I've always thought of this song as a story about a family that lost the father figure. All that is left are two young boys and a mother. The boys handle it in different ways [One becoming emotionally detached and angry at his late father, the other sentimental and unable to cope with both the loss of his dad, and now the abstract loss of his brother]. The song is in the view of the sentimental boy.
My favorite line is 'How he'd love to find your tongue in his teeth', referring to the fact that the angrier child wants the arguments with his father that other boys his age spend so much time complaining about.
The wings line [Blister please with those wings in your spine] refers to the fact that the boy wants his dad to feel the pain in Heaven that the boy is feeling still trapped in this tragedy. I think spines are just a pretty poetic thing, the central part of every person, connecting the body to the brain, and that's why NMH concentrates on 'em so much.
And the last part is talking about the boys' mom. It states that she'll take care of them, bringing them up to be both loved and strong men ["She will feed you tomatoes and radio wires" referring to both a motherly and fatherly upbringing.] The part that hit me the strongest was 'But don't hate her when she gets up to leave' which is referring to when she dies, the boys shouldn't react the same way as they did to their father's death [With a hatred of sorts] but rather accepting and caring.
The title implies that there are two boys raised the same way and very alike are treating the same situation differently, giving them one body but two heads, metaphorically.
Yes I agree that the family has lost their father figure, but I always took it as lost to alcaholism not death. In the first verse he is telling his dad what he needs, as if there is something that could bring him back to the way he used to be, in this case a new born child. Probably because his younger brother once was a new born child and things were different. The younger brother is the one that has died in my opinion. This is most notable in the "brother see.." verse. The dad had probably turned to...
Yes I agree that the family has lost their father figure, but I always took it as lost to alcaholism not death. In the first verse he is telling his dad what he needs, as if there is something that could bring him back to the way he used to be, in this case a new born child. Probably because his younger brother once was a new born child and things were different. The younger brother is the one that has died in my opinion. This is most notable in the "brother see.." verse. The dad had probably turned to alcahol in dealing with the tragic death of the brother, hence what he needs is a child. I think (under the assumtion that the song is about true events)that Jeff Mangum never connected with his father very well. The younger brother was the one that the dad loved more because he was so much like him "How he'd love to find his tounge in your teeth" He his speaking to his dad about his brother and it means his brother loved to talk like his dad (act like, immitate). The Dad probably had some sort post tramatic stress syndrom. maybe a Vietnam vet? He kept in boxes so tight sounding only at night while he sleeps. Very complex song with many characters, in the end I think Jeff deeply wants to connect and console with the remaining members of his torn apart family but doesn't know how
I've always thought of this song as a story about a family that lost the father figure. All that is left are two young boys and a mother. The boys handle it in different ways [One becoming emotionally detached and angry at his late father, the other sentimental and unable to cope with both the loss of his dad, and now the abstract loss of his brother]. The song is in the view of the sentimental boy.
My favorite line is 'How he'd love to find your tongue in his teeth', referring to the fact that the angrier child wants the arguments with his father that other boys his age spend so much time complaining about.
The wings line [Blister please with those wings in your spine] refers to the fact that the boy wants his dad to feel the pain in Heaven that the boy is feeling still trapped in this tragedy. I think spines are just a pretty poetic thing, the central part of every person, connecting the body to the brain, and that's why NMH concentrates on 'em so much.
And the last part is talking about the boys' mom. It states that she'll take care of them, bringing them up to be both loved and strong men ["She will feed you tomatoes and radio wires" referring to both a motherly and fatherly upbringing.] The part that hit me the strongest was 'But don't hate her when she gets up to leave' which is referring to when she dies, the boys shouldn't react the same way as they did to their father's death [With a hatred of sorts] but rather accepting and caring.
The title implies that there are two boys raised the same way and very alike are treating the same situation differently, giving them one body but two heads, metaphorically.
Wow, that was a long post.
Yes I agree that the family has lost their father figure, but I always took it as lost to alcaholism not death. In the first verse he is telling his dad what he needs, as if there is something that could bring him back to the way he used to be, in this case a new born child. Probably because his younger brother once was a new born child and things were different. The younger brother is the one that has died in my opinion. This is most notable in the "brother see.." verse. The dad had probably turned to...
Yes I agree that the family has lost their father figure, but I always took it as lost to alcaholism not death. In the first verse he is telling his dad what he needs, as if there is something that could bring him back to the way he used to be, in this case a new born child. Probably because his younger brother once was a new born child and things were different. The younger brother is the one that has died in my opinion. This is most notable in the "brother see.." verse. The dad had probably turned to alcahol in dealing with the tragic death of the brother, hence what he needs is a child. I think (under the assumtion that the song is about true events)that Jeff Mangum never connected with his father very well. The younger brother was the one that the dad loved more because he was so much like him "How he'd love to find his tounge in your teeth" He his speaking to his dad about his brother and it means his brother loved to talk like his dad (act like, immitate). The Dad probably had some sort post tramatic stress syndrom. maybe a Vietnam vet? He kept in boxes so tight sounding only at night while he sleeps. Very complex song with many characters, in the end I think Jeff deeply wants to connect and console with the remaining members of his torn apart family but doesn't know how