cokemachineglow.com has an amazing, in-depth interpretation of Neko's entire album, explaining the referneces and themes from Ukranian fairy tales. Heres what they say about this song:
Fox Confessor's title is taken from Ukrainian mythology -- the fable of the (cunning, ruthless) fox and the (naive, defeated) wolf. Circumstances vary with each telling, but the message is practically the same: the fox, thirsting for the wolf's need for absolution, cons its way into assuming the role of the trusted confessor, then promptly uses that relationship to abandon/seduce/kill/eat/generally fuck over its unsuspecting prey. In one telling, the fox fools the wolf into believing it can control the ocean's tides. The trusting wolf, naive enough to believe the fox has the power to control nature, heads into the swelling ocean, only to wash up on shore a pathetic stiff/delicious meal moments later.
So, to grossly oversimplify some really harsh but "darkly funny" (according to Neko) animal mythology, "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" = the person/wild animal/concept/higher power that you put your faith in fools you, so not only are your sins not absolved, there's this big (pre-
existent, not actually of confessor's control) shit-flood that's gonna wreck you and leave you either abandoned and begging for sweet reprieve or corpsed up on your predator's doorstep like the old guy who married Anna Nicole Smith
Fox Confessor's title track, sequenced right in the middle of the record, locks horns with that mythology, directly integrating its imagery and tone into her own characters. Here, she (the fictional "she," not Neko) drives by "beautiful" flooded fields in the first verse and floods her own sleeves (finally realizing she has nothing to "hold [her] faith in," she breaks down) in the last. Both scenes bookend a confrontation with the fox confessor, who she follows, guilt-riden, in "retreat." But in retreat from what? The flooded fields? Well, no -- in those she finds "beauty," as any good gothic protagonist would. It's the flooded sleeves, the emotional manifestation of her "orphan blues," that leaves her so vulnerable and defeated. So, when the fox confessor tells her that it's not her fault and understands her frustration ("'it's not for you to know / but for you to weep and wonder / when the death of your civilization precedes you'"), of course she's going to follow him, accepting that wherever it leads her will be a step up from what she's going through. She ultimately gives in because she's burdened with a monumental sense of loss: of faith, self-respect, options, love, power, hope, sanity, all that good shit. She's inundated by an overwhelming lack of control and direction, left a pessimistic emotional wreck that'd rather accept a foolishly romanticized concept of death than deal with her own demons.
cokemachineglow.com has an amazing, in-depth interpretation of Neko's entire album, explaining the referneces and themes from Ukranian fairy tales. Heres what they say about this song:
Fox Confessor's title is taken from Ukrainian mythology -- the fable of the (cunning, ruthless) fox and the (naive, defeated) wolf. Circumstances vary with each telling, but the message is practically the same: the fox, thirsting for the wolf's need for absolution, cons its way into assuming the role of the trusted confessor, then promptly uses that relationship to abandon/seduce/kill/eat/generally fuck over its unsuspecting prey. In one telling, the fox fools the wolf into believing it can control the ocean's tides. The trusting wolf, naive enough to believe the fox has the power to control nature, heads into the swelling ocean, only to wash up on shore a pathetic stiff/delicious meal moments later. So, to grossly oversimplify some really harsh but "darkly funny" (according to Neko) animal mythology, "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" = the person/wild animal/concept/higher power that you put your faith in fools you, so not only are your sins not absolved, there's this big (pre- existent, not actually of confessor's control) shit-flood that's gonna wreck you and leave you either abandoned and begging for sweet reprieve or corpsed up on your predator's doorstep like the old guy who married Anna Nicole Smith Fox Confessor's title track, sequenced right in the middle of the record, locks horns with that mythology, directly integrating its imagery and tone into her own characters. Here, she (the fictional "she," not Neko) drives by "beautiful" flooded fields in the first verse and floods her own sleeves (finally realizing she has nothing to "hold [her] faith in," she breaks down) in the last. Both scenes bookend a confrontation with the fox confessor, who she follows, guilt-riden, in "retreat." But in retreat from what? The flooded fields? Well, no -- in those she finds "beauty," as any good gothic protagonist would. It's the flooded sleeves, the emotional manifestation of her "orphan blues," that leaves her so vulnerable and defeated. So, when the fox confessor tells her that it's not her fault and understands her frustration ("'it's not for you to know / but for you to weep and wonder / when the death of your civilization precedes you'"), of course she's going to follow him, accepting that wherever it leads her will be a step up from what she's going through. She ultimately gives in because she's burdened with a monumental sense of loss: of faith, self-respect, options, love, power, hope, sanity, all that good shit. She's inundated by an overwhelming lack of control and direction, left a pessimistic emotional wreck that'd rather accept a foolishly romanticized concept of death than deal with her own demons.
heres the link to the article, DEFINITELY read it if you like Neko Case.
cokemachineglow.com/reviews/nekocase_fox2006.html