A Song Called 'Lady Pilot', Sung By Me, Written By Neko Case

In the summer of 2020, Neko asked me to play shows with her. I was flattered, and it also made sense. I was in her Covid pod. Remember those pods? She asked me if I’d play with her as a duo. I told her that there was no effing way I could carry all the musical weight of her songs. I recommended Zach Djanikian. He played everything, great singer, and we were off. Nora O’Connor added a while later. Zach left and then Paul Rigby came back. Joe Seiders added on the drums, picked up along the way at Joshua Tree. Others came and went. Somehow I was still there after 3 years, and eventually even I left. I have this other band, you see. I think the reasons she kept me in the band so long are similar to the reasons she loves old rescue dogs.

Learning her songs was fascinating. Some of them are very simple but a lot of them are very much ‘not simple’. You listen to her play them and they are so fluid that you don’t notice the odd way the chords move in ‘Pharaohs’ or ‘Next Time You Say Forever’ or ‘Hell-On’. Another song that really struck me was ‘Lady Pilot’

It’s from her 2002 album ‘Blacklisted’, the album where she really found her style, really found her voice, when she started writing songs that would stay in the set for 2 decades. Here is part of the cover:

Essentially, ‘Lady Pilot’ is based around an E flat chord. You could just strum an E flat, never changing, power chords if you want, and be close enough to right for about 90% of it. It wanders through a few interesting permutations of the chord. Goes strolling on the B string, down to the G string. Moving the Eb note down to the D, then down to the C, down to the B. An A flat minor 6 in the B section. Near the end, an E flat chord but the B flat moved down to the A, just on the edge of discord. All those notes traveling around the E flat major, taunting it. Until Paul Rigby came back, we were just approximating it, there seemed to be many ways to get to that same place, that same vibe, but only he knew the exact formula. Neko slashing away at her guitar, seemingly playing her own chords that were different from ours. The star chords. Again, just on the edge of discord, percussive. It was strange, beautiful and straight forward in its delivery and lyrics, but definitely strange. I played it 4 or 5 different ways over the course of 2 years, there didn’t seem to be a right or wrong way. Like many classic songs, it felt kind of open-ended. Lots of things you could do with it. Go off on tangents, but never leaving the song behind.

So here is my version of the song. When I cover a song, I ask myself why my version deserves to exist. It doesn’t have to be better, just has to be its own thing. I tried to be reverent. Didn’t want to go calypso or ska or hardcore. The game was to change the vibe but also keep the vibe.

I’ve forced her to sing my songs so many times over the years, it felt like I should return the favor. So here it is: a song called ‘Lady Pilot’, written by Neko Case.