that gives a shit about something.

  23. N.... A....

    "Curse of the I-5 Corridor" debuted at #21 on the New Alternative 40 Chart this week:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67SYzn4lmt8&list=PLxlSBzMcrtkMCVtuXEIz5BXpPfycTwsS5&index=21

  24. d.... R....

    I RATE this song- Beyond the limits of the Human Mind to determine. Fabulous.
    RB/nowretiredfromTheScene&wrestlingwithTheDevil
    /

  25. a.... ....

    The critical comments here are baffling. Opinions are like assholes: everybody’s got one. Sure, the artwork isn’t my favorite of her’s in comparison to others, but if you’re judging an album based solely on its artwork, then you’re limiting yourself out of the gate already. Echo? Maybe. But her vocals are intensely beautiful. Her range and tone are heavenly. What I cannot understand is this “relevant only to her” lyric writing. I find her music very relatable, even if we don’t share identical life circumstances. What’s this crap about her not being “hungry?” According to who? What does that even mean, dude?

    From her sound, to her album artwork, to her lyric writing, Neko Case is unapologetically herself and I’ll take her individuality and strong sense of self as an artist ANY DAY. If you can’t, then don’t.

    a.... ....

    Fish Sandwich Right, but the opinions of the listeners shouldn’t hold sway for an artist’s creative process. She’s still being true to herself as a musician, lyricist, and producer of sound. That’s all there is to it really! I’m holding all my own opinions until there’s an entire album to hear as a complete body of work.

    a.... ....

    ameliorative of course she should do what she wants, but it’s silly for fans to act like they’re going to be sent a prize for undying loyalty.

    a.... ....

    Fish Sandwich I agree! It’s a strange sense of entitlement.

    Even if this album doesn’t resonate with a long time fan right now or when it gets released doesn’t mean it won’t eventually. Even if it doesn’t, just why take the time to comment a YouTube video to say “I’m done with her booo artwork booo echo insert elitist comment here” like she’s deserving of negativity because you don’t like a song or aesthetics? It’s just dumb.

    a.... ....

    You mean the two best albums she's ever made? Don't see the problem here.

    a.... ....

    In my opinion this record is a fucking masterpiece.

  26. O.... T....

    Wore out on her a few years ago. There are only so many times you can hear the same song with a different title before you're over it. Same reverb-heavy meaningful-only-to-the-author lyrics before you push back from it and walk. It's too bad. She used to be cool when she was hungry.

    O.... T....

    @jinx hayes you don't get much. That's probably why you see creative genius in erstwhile word salad. Cheers, sweetie.

    O.... T....

    just because you personally can't relate to someone else's lyrics, that clearly weren't written with your type in mind, doesn't make it "erstwhile word salads". using a thesaurus isn't gonna make your dick bigger, dude

    O.... T....

    @One Trick Pony
    also, erstwhile doesn't mean what you seem to think it is

    O.... T....

    Nothing will make your dick any bigger, Jinxy. Likewise, nothing will save you from being the loser you are presently. Go apologize to your mom.

    O.... T....

    I sadly fully support your opinion; Neko is a spent force. Furnace and Blacklisted were the glory days

  27. f.... ....

    Thank you Neko Case

  28. H.... ....

    To my ears, there's only one singer on this track. Lanergan's voice adds zero. Worse, he distracts from and obstructs Neko's voice - hers is the only voice worth hearing here, imo. Lanergan's vocal "contribution" sounds like some no-talent amateur singing along in the privacy of their home to a Neko Case song.

    I don't ask the public to listen to me singing at home. Lanergan shouldn't be inflicting himself on us via a Neko case song, even if foolish Neko allowed it! This is a "duet" that ought never have happened. Otherwise, I like the song a lot - in spite of you-know-who. The I-5 runs along the west coast. Neko's grew up in the Tacoma or Seattle area, and she attended art school and started playing in bands in Vancouver, Canada for a few years. Lanergan's Screaming Trees are a WA State band. The I-5 takes travelers from Seattle (and points south) to the Canadian border. Greater Vancouver's on the other side. I wonder if the song has the route to and from Canada in mind?

  29. Q.... 1....

    Neko Case is honestly a treasure of humanity. One of the greatest songwriters of modern times.

    Q.... 1....

    Agreed!!

    Q.... 1....

    Qriminal 1:64 this album hits home to unite outcasts everywhere as specifically as The Geraldine Fibbers’ “Lost Somewhere Between The Earth And My Home” and even more ancient, worn, polished... Notice the vocabulary it’s already provoking? This might even be my first YouTube comment. WE JUST WANTED TO BE MUSIC

    Q.... 1....

    I love your songs

  30. m.... ....

    Be still my beating heart! Neko and Lanegan together at last.

  31. S.... o....

    Lanegan is swiftly becoming one of my favorite vocalists

    S.... o....

    Check out Whiskey For The Holy Ghost, Bubblegum, Here Comes That Weird Chill, and The Winding Sheet. His solo records are incredible and ones I revisit often.

    S.... o....

    He did a lot of stuff with Queens of the Stone Age too.. great stuff..

    S.... o....

    I'm with you on Buzz Factory -- I'm just not sure Mark Lanegan thought all that highly of any of his Screaming Trees work until after that, after seeing an interview of him many years back. Maybe he just felt they took too long to come into their own, but they were already there with Invisible Lantern...

    S.... o....

    Now I'm thinking about "Carnival" -- that is so awesome. And Mike Johnson was so much better on his own, he just had more to than Dinosaur Jr. allowed, but he worked exceedingly well with Mark Lanegan. Winding Sheet & Whiskey for the Holy Ghost were like cool soundtracks for Raymond Carver stories, but soundtracks you could hear from inside the stories. Sorry, getting even a bit abstract for me there...

    S.... o....

    Mark Lanegan, Damien Jurado, and Shawn Smith tie for my top three.

  32. m.... s....

    Meh...I dont care for all the echo on her music. I could only listen for 30 seconds. I enjoy her earlier albums, but those also have way too much echo mixed in. I enjoy music, it is my main hobby. I have a huge collection spanning 45 years. And i continue to find new music I enjoy, I am not hooked in the past. So I am not so sure the "thumbs up" number is true here. And the positive comments........have me wondering about just who are these people? And I am even a Neko Case fan. I purchased her earlier music. Lately though I think she lost her "mojo".

    m.... s....

    mike schaper ok

    m.... s....

    Is it really that hard to believe that people like something that you don't really respond to?

    m.... s....

    It's called reverb.

    m.... s....

    could it be... that the people who like this song... have different taste in music and relate to the lyrics? gasp

    m.... s....

    huge Neko fan here, seen her 10 times, but she surely has lost her mojo

  33. E.... L....

    Good gosh darn this is wonderful song. Humanity is ugly through and through and we don't deserve this beauty.

  34. S.... O....

    Her voice sounds better than ever. Mark Lanegan too!

  35. F.... C....

    Gorgeous!!

  36. T.... ....

    Dang, I wish she wanted to be me... ;) Good job, Neko.

  37. S.... C....

    Amazing :D This album is gonna be sooo good !!!

  38. L.... K....

    Album of the year...

    L.... K....

    I hope so. So far 2/3 of the singles she released are nearly perfect, and "Bad Luck" is a little more vanilla but will appeal to a wider audience.

  39. t.... ....

    Do I hear Daniel Lanois? Awesome!

    t.... ....

    It's Mark Lanegan

    t.... ....

    Mark Lanegan, but OMG... now I really, REALLY want a Neko/Lanois collaboration!

    t.... ....

    Huh, okay. That tremolo in the voice made me think Lanois, Shine era. I stand corrected. :)

    t.... ....

    Great album. I think Acadie will always be my favorite, though... until/unless he releases one with Neko ;)