Said the Gramophone: That Teenage Feeling

Download a new Neko Case track after the link.

Said the Gramophone: 342 First and Only: "342 First and Only

Neko Case - 'That Teenage Feeling'

1. This song is dedicated to the house in Ottawa that I grew up in. As Sean has obliquely hinted at in several posts, my parents just got the exciting news that after long and hard-fought careers in Canada’s public service, they will be moving to Italy where my dad will be Canada’s ambassador and my mom will be a happy consumer of Italian food and culture. I was told this week that my parents will sell the house that I grew up in, and a bit of that teenage feeling came over me. Of course, I realize that it’s just a house, just a bunch of brick and concrete, but still...

2. The way “That Teenage Feeling” starts - high up on the neck of a twelve-string guitar - it sounds like it might be the musical accompaniment to a carousel ride. The way it ends up - electric guitar violently strummed, falling in and out of time - it sounds like it might be the musical accompaniment to a carousel ride that spirals outward to infinity. The song is a glass of lemonade with the sugar so gradually drained that, by the end, you hardly realize you’re drinking pure lemon juice.

3. Whereas Nirvana managed to sound minor with major chords, Case manages to sound diminished with minor ones. This diminished quality is part of the song’s augmented quality.

4. Case sings a lot about “that teenage feeling,” but which feeling does she mean? Is she talking about anxiety? Awkwardness? Powerlessness? A sort of begrudging horniness? She answers this question by presenting us with the musical embodiment of her subject feeling at 1:53 when she moves up into her sublime high register and sings “it’s haa-aaa-haa-aaa-haaaaard” with more nostalgia than angst. The teenage feeling Case is singing about is the excitement of first love and the twilit melancholy that comes in retrospect with considering its inconsequence. She then confirms her answer as she matches that high vocal line, now skipping back and forth between two notes, with a dreamy treble run on her piano. [Buy]"