Songfacts®:

• She was born in Alexandria, Virginia, but Neko Case moved to the Tacoma/Seattle area in her teens. She's stated that she thinks of Tacoma as her hometown, so it's no surprise that Case wrote two songs dealing overtly with the city: "South Tacoma Way" and "Thrice All American."
  
  South Tacoma Way is one of the major roads in Tacoma, Washington. Besides Interstate 5, it's the primary road connecting the northern part of the city to the southern. Case's "South Tacoma Way" has the narrator, presumably Case herself, driving down South Tacoma Way and mourning what, on the surface at least, appears to be a lost love. The lyrics are somewhat cryptic, though, in that they refer to "paying respects to a dead man" and cross-streets bearing the name of this mourned figure. Whether that's purely a poetic device or if it hints at something of broader significance is hard to say.
  
  Case recalls driving a Rambler Classic 660 around this time, so perhaps that was the car she was cruising down South Tacoma Way in during the events of this song (assuming the song is based on a literal event).
• This song, written as a straight narrative, doesn't have a chorus. The title doesn't come in until near the end.
• Case's songwriting has always been a bit elliptical and abstract, so there's no guarantee that the events she's singing about happened in a literal sense. Still, one potentially interesting connection is that Bob's Java Jive is off South Tacoma Way. We know that Case worked there for a while, and perhaps she was driving to or away from the Jive while going through the emotions that she sings about in "South Tacoma Way."
  
  The Jive is somewhat famous and one of Tacoma's most recognizable roadside oddities. It's appeared in Roadside America, among other places. The building is shaped like a giant tea pot. It's been there for decades and is today one of the most beloved dive bars in Tacoma, full of interesting characters both savory and unsavory, as well as popular local music acts.
  
  Case is generally elusive, both personally and in regards to her music, so it's difficult to say exactly how literal "South Tacoma Way" is.