Have Mercy On The Natural World

Neko Case “Hell-On”

“Hell-On” has a nervous, cautious sound to it, as if Neko Case and her band are trying to keep it down to avoid waking a wrathful infant. And in the context of Case’s lyrics, that wrathful child is God – or, as she makes clear, the natural world. Case writes about the unpredictable brutality of nature with both reverence and fear, and uses cold, dispassionate language in describing seemingly random destruction. She shifts perspective midway through the song, and speaks on behalf of the planet itself, addressing humanity with condescension and contempt. “You’ll not be master, you’re barely my guest,” she sings. That verse ends with a line that’s delivered gently, but only out of pity: “Be careful of the natural world.”

Buy it from Amazon.