From the ashes of a band called Synthetic Flying Machine, Olivia Tremor Control was born, with an original line-up of Will and Bill on guitar and bass and Jeff on drums. Around 1995 Jeff decided to leave the group to focus on his own songs. A year of intensive songwriting (some of it accomplished, according to Jeff, while he was living in a haunted closet!) in Denver, Colorado with Rob Schneider at his Pet Sounds studio resulted in his debut album, On Avery Island, released in 1996, which was mostly Rob and Jeff playing Jeff's songs with a few helpful friends. Jeff eventually expanded the line up of Neutral Milk Hotel and in 1998 released what many consider the band's (and indeed, the Elephant Six Collective's) defining album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.
The relative success of the album in addition to the pressures of being suddenly thrust into the spotlight took its toll on Mangum, who disbanded Neutral Milk Hotel in 1998 after a tour in support of their latest album. Jeff has kept out of the public eye since then (although not without rabid fans speculating on his whereabouts), rarely if ever playing acoustic sets and concentrating more on his recorded sound and music collages. Most recently he released a compilation of field recordings of Bulgarian folk music called Orange Twin Field Works Vol. 1 in the summer of 2000, followed by a live album on the Orange Twin label, Live at Jittery Joe's. The set was recorded in 1997 and was put out to squash the exhorbitant sums that Neutral Milk Hotel live albums were selling for on eBay. The cd features a Quicktime movie of the concert performance, but Mangum is backlit and cannot be seen throughout the video.
On August 2nd, 2005, Jeff Mangum joined Olivia Tremor Control onstage at New York's Bowery Ballroom to sing lead vocals on their songs I Have Been Floated and Shaving Spiders. Accounts say that he was wiping back tears; afterwards, he was pulled to the floor by OTC member Julian Koster and then dogpiled by the rest of the band. He was wearing a baseball cap and a blue button down shirt.
On November 17th, 2005, Jeff Mangum joined Elf Power, another former Elephant Six band, onstage at New York's Knitting Factory for the final chorus of only one song, The Arrow Flies Close, leaving the stage immediately afterwards.
Engine
Jeff Mangum Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I'm rolling on
The world is all bending and breaking from me / Through endless revisions to state what I mean
For sweetness alone who flew out through the window
And landed back home in a garden of green
And steaming yourself in the warm shower spray
And water rolls on off the round captain's belly
Who's talking to tigers from his cafeteria tray
And sweet babies cry for the cool taste of milking
That milky delight that invited us all
And if there's a taste in this life more inviting
Then wake up your windows and watch as the sweet babies crawl
Away
The lyrics to Jeff Mangum's song "Engine" are complex and multilayered, requiring some careful interpretation to really grasp their meaning. At its core, the song seems to be about the power of will, and the way in which an individual can shape their surroundings and defy the natural order through sheer force of character. The singer describes themselves as an "engine", constantly rolling forward with a determination that cannot be stopped or slowed. They describe the world as bending and breaking around them, implying that their will is so strong that it can literally reshape the landscape they inhabit.
The second verse builds on this theme by exploring the idea of language and the way in which we use it to express our will. The singer describes the process of "endless revisions" needed to properly convey a message, suggesting that words are insufficient to express the full force of their own will. They describe a sweetness that has flown out through the window and landed in a garden of green, suggesting that there are some things that cannot be fully articulated through mere language.
The final verse is a bit more abstract, but seems to touch on the idea of nurturing and the way in which we are all connected to each other in a fundamental way. The singer describes a scene of a person riding alone on a steamer, steaming themselves in the warm shower spray. They describe a captain in the background who is talking to tigers from his cafeteria tray, suggesting a kind of madness or delusion. Babies cry for milk, the singer suggests, and this becomes a metaphor for the way in which we all crave nurturing and connection. The final lines encourage listeners to "wake up your windows" and watch as the sweet babies crawl away, implying that we should all be more aware of the connections that bring us all together.
Line by Line Meaning
For I am an engine
I am a powerful force driving forward.
And I'm rolling on
I am continuing my journey without stopping.
The world is all bending and breaking from me / Through endless revisions to state what I mean
The world is affected by my actions and I struggle to express myself properly as I try to convey my message.
For sweetness alone who flew out through the window / And landed back home in a garden of green
Innocence and joy have escaped and returned to a peaceful place.
You're a riding alone in the back of steamer / And steaming yourself in the warm shower spray / And water rolls on off the round captain's belly / Who's talking to tigers from his cafeteria tray
You are traveling alone, bathing and relaxing while the round captain engages in a surreal conversation with imaginary animals.
And sweet babies cry for the cool taste of milking / That milky delight that invited us all / And if there's a taste in this life more inviting / Then wake up your windows and watch as the sweet babies crawl / Away
Infants crave the comforting taste of milk, which is a reminder of the simple pleasures in life. If you seek something more enticing, look out the window and watch babies explore the world with wonder and curiosity, leaving their innocence behind.
Contributed by Connor S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.