Origins
Jeff Mangum was a member of The Olivia Tremor Control, along with his friend Will Cullen Hart and Bill Doss, appearing on their first release, the California Demise 7".
Prior to recording for friends under the NMH moniker, Mangum recorded at least one cassette under the name Milk: the only known tape was called Pygmie Barn in E Minor. This is the earliest known recordings that Mangum initiated and executed himself, on the cover there is "all songs: j.m '89. art: w. cullen hart". There is only an estimated dozen or so copies ever made of this tape, none of which have been made public. The tracklist etc. are also unknown.
Neutral Milk Hotel began life in Ruston, Louisiana, United States in the early 1990s, simply as a recording project for Mangum. He produced several demo cassettes, among them 1991's Invent Yourself a Shortcake, 1992's Beauty and 1993's Hype City Soundtrack, along with two more from this period, seemingly unnamed. Although easily found on the internet, these demos capture the project at a very embryonic state: songs are played in between various sound collages and tape experiments, and even, at one point, a six minute conversation between Mangum and Hart.
During this period, Mangum was wandering the country, staying in the closets of friends, and in a state of permanent unemployment. It was in these circumstances that the band's first formal releases took shape. Strictly speaking, however, the 'band' usually consisted of Mangum and whoever else was present at the time. This is obvious on Neutral Milk Hotel's first release, a 7" entitled Everything Is, recorded when Mangum was spending time in Seattle, Washington, released on Cher Doll Records in 1994.
On Avery Island
A full album, On Avery Island, followed, this time recorded mainly in Denver, Colorado, where Mangum was backed by Robert Schneider of the Apples in Stereo, Rick Benjamin of the Perry Weissman Three and Lisa Janssen of Secret Square. Merge Records released it in 1996. On On Avery Island, Mangum's unique vocal style and the band's quirky but playful arrangements create a carnival atmosphere of moods ranging from excitement, suspense, and melodrama.
After the release of On Avery Island, Neutral Milk Hotel became a fully-fledged band, as Julian Koster, Scott Spillane and Jeremy Barnes joined Mangum, the band now being based in New York. Soon after this, they moved to Athens, Georgia, where many of Mangum's friends had begun to settle, and the Elephant 6 recording company began, fully, to take shape. After this, the band went back to Denver, to record a proper follow up to On Avery Island.
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
The band's second LP, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, released in 1998, is notable as a critically acclaimed work and a widely popular recording. It is a spiritually motivated work, conceptually based on the beauty to be found in the horrific fate of Anne Frank and similarly overwhelming tragedies. (Mangum has, during live performances, including the one released under the title "Live at Jittery Joe's", described some of the songs off this album as based on urgent, recurring dreams he had of a European family during the 1940s.) The album was highly praised by critics for its wildly inventive instrumentation and Mangum's provocative and impassioned lyrics. Although it met with scant response from the general public when it was released, the recording has continued to gain momentum in indie music circles and has become a cult classic, selling well over 100,000 copies according to Merge Records. However, the record along with the year of constant touring that succeeded it took its toll on Mangum. The band quite abruptly went on hiatus turning down all requests for shows, including a support slot for R.E.M.. All of a sudden, the band appeared to go silent and very little has been heard from Mangum since 1999.
Hiatus
Although all the members are still active with one another in other projects, it is unknown whether any more Neutral Milk Hotel albums will be released. There were plans to release a Neutral Milk Hotel rarities album on the Orange Twin label; however, after an announcement in 2005 on the Orange Twin website claiming that Jeff Mangum had in fact eventually decided against the project, it is unclear if this will ever happen.
There has been, however, some activity since In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. First, Orange Twin re-released Everything Is...., complete with extra bonus tracks, as well as Live at Jittery Joe's, a bootleg recording of a show Mangum played in a coffee house in Athens in 1997. The Major Organ and the Adding Machine album, a rather secretive project released by Orange Twin in 2001 and consisting mainly of experimental musical collage, features Mangum, along with Julian Koster, Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes, Elf Power's Andrew Reiger and the Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System's Will Cullen Hart and Eric Harris. There was also the release of Orange Twin Field Works, Vol. 1, Mangum's field recording of a Bulgarian folk festival, also on Orange Twin in 2001. Additionally, he plays drums on the first Circulatory System album.
Since the start of the hiatus Neutral Milk Hotel, Jeff Mangum has only played live properly again once, under the pseudonym 'World of Wild Beards, Inc.', at the Kings Arms pub in Auckland, New Zealand, at the request of the Tall Dwarfs' Chris Knox. He has also made appearances with Elf Power, and appeared onstage at the first of The Olivia Tremor Control's New York shows on their 2005 reunion tour, to sing briefly. Further releases from Neutral Milk Hotel, however, are indicated to be unlikely.
The other members are all still releasing or recording material: Julian Koster as The Music Tapes, Scott Spillane as The Gerbils and Jeremy Barnes as A Hawk & A Hacksaw, Bablicon and Marta Tennae.
In 2005, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea saw its re-release by Domino Records in the UK, in a sleeve featuring praise from, among others, Franz Ferdinand and The Arcade Fire, both very much influenced by the band. On Avery Island was re-released in the US in January of 2006 with live bonus tracks. Mangum has also been fairly busy creatively - following a charity auction on eBay of an acoustic guitar decorated by Mangum himself, more guitars hand-decorated by Mangum were sold via Orange Twin Records for $900 apiece. In addition, a number of Mangum's original drawings, this time costing only $10 each, were sold via Neutral Milk Hotel's website.
In 2013, made a reunion tour of the United States, Australia, Taiwan and Japan. The band subsequently played concerts sporadically until going on indefinite hiatus in mid-2015.
Tea Time
Neutral Milk Hotel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The song "Tea Time" by Neutral Milk Hotel is a melancholic and introspective track that explores the themes of pain and resilience. The first line, "And I will take all of the pain that I can stand," presents a powerful image of a person taking on their own pain willingly. This could be interpreted as a form of acceptance or an attempt to shoulder the burden alone. The use of the word "can" also presents a sense of limitations; the singer can only take on so much pain before reaching their breaking point.
The next lines, "A hand full of cyclops toothaches / And fevers hotter than cold rattlesnakes," further highlight the physicality of pain. The comparison to "cyclops toothaches" suggests a painful and singular experience, while the image of a fever hotter than a cold rattlesnake evokes a sense of contradictory sensations. The use of these vivid descriptions adds to the emotional depth of the song.
Later in the song, the lines "Inside my heart there's just a little light / But I've learned to love the dark that it's inside," suggest the singer has found a way to cope with their pain. The metaphor of the light and the dark highlights the dichotomy between joy and sadness, hope and despair. Ultimately, the song's message is one of resilience in the face of adversity.
Line by Line Meaning
And I will take all of the pain that I can stand
I am willing to endure as much pain as I can handle
The memories I have chosen to forget
There are certain memories I have intentionally blocked out and refused to remember
Will never know what poisons they have brought
I will never truly know the negative impact those forgotten memories have had on me
But I will live the life I have got
Despite the pain and uncertainty, I will keep moving forward and making the most of what I have
And I will hold you in the cold night, somewhere far away
I will think of you and the comfort you bring, even if we are physically distant
And never let you go, never let you go
I will always cherish and hold onto the love and connection we share
I am inside you and you're inside me, we're infinite
Our bond is so deep that we are intertwined and cannot be separated, extending beyond the limitations of our physical selves
And I will fall off the edge of the earth, just to see if you still care
I am willing to take extreme measures and risk everything to test your devotion to me
And I will take all of the pain that I can stand
Reiteration of the previous line: I am prepared to endure significant suffering for the sake of our relationship
Contributed by Bella E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
neros1234
The most beautiful 7 seconds ever
Conor 'Hoochy' Soltan
We will never hear the full song ;_;
Carter Watson
It's actually a part of a song by them on their boxset for the extended Everything Is EP named Ruby Bulbs. It's just the first ten seconds of the song.
jovana
that was amazing
Brad Merrell
That's the full song
Jared Boatfield
I'm gonna make a full version of this
Zac
@filth Clearly he's still making it.
filth
Did you ever?
TheShadowFog
DARN YOU NMH. :3
Carter Watson
This is a small thing, but is the female voice Jennifer?