First, a disclaimer: I cannot say with authority that I have any idea what this song is really about. All I know with certainty is that on the "Live at Jittery Joe's" album, Jeff Mangum introduces this song by explaining that it's about a family in Europe in the 1940s that he obsesses over, particularly one individual in the family who he frequently dreams about. He doesn't say anything else about the family or which individual he dreams about, but we can probably assume that he's talking about the same girl that most of the other songs on The Aeroplane Over the Sea album are about. There are also some minor lyrical changes in the original version of this song, such as "sister" instead of "blister" and a reference to the year being 1945, but nothing too major.
Anyway, I must say that I don't agree with blurppi's comments at all. That's not to say that he's wrong (remember my disclaimer... I have no idea what the song's really about... I think only Jeff Mangum really knows what the song is about and I agree with subverted0's comments that NMH's songs mean whatever the listener wants them to mean...), but I can't see many of the connections that he's listed in his explication. Like, how does "tongue in his teeth" refer to a boy wishing that he could fight with his father? And what does being fed tomatoes have to do with being raised by a mother? I think the line "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" would be wonderful, but I don't see how he's really made any clear points that justify this explanation.
Also, I don't think this song is about incest.
Here's what I think it's about (take this with a grain of salt, mind you):
The "Daddy" in the first stanza isn't a literal daddy. Instead, it is God. The "boy ... long ago wrapped in sheets warm and wet" is Jesus, who "loved all [God has] left" The speaker, a girl, pleads with God to bring another individual to earth who will be nearly as wonderful a person as Jesus was. This new person won't be a second coming of Jesus or a messiah or even a completely perfect person, but in the eyes of the speaker, this person will be "perfect."
Throughout the rest of the song, I think the speaker changes at random (because of NMH's tendency towards surrealism and stream-of-consciousness). The second stanza is spoken by an objective outsider, completely different from the speaker in the first stanza. This outsider explains how the original speaker will yearn to make love to this perfect individual, who is like a "brother," but not literally. That explains the "tongue in his teeth" line... they're making out, basically. And, as usually happens when one gives herself sexually to another, the other person learns (or at least tries to learn) of the "secret songs that [the original speaker keeps] wrapped in boxes so tight, sounding only at night as [the original speaker sleeps]." The girl gives herself both sexually and emotionally to the lover.
But then, after having met this person, he is taken away from her. The next three stanzas are from the perspective of the original speaker, who (in the third stanza) still dreams about the boy that was taken away from her.
The fourth stanza explains how he left. He died, presumably in the war (or possibly as part of the Holocaust?). If he died in the war, we can assume that it was WWII, because of the references on the album and by Mangum to the year 1945. I'm pretty sure he was shot in the head, which would explain "you left with your head full of flames" (I imagine getting shot in the head would burn tremendously... which would be equivalent to having your head on fire) and "you watched as your brains fell out through your teeth, push the pieces in place" (imagine the bullet would being severe that blood and perhaps brain matter are just spilling out of the head). But even though he dies violently, he tries to die with a smile, perhaps because, like Jesus, he is so perfect that, even during an horrific death, he tries to see the beauty in the world. And she still longs to be physically close to him... to have her face on his cheek, even though his cheek may not necessarily exist anymore ("don't you take this away" ... don't take away the memories...).
The fifth stanza is just a general statement about death and God. It may be spoken by the girl, or it may be spoken by the objective outsider. Basically, death is the equivalent of breaking (like how the boy was broken into pieces that needed to be pushed back into place), God and Heaven are one entity, and death isn't exactly death since we wait in God (read: Heaven) for "the rest of our lives." Life and death, therefore, are all part of one "life," just on different levels.
Now, the last stanza definitely returns to the voice of the objective outsider. I don't think the other stanzas really have anything to do with the "two-headed boy" or with the events in the first "Two-Headed Boy" song. I think of it like this: maybe the outsider is narrating the story of the girl and her lover to the two-headed boy, and the point that the narrator is trying to get across to the two-headed boy is "You'll find people who you think will be perfect for you, and you will love them immensely, but eventually they will leave, either because of death or because of other reasons, but even after the person has left, you should remember the good memories and not dwell on the bad ones (like memories of a violent death or an aggressive break-up)."
So that's my interpretation. It's not a perfect one, I know. There are some things I still don't fully understand. I'm not quite sure who or what the two-headed boy is exactly, yet. But, in any case, that's what the song has always meant to me.
I absolutely love this song. It's the one song that consistently evokes a very emotional response from me. It's probably my favorite song of all time, even if I don't fully understand it.
Anyone who would like to elaborate on or challenge my thoughts, feel free to do so... I encourage it.
The family he is referring to having dreams about is the Frank family, as in Anne Frank, this entire album is about them and WWII.
I forget where I read Jeff Mangum talking about it, but thats what he's said its all about.
Listen to the album with that in mind, and it all kind of makes sense.
The family he is referring to having dreams about is the Frank family, as in Anne Frank, this entire album is about them and WWII.
I forget where I read Jeff Mangum talking about it, but thats what he's said its all about.
Listen to the album with that in mind, and it all kind of makes sense.
First, a disclaimer: I cannot say with authority that I have any idea what this song is really about. All I know with certainty is that on the "Live at Jittery Joe's" album, Jeff Mangum introduces this song by explaining that it's about a family in Europe in the 1940s that he obsesses over, particularly one individual in the family who he frequently dreams about. He doesn't say anything else about the family or which individual he dreams about, but we can probably assume that he's talking about the same girl that most of the other songs on The Aeroplane Over the Sea album are about. There are also some minor lyrical changes in the original version of this song, such as "sister" instead of "blister" and a reference to the year being 1945, but nothing too major.
Anyway, I must say that I don't agree with blurppi's comments at all. That's not to say that he's wrong (remember my disclaimer... I have no idea what the song's really about... I think only Jeff Mangum really knows what the song is about and I agree with subverted0's comments that NMH's songs mean whatever the listener wants them to mean...), but I can't see many of the connections that he's listed in his explication. Like, how does "tongue in his teeth" refer to a boy wishing that he could fight with his father? And what does being fed tomatoes have to do with being raised by a mother? I think the line "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" would be wonderful, but I don't see how he's really made any clear points that justify this explanation.
Also, I don't think this song is about incest.
Here's what I think it's about (take this with a grain of salt, mind you):
The "Daddy" in the first stanza isn't a literal daddy. Instead, it is God. The "boy ... long ago wrapped in sheets warm and wet" is Jesus, who "loved all [God has] left" The speaker, a girl, pleads with God to bring another individual to earth who will be nearly as wonderful a person as Jesus was. This new person won't be a second coming of Jesus or a messiah or even a completely perfect person, but in the eyes of the speaker, this person will be "perfect."
Throughout the rest of the song, I think the speaker changes at random (because of NMH's tendency towards surrealism and stream-of-consciousness). The second stanza is spoken by an objective outsider, completely different from the speaker in the first stanza. This outsider explains how the original speaker will yearn to make love to this perfect individual, who is like a "brother," but not literally. That explains the "tongue in his teeth" line... they're making out, basically. And, as usually happens when one gives herself sexually to another, the other person learns (or at least tries to learn) of the "secret songs that [the original speaker keeps] wrapped in boxes so tight, sounding only at night as [the original speaker sleeps]." The girl gives herself both sexually and emotionally to the lover.
But then, after having met this person, he is taken away from her. The next three stanzas are from the perspective of the original speaker, who (in the third stanza) still dreams about the boy that was taken away from her.
The fourth stanza explains how he left. He died, presumably in the war (or possibly as part of the Holocaust?). If he died in the war, we can assume that it was WWII, because of the references on the album and by Mangum to the year 1945. I'm pretty sure he was shot in the head, which would explain "you left with your head full of flames" (I imagine getting shot in the head would burn tremendously... which would be equivalent to having your head on fire) and "you watched as your brains fell out through your teeth, push the pieces in place" (imagine the bullet would being severe that blood and perhaps brain matter are just spilling out of the head). But even though he dies violently, he tries to die with a smile, perhaps because, like Jesus, he is so perfect that, even during an horrific death, he tries to see the beauty in the world. And she still longs to be physically close to him... to have her face on his cheek, even though his cheek may not necessarily exist anymore ("don't you take this away" ... don't take away the memories...).
The fifth stanza is just a general statement about death and God. It may be spoken by the girl, or it may be spoken by the objective outsider. Basically, death is the equivalent of breaking (like how the boy was broken into pieces that needed to be pushed back into place), God and Heaven are one entity, and death isn't exactly death since we wait in God (read: Heaven) for "the rest of our lives." Life and death, therefore, are all part of one "life," just on different levels.
Now, the last stanza definitely returns to the voice of the objective outsider. I don't think the other stanzas really have anything to do with the "two-headed boy" or with the events in the first "Two-Headed Boy" song. I think of it like this: maybe the outsider is narrating the story of the girl and her lover to the two-headed boy, and the point that the narrator is trying to get across to the two-headed boy is "You'll find people who you think will be perfect for you, and you will love them immensely, but eventually they will leave, either because of death or because of other reasons, but even after the person has left, you should remember the good memories and not dwell on the bad ones (like memories of a violent death or an aggressive break-up)."
So that's my interpretation. It's not a perfect one, I know. There are some things I still don't fully understand. I'm not quite sure who or what the two-headed boy is exactly, yet. But, in any case, that's what the song has always meant to me.
I absolutely love this song. It's the one song that consistently evokes a very emotional response from me. It's probably my favorite song of all time, even if I don't fully understand it.
Anyone who would like to elaborate on or challenge my thoughts, feel free to do so... I encourage it.
The family he is referring to having dreams about is the Frank family, as in Anne Frank, this entire album is about them and WWII. I forget where I read Jeff Mangum talking about it, but thats what he's said its all about. Listen to the album with that in mind, and it all kind of makes sense.
The family he is referring to having dreams about is the Frank family, as in Anne Frank, this entire album is about them and WWII. I forget where I read Jeff Mangum talking about it, but thats what he's said its all about. Listen to the album with that in mind, and it all kind of makes sense.
@LuckyMonkey
@LuckyMonkey