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.
neutral milk hotel
Neutral Milk Hotel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Of a dead and hanging man
Who was kissing foreign fishes
That flew right out from his hands
And when I put my arms around him
Felt the blushing blood run through my cheeks
And an eerieness surrounded
When his tongue began to speak
Enough to wrap tight in rice-paper string"
And when I finally kissed him
The whole world began to ring
Lost like a bell that's tipping over
With two cracks along both sides
And I knew the world was over
So I took a look outside
And watched the fires that were reaching
Up to the weather vanes and the tops of trees
And the waiting scene and the Sunday dream -
They're all waiting here for me
Deli markets with their flower stands
Their pretty girls and their burning men
Hanging out on the hooks next to the window displays
And I took out my tongue, twice removed from my face
Across a bridge and across the mountains
Threw a nickel in the fountain
To save my soul from all these troubled times
And all the drugs that I don't have the guts to take to soothe my mind
So I'm always sober
Always aching
Always heading towards
Mass suicide, occult figurines
And wasted gas-station attendants
Attending to their jobs
And a nice drive in the country
Finds a nice cliff to drop off
Oh, when this life just gets so grating
All the grittiness of life
But don't take those pills your boyfriend gave you . . .
You're too wonderful to die
And the last one tore a picture
From the pornographic page
And all the pleasure points attacking
All the looks of love were staged
And it's a lie that you've been given
That just hurts you every day
So why should I lie here naked
When it's just too far away
From anything we could call loving -
Any love worth living for?
So I'll sleep out in the gutter
You can sleep here on the floor
And when I wake up in the morning
I won't forget to lock the door
'Cause with a match that's mean and some gasoline
You won't see me anymore.
The lyrics of Neutral Milk Hotel's Song Against Sex are full of vivid and surrealistic imagery that paints a raw picture of the desperation and confusion felt by the singer. In the opening verses of the song, the singer describes a strange encounter with a man who shows him a picture of a dead and hanging man kissing foreign fishes that fly right out of his hands. The man then tells the singer that he is pretty enough to wrap up in rice-paper string and when they finally kiss, the whole world begins to ring.
These lyrics can be seen as an allegory for the feeling of being trapped and suffocated in a relationship, as well as the fear of the unknown that comes with experiencing something new and different. The image of the dead man and foreign fishes can be interpreted as a reminder of the fleeting nature of life and the world, while the use of blushing blood and ringing enhances the sensory and emotional impact of the scene.
The singer then continues to describe their experience of wandering through a desolate, apocalyptic landscape, feeling constantly troubled and tormented by their thoughts and emotions. The lyrics paint a picture of a society that is deeply flawed and dysfunctional, with drug use and suicide being presented as some of the only available outlets for the pain and sadness that the singer feels. The final verse ends on a haunting and ominous note, with the singer threatening to disappear entirely, leaving behind only a destructive and violent legacy.
Line by Line Meaning
And the first one tore a picture
Of a dead and hanging man
Who was kissing foreign fishes
That flew right out from his hands
The singer describes a disturbing image painted by someone else, depicting a dead man kissing fish. The image evokes a sense of eerie fascination in the singer.
And when I put my arms around him
Felt the blushing blood run through my cheeks
And an eerieness surrounded
When his tongue began to speak
The singer recalls a moment when he felt unnerved by someone's touch and the way they spoke, perhaps due to some underlying discomfort or fear.
And he said, "Oh, boy, you are so pretty,
Enough to wrap tight in rice-paper string"
And when I finally kissed him
The whole world began to ring
The singer describes a romantic encounter with someone who complimented him and gave him a sense of euphoria, causing him to feel as though the world around him was taking notice.
Lost like a bell that's tipping over
With two cracks along both sides
And I knew the world was over
So I took a look outside
The artist feels a sense of despair and chaos, as though something fundamental has been broken, and he turns outward to confront the wider world.
And watched the fires that were reaching
Up to the weather vanes and the tops of trees
And the waiting scene and the Sunday dream -
They're all waiting here for me
The artist observes a scene of destruction and turmoil, but feels a sense of connection to it as though it were waiting for him.
Deli markets with their flower stands
Their pretty girls and their burning men
Hanging out on the hooks next to the window displays
And I took out my tongue, twice removed from my face
The singer describes the sights of a bustling bazaar-like location, before emphasizing his own sense of alienation and feeling like an outsider.
Across a bridge and across the mountains
Threw a nickel in the fountain
To save my soul from all these troubled times
And all the drugs that I don't have the guts to take to soothe my mind
The singer tries to seek some sort of salvation despite feeling troubled, grappling with the possibility of using drugs to cope.
So I'm always sober
Always aching
Always heading towards
Mass suicide, occult figurines
And wasted gas-station attendants
Attending to their jobs
And a nice drive in the country
Finds a nice cliff to drop off
The artist describes his perpetual state of sobriety and pain, before veering into dark and surreal imagery that depicts death and despair.
Oh, when this life just gets so grating
All the grittiness of life
But don't take those pills your boyfriend gave you . . .
You're too wonderful to die
The artist tries to console someone in despair, suggesting that despite life's harshness and difficulty, they are valuable and shouldn't resort to self-destructive behavior.
And the last one tore a picture
From the pornographic page
And all the pleasure points attacking
All the looks of love were staged
The artist recounts someone else tearing a pornographic picture, perhaps out of disgust or disillusionment with the way love and pleasure are depicted.
And it's a lie that you've been given
That just hurts you every day
So why should I lie here naked
When it's just too far away
The singer criticizes something that has been falsely promised or presented to someone, believing that it causes more harm than good, and then hints at their own physical vulnerability and isolation.
From anything we could call loving -
Any love worth living for?
So I'll sleep out in the gutter
You can sleep here on the floor
The artist questions the existence of love that is fulfilling and worth striving for, before suggesting a separation from someone who may not see eye-to-eye with him.
And when I wake up in the morning
I won't forget to lock the door
'Cause with a match that's mean and some gasoline
You won't see me anymore.
The singer ends the song with a disturbing and violent image, suggesting that he intends to disappear or die and will take drastic action to ensure that he is not sought after.
Contributed by Colin Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.