hometown blues
The people who built it they loved it like I do
There was hope in the trainyards and something inspired
It once was ionic, but it's been painted shut
I found passion for life in Tacoma
From "Thrice All American" by Neko Case
Sure, it's about Tacoma, but that song brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. Especially the last line of that verse.
I found passion for life in Tacoma
I envy people who have a sense of place, and that line expresses a sense of place so simply and beautifully. No matter where she finds herself, Neko Case knows she belongs to Tacoma, and Tacoma belongs to her.
As for me, I hate the question "Where are you from?"
I live in Seattle, but I'm not from there. As much as I loved living in Minneapolis, I never belonged to that city. I have a tattoo of a Wisconsin state highway sign on my chest, but I'm no more a 'Sconnie than I am a Minneapolitan.
My life has been spent adrift in geographic impermanence; never anywhere long enough to get a sense of place and always knowing that sometime sooner than I would like, the time would come to hang my hat somewhere else.
It's one thing to have a home, and I've had plenty, but it's another to belong to a place. That, I never have.
There was hope in the trainyards and something inspired
It once was ionic, but it's been painted shut
I found passion for life in Tacoma
From "Thrice All American" by Neko Case
Sure, it's about Tacoma, but that song brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. Especially the last line of that verse.
I found passion for life in Tacoma
I envy people who have a sense of place, and that line expresses a sense of place so simply and beautifully. No matter where she finds herself, Neko Case knows she belongs to Tacoma, and Tacoma belongs to her.
As for me, I hate the question "Where are you from?"
I live in Seattle, but I'm not from there. As much as I loved living in Minneapolis, I never belonged to that city. I have a tattoo of a Wisconsin state highway sign on my chest, but I'm no more a 'Sconnie than I am a Minneapolitan.
My life has been spent adrift in geographic impermanence; never anywhere long enough to get a sense of place and always knowing that sometime sooner than I would like, the time would come to hang my hat somewhere else.
It's one thing to have a home, and I've had plenty, but it's another to belong to a place. That, I never have.
posted by poverty at 12:03 AM
2 Comments:
interesting you'd say Case knows she belongs to Tacoma and that it belongs to her since she's really a nomadic type who is equal parts southeasterner (virginia), northeasterner (vermont), northwesterner (tacoma), and Canadian given the major eras and homes/centers of artistry of her life. And those are only the ones I know of. I think it's more her connection to places and animals in general (rather than to people) that comes across in her music more than a specific attachment to one place.
I think she's actually a kindred soul to you (as you self-describe anyway).
I don't know. Only a Tacoman could write that about Tacoma.
My point is that despite her nomadic nature now, Tacoma (in this song at least) is still and always will be her hometown. No amount of wandering can change that. I think that's the point of the song.
I, on the other hand, was a nomad at birth.
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