They were among the second wave of groups to emerge from The Elephant 6 Recording Company and the group has a style that is typical of many Elephant 6 bands due to their interest in combining musical experimentation with the basic tenets of pop i.e. catchy melodies and sing-along choruses. The band’s style has been influenced by conventional indie pop, psychedelic music, vaudeville and music hall on their earlier releases and by afrobeat, funk, krautrock and reggae on their recent releases.
The band’s style has been known to change between albums. At first, the band embraced a more simple, quirky, lo-fi indie pop sound, which occasionally bordered on twee pop. The band was created by Kevin Barnes and named after a failed romance with a woman from Montreal, though the story changes in various interviews. Barnes was the only member of the “group” prior to his relocation to Athens, Georgia. There, he met Derek Almstead, later of Circulatory System, M Coast, Elf Power etc., and Bryan Poole, who also performs as The Late B.P. Helium.
Together, they recorded their first album, Cherry Peel, as well as The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower and The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy.
A number of singles and a re-release of The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower occurred before the release of the band’s third album, The Gay Parade in 1999. With contributions from several members of the Elephant Six collective at the time, it also featured artwork from Kevin’s brother David Barnes, who would continue to do artwork for future albums.
This album marked that the band had moved to a fuller sound, which is also found on its follow-up, Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse. These two albums contain more narrative lyrics, as opposed to the rather personal lyrical matter of those preceding it, and often imitating the style of old 1950s radio plays.
After production on The Gay Parade began in 1998, Poole left the band to focus on his duties with Elf Power, another Elephant Six band from Athens. Barnes also recruited Jamey Huggins and Dottie Alexander, who had been performing together as Lightning Bug vs. Firefly, to play various instruments. Derek moved from drums to bass. The band was joined soon after by Marshmallow Coast’s Andy Gonzales.
Following the release of The Gay Parade, the band signed with Kindercore Records, who would release a number of singles and compilations. It wasn’t until 2001 that Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse would be released as a new album with original material. The album again featured contributions from across the Elephant 6 spectrum.
In 2002, Aldhils Arboretum was released, with a slightly different sound than its predecessors, as the songs were more directly structured. This album marks the beginning of the change in of Montreal’s sound, with more danceable rhythms than ever before, especially on the album’s closer, “Death Dance Of The Omipapas and Sons For You”. A successful tour ensued, including of Montreal’s first trip to the UK, along with a tour-only EP.
Kindercore Records would fold shortly after the release of Arboretum, and of Montreal’s status was also threatened. Kevin got married, and Andy and Derek left the band. Barnes, being uncomfortable with the unrest, as well as some divisions within the band, took to writing and performing their 2004 album Satanic Panic in the Attic mostly by himself. Released by Polyvinyl Records, it became one of their more successful efforts to that point. The 2004 tour saw The Late B.P. Helium (Bryan Poole) rejoin the band, with some bass played by Kevin’s partner Nina Barnes. The album marked a shift to something more electronic with traditional structures, to be further advanced in later albums and new songs. In their most recent releases and concerts, the band has fully embraced a sort of techno-pop glam image, with little of their previous incarnations surfacing. This style is featured in singles such as Disconnect the Dots. The style would continue to evolve into 2005’s The Sunlandic Twins, which was even more a Barnes solo effort. Recorded in Athens, with the exception of one track recorded in Norway, it was a much more pronounced electronic album. The album became a success, mostly due to the singles “So Begins Our Alabee” and the MTV clip for “Wraith Pinned to the Mist (and Other Games)”.
The band released several collections of singles in early 2006. Barnes recorded most of the band’s 2007 release, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, by himself while living in Norway and Athens, Georgia. The switch to autobiographical themes of suicide, depression and isolation of the album was a direct product of his troubled personal life during that period.
of Montreal released Skeletal Lamping on October 21, 2008 followed by False Priest on September 14, 2010, Paralytic Stalks on February 7, 2012, and Lousy with Sylvianbriar on October 8, 2013. Aureate Gloom is scheduled for release by Polyvinyl Records on March 3, 2015.
Lyrically, their style has changed dramatically throughout the years. In the beginning, many songs were narratives of personal or humorous situations, such as “Tim, I Wish You Were Born A Girl”, from Cherry Peel. This style, however, changed with The Gay Parade, where many songs involve small narratives surrounding invented characters (in songs such as “Jacques Lamure”, “The Autobiographical Grandpa”, “Mimi Merlot” and “Rose Robert”). Others act as extracts from fictional conversations (“Advice From a Divorced Gentleman to His Bachelor Friend Considering Marriage” and “Good Morning Mr. Edminton” as examples). With Aldhils Arboretum came a slight return to the previous writing style, except following more poppy, classical lyrical structures (such as the use of choruses, which are generally absent in the Gay Parade/Coquelicot years). This style continued throughout Satanic Panic and The Sunlandic Twins to some extent. On the album Hissing Fauna: Are You The Destroyer? the lyrics are much more personal than previously used, with songs detailing emotions within the speaker.
Another unique quality of the band is the fusion of ostensibly gloomy lyrics with bouncy, upbeat melodies and hooks. On Aldhils Arboretum, for example, the lyrics for tracks like “Doing Nothing” and “Old People in the Cemetery” focus on apathy, loneliness or death while being contrasted with cheerful instrumentation. Another example of this tendency is shown in their choice of covers; for example, Yoko Ono’s “I Felt Like Smashing my Head Through a Clear Glass Window” from The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower.
True to the style of most Elephant 6 recording artists, of Montreal’s members have been in a variety of side projects and other bands:
The band itself has performed as the backing band for Marshmallow Coast on record and on tour.
My First Keyboard was the pseudonym used by Dottie Alexander to release the song “The You I Created” on the Kindercore singles club. of Montreal acted as her backing band.
Sleeping in the Beetle Bug
of Montreal Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With a hundred pounds of air in my heart.
Don't think that I'm able to sympathize,
I'm happier to see it gone.
Floating above your house like a penguin
Dropping cherries from my mouth.
Tapping the walnuts
And the shadows out of a dreaming
In each of your eyes, I saw it's spring,
Where every mouth wakes up to a smile and a yawn.
Grass is long and laughs
When the wind jumps through it.
It must have started with that stick in the mud.
That there's where clouds are born.
Clouds can't stay where they are born.
Winds push them so far from home.
The sound of your laughter
Tiptoeing across the floor
Makes the deepest of red umbrellas
Able to inflate my smile.
In each of your eyes, I saw it's spring,
Where every mouth wakes up to a smile and a yawn.
Grass is long and laughs when the wind jumps through it.
The lyrics to "Sleeping in the Beetle Bug" by of Montreal are filled with imaginative and dreamlike imagery that is open to interpretation. At the start of the song, the singer seems to be in a state of emotional turmoil, represented by "a hundred pounds of air in my heart," but paradoxically, feels happier once they can let those feelings go. The image of floating above someone's house like a penguin and dropping cherries from their mouth is surreal and enigmatic, but it creates a vivid picture of someone looking down on the world below, detached yet whimsical.
The second verse introduces a theme of renewal and rebirth, with each of the singer's eyes representing spring and waking up to a new day with a smile and a yawn. The grass symbolizes life and vitality, reacting joyfully to the wind's presence. The final verse returns to the surreal imagery, with clouds being born from a stick in the mud and winds carrying them away. The sound of someone's laughter has the power to brighten the singer's spirits, soaring them to new heights like an inflated umbrella.
Overall, it's a song about finding beauty in unexpected places, and the importance of letting go of negativity in order to embrace new possibilities. The lyrics are poetic and deeply metaphorical, inviting the listener to immerse themselves in a dreamlike world of possibility and hope.
Line by Line Meaning
Sleeping in the beetle bug
I am resting in a small car known as a beetle bug
With a hundred pounds of air in my heart.
My heart is light and full of joy
Don't think that I'm able to sympathize,
I cannot relate to your struggle
I'm happier to see it gone.
I am pleased to see your pain or problem disappear
Floating above your house like a penguin
I am hovering above your home like a bird
Dropping cherries from my mouth.
I am releasing sweet and delightful words
Tapping the walnuts
I am gently shaking things to reveal their secrets
And the shadows out of a dreaming Pair of brown eyed ghosts.
I am bringing clarity to a hazy situation
In each of your eyes, I saw it's spring,
I can see the new beginnings and fresh starts in your eyes
Where every mouth wakes up to a smile and a yawn.
Everyone is happy to start a new day
Grass is long and laughs
Nature is thriving and enjoying life
When the wind jumps through it.
The wind is playing and interacting with the grass
It must have started with that stick in the mud.
Everything has a starting point, even something small like a stick in the mud
That there's where clouds are born.
Clouds start forming from small and simple things
Clouds can't stay where they are born.
Clouds have to move and evolve to survive
Winds push them so far from home.
External forces can cause change and growth
The sound of your laughter
The joy in your voice
Tiptoeing across the floor
Delicate movement, as to not disturb the peace
Makes the deepest of red umbrellas
Brings brightness and life to something that is typically mundane
Able to inflate my smile.
Causes me to grin uncontrollably
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: KEVIN BARNES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind