Cat Power

"I'm Starting to Lose Hope Again" (from 'China, IL')

BY Gregory AdamsPublished Jun 12, 2015

In case Cat Power's music hasn't had you tearing up enough over the last 20 years, get ready to start bawling. The artist born Chan Marshall has just leant her pipes to Adult Swim cartoon China, IL, taking on the role of a captive, self-aware ape singing a depressing piece called "I'm Starting to Lose Hope Again."

The performance is pulled from the show's upcoming season finale and finds caged character Kei-ko conveying her deep, impenetrable sadness at being a prisoner in a college lab. As you'll see, she's punching her crushed confessional into a keyboard armband, which is manifesting itself into a melancholic arrangement of acoustic guitar and hope-smashing lines about being unable to cope without her meds.

"I can't just be positive when everything I see is terrible and I can only sit and cry," she sighs, devastated of the animal experiments going on around her. "I wish I weren't cognizant; I wish I were not self-aware."

Humorous or heartbreaking, that's for you to decide. You can check out the song, which was written by China, IL creator  Brad Neely, down below. The show's season finale airs June 14.

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