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.
You Are an Airplane
of Montreal Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just before it gets too hot to be outside
I like to lay on my back in the grass and
Watch the airplanes go by and I dream that
You are an airplane shooting across the sky
You are an airplane
You're a strong and dangerous machine
When you crash I want to go down with you
We'll make such a horrible mess
Just before the eyeball appears
Just before the little birds go to sleep
I like to stand on my head and pretend
That I am a control tower
And that you are an airplane
And I can talk you safely to the ground
The way you live your life makes me nervous
If you were to die
I'd have no reason to be alive
Cause you are my only friend
The lyrics of the song express the imaginative thoughts of the singer about their friend or loved one. The song starts by portraying the time of the day: just before the afternoon creeps in, when it is not too hot to be outside, the singer loves to lay on their back in the grass and watch the airplanes go by. As they watch the planes, they dream that their friend is an airplane shooting across the sky. The singer sees their friend like a strong and dangerous machine that could fall down so fast and when they crash, the singer wants to go down with them, making them both a horrible mess.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "You are an airplane" which emphasizes the singer's imagination of their friend being an airplane. They present their friend as something powerful and majestic, but at the same time, fearful, as they can fall or crash at any time. The second verse starts with the time of the day: just before the eyeball appears, just before the little birds go to sleep, the singer likes to stand on their head and imagine they are a control tower where their friend is an airplane. They can then talk their friend safely to the ground.
The ending of the song is a declaration of love and dependency of the singer towards their friend. They express that their friend is their only friend, and if they were to die, they would have no reason to be alive. They see themselves living their lives dependent on their friend's existence.
Line by Line Meaning
Just before the afternoon creeps in
Right before noon, when the sun is about to be high in the sky
Just before it gets too hot to be outside
Seconds before the temperature becomes unbearably hot
I like to lay on my back in the grass and
I enjoy the feeling of lying down on the soft vegetation
Watch the airplanes go by and I dream that
As I see the planes flying, it makes me imagine
You are an airplane shooting across the sky
That you're flying with ease across the vast blue yonder
You are an airplane
You're a magnificent flying object
You're a strong and dangerous machine
A robust aerial vehicle that can be quite hazardous
When you fall you'll fall down so fast
If you descend, it will happen at a rapid rate
When you crash I want to go down with you
In the unfortunate event of a catastrophe, I'd like to be with you
We'll make such a horrible mess
Our mishap will be catastrophic
Just before the eyeball appears
Right before the sun goes down
Just before the little birds go to sleep
In the final moments before the birds go to rest for the night
I like to stand on my head and pretend
I enjoy the sensation of flipping upside down and imagining
That I am a control tower
That I am a directing unit for aircraft
And that you are an airplane
And you're flying and following my directions
And I can talk you safely to the ground
And I can guide you towards a secure landing
The way you live your life makes me nervous
The lifestyle you lead makes me feel anxious
If you were to die
In the event of your death
I'd have no reason to be alive
I would lose my will to live
Cause you are my only friend
You're the only person I can call a true companion
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: KEVIN BARNES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind