SONG OF THE DAY
“People Got A Lotta Nerve” by Neko Case (Middle Cyclone, ANTI-, 2009).
INTERESTING FACTS (from wikipedia)
– The first single from Middle Cyclone is “People Got a Lotta Nerve”, which initially was released as a free download on January 13, 2009 on the ANTI- blog and the day after on their website.
-Â In celebration of Best Friends Animal Society’s 25th anniversary in 2009, for every blogger that reposted “People Got a Lotta Nerve” or iLike user who added it to their profile, Neko Case and ANTI- made a cash donation to the charity. The promotion ran from January 13 to February 3, 2009, with $5 donated per blog post and one per iLike profile-add.
– On February 24, “People Got a Lotta Nerve” was featured as a downloadable track in the “Alt Country Pack 01” extension for the video game Rock Band 2.
– On March 20 ANTI- released a music video for “People Got A Lotta Nerve” on both MTV2’s early-morning show “Subterranean” and its YouTube channel. The animated video, created by brother/sister team Paul and Julie Morstad, depicts a red-headed schoolgirl – ostensibly Case – who is ejected from a Killer Whale’s blowhole onto the grounds of an estate. The red-head witnesses the interactions of a multitude of other girls with animals, but is returned to the belly of the whale when she takes aim at one of the animals with a rifle found in the estate’s manor house.
– Middle Cyclone features a variety of guest performers, including M. Ward, Garth Hudson, Sarah Harmer, and members of The New Pornographers, Los Lobos, Calexico, The Sadies, Visqueen, Lilys, and Giant Sand. It also features two prominent covers: “Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth” by Sparks and “Don’t Forget Me” by Harry Nilsson.
– Middle Cyclone debuted to strong reviews from contemporary mainstream and independent music critics. In particular, Case’s voice garnered unanimous praise for its strength, clarity, and emotional range. Although Case repeatedly asserted that the lyrical content of Middle Cyclone is literal in nature, critics predominantly interpreted the material as semi-autobiographical metaphor.
– Her first solo effort in three years, Case stated that “it took a very long time to make.” As the title of the album suggests, the record’s lyrics are permeated with imagery of tornadoes and, more generally, nature. Thematically Middle Cyclone concerns how Case’s upbringing socialized her to form strong emotional attachments to nature and animals, to the neglect of human relationships, and her reconciling “the fact that I need love”