my husband died n 2012 we loved this album so much...if you know the truth of what cremation does to a body, and add to it the Anne Frank factor...and the pure glory of tha album itself, which contans so many mysteries..well, yeas. I cry also every every time.
Four years ago I was at the end of my rope. I was abandoned by everyone I knew and just existed, stuck in my hometown. I went to work and slept, for two years straight. Fresh out of high school and in a community college getting a degree in something I didn't care about. I ended up finding this album at one of my darkest points and listened to the whole thing in one sitting. For the next year, I would sing along to this album every day on the way to and from work. Things ended up getting better and I feel all those emotions just listening to this again.
"I will take you and leave you alone" , "..will wait until the point when you let go" & " but don't hate her when she gets up to leave" these hook me the most...
Ageeed. Check out Jolene by Ray Lamontagne, Regret by Fiona Apple, It's Cool We Can Still Be Friends by Bright Eyes, The Pugilist by Keaton Henson, Bruno is Orange by Hop Along, Waltz #2 by Elliott Smith if you haven't already. They're up there too.
I dunno what it is, but Part 2 never fully clicked with me until just now. On a Tuesday morning at 6 am. These are undoubtedly Jeff's best lyrics period. Every line feels like a punch to the gut, but in the best way possible. What an absolute masterpiece.
I love neutral milk hotel and Jeff Magnum, but he just can’t sing. It’s more of a shout or a yell. He sounds a lot better when he’s a little more mellow. I think he sounds good, he just can’t sing. But every time he yells, I can’t help but cringe.
I had been doing a decent amount of coke throughout the night and started drinking some whiskey when I got home. I stumbled upon 2 Headed Boy pt.2 that night and had one of the deepest emotional connections I've ever had with a song before. I listened to it probably 20 times in a row and its beauty grew deeper and deeper every time I heard it. My favorite memory of finding a new song.
"Two-Headed Boy" Two headed boy All floating in glass The sun it has passed Now it's blacker than black I can hear as you tap on your jar I am listening to hear where you are I am listening to hear where you are Two headed boy Put on Sunday shoes And dance round the room to accordion keys With the needle that sings in your heart Catching signals that sound in the dark Catching signals that sound in the dark We will take off our clothes And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine And when all is breaking Everything that you could keep beside Now your eyes ain't moving Now they just lay there in their climb Two headed boy With pulleys and weights Creating a radio played just for two In the parlor with a moon across her face And through the music he sweetly displays Silver speakers that sparkle all day Made for his lover who's floating and choking with her hands across her face And in the dark we will take off our clothes And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine And when all is breaking Everything that you could keep beside Now your eyes ain't moving Now they just lay there in their climb Two headed boy There is no reason to grieve The world that you need is wrapped in gold silver sleeves Left beneath Christmas trees in the snow And I will take you and leave you alone Watching spirals of white softly flow Over your eyelids and all you did Will wait until the point when you let go
Daddy, please hear this song that I sing In your heart there's a spark that just screams For a lover to bring a child to your chest That could lay as you sleep And love all you have left like your boy used to be Long ago wrapped in sheets warm and wet [Verse 2] Blister please, with those wings in your spine Love to be with a brother of mine How he'd love to find your tongue in his teeth In a struggle to find secret songs that you keep Wrapped in boxes so tight Sounding only at night as you sleep [Bridge] And in my dreams you're alive and you're crying As your mouth moves in mine, soft and sweet Rings of flowers 'round your eyes and I'll love you For the rest of your life when you're ready [Verse 3] Brother, see we are one in the same And you left with your head filled with flames And you watched as your brains fell out through your teeth Push the pieces in place Make your smile sweet to see, don't you take this away I'm still wanting my face on your cheek [Bridge] And when we break, we'll wait for our miracle God is a place where some holy spectacle lies When we break we'll wait for our miracle God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life [Outro] Two headed boy, she is all you could need She will feed you tomatoes and radio wires And retire to sheets safe and clean But don't hate her when she gets up to leave (creaking, guitar hitting floor, footsteps)
its crazy that some people were saved by this album, while other's (like myself) experienced the start of their spiral BECAUSE of this album. this piece of art is beyond description, and dare I say comprehension. fav album of all time
This is poetry with an acoustic guitar and damn I can't stop playing it, even my sons, 6 and 7, are singing this...there is a visceral thing happening with jeff, like he's in tune with our biological need for imagery and it's just delicious brain and soul candy
My mom grew up in a (then) small Mexican village named Pisaflores in the 70s. Even in the early 2000s, it still had an Old World-feel to it. I imagine the young people that lived there in my mom’s time when I hear this song, dancing to old-timey songs in the city square and discovering each other. An Old World-approach to growing up.
Daddy, please hear this song that I sing In your heart there's a spark that just screams for a lover to bring A child to your chest that could lay as you sleep And love all you have left like your boy used to be long ago, wrapped in sheets warm and wet Blister please with those wings in your spine Love to be with a brother of mine, how he'd love to find Your tongue in his teeth in a struggle to find Secret songs that you keep wrapped in boxes so tight, sounding only at night as you sleep And in my dreams you're alive and you're crying As your mouth moves in mine, soft and sweet Rings of flowers 'round your eyes and I'll love you For the rest of your life when you're ready Brother, see we are one in the same And you left with your head filled with flames and you watched as your brains Fell out through your teeth, push the pieces in place, make your smile sweet to see Don't you take this away, I'm still wanting my face on your cheek And when we break, we'll wait for our miracle God is a place where some holy spectacle lies When we break, we'll wait for our miracle God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life Two-headed boy, she is all you could need She will feed you tomatoes and radio wires And retire to sheets safe and clean But don't hate her when she gets up to leave
This song (Two Headed Boy) saved my life.... Seriously. About five years ago, I cracked. No joke. I was a professional who went to work on a daily basis--I did everything I was supposed to do--but it was a cage. See... I snapped like a twig. The doctors called it a "psychotic break." I was forty at the time, and I'd never experienced anything like psychosis or delusions, but suddenly I found myself lost in a jungian world of symbols and synchronicity. How amazing and wonderful and terrifying! Don't believe me? Wait and see... Anyhow, they sent me to four different psychiatric hospitals. My poor family.... They worried about me, but I was lost. I would sing this song (Two Headed Boy) aloud, screaming the lyrics, hoping that something in the universe would respond or recognize the tune. One time, another patient in the hospital recognized the lyrics, and he came up to me and sang, "Two headed boy... creating a radio play just for two..." Ughh! We cried together.... and he kissed me on the lips. (I'm a man, so I was shocked that another man kissed me, but I kissed him back and I loved him in that moment.) We. (Through the music that sweetly displays....) We two "crazy" people bonded over this particular song in a mental hospital and we sang this song.... Madness begets madness, eh? In a brief moment, we saw behind the veil. This song has a message that "crazy" people get. Do you get it? Do you belong with us? If you do, you're one of our kind.
Not necessarily Indie, but the most experimental music I've ever heard comes from the album Trout Mask Replica, by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band. Bear in mind that it will make Two Headed Boy sound like the simple pop song it is at its core. Most people say that they find it difficult to listen to the first couple of times, I usually assume they mean the heavily discordant melodies. In most of the songs on the album all of the instruments are not only playing in different keys, but also they're often not even using the same time signature. So not only, do the notes and chords being played clash, but the rhythms are completely different. The first time I listened to it I didn't find that unpleasant, but it did create this sort of anti-hypnotic feeling where I couldn't really focus well on the music, and maybe that's what people have meant by "hard to listen to. If you want experimental, go with Beefheart, if you're just looking for things with a similar sound to Neutral Milk Hotel, AJJ and The Mountain Goats will probably be enjoyable. They lack the Noise qualities of NMH, and I've never really found anyone else who's lyrical style was comparable to Mangum, but they use non-traditional vocal styles, and simple chord progression that rely on extensive vamping. AJJ and The Mountain Goats both have a much more honest and innocent quality to their lyrical styles. They don't really experiment with thought structures like Mangum does, opting instead for finding concise ways of saying things that give their songs a deep sense of sincerity. Hope some of that rambling mess was helpful, good luck in your search for music. Oh and I think Julian Koster, from NMH, is in a couple other bands. Check out The Music Tapes.
Malnoch tbh TMR becomes more and more listenable every time you listen to it. For me, it clicked the first time. In my opinion Merzbow-Pulse Demon is the most experimental album ever
I haven't delved much into the realm of pure Noise, like Merzbow. I generally feel the same way about instrumental tracks, I have a strong preference for lyrical music. Sometimes I forget about pure instrumental stuff.
This is one of those songs that you just know you have to post a comment in honor of what it did to you as you listened but it's so utterly brilliant and so far out of reach that all you can say is something like what I just wrote and go to bed dreaming
i'm pretty sure i suffer from BPD, and i feel like shit constantly. whether it's my manic highs, or suicidal lows, i still feel hollow. it's so hard to feel. but, whenever i dissociate or start feeling terrible, two headed boy has been my therapy song. i don't know whether i would be the same without this song, cuz it's stopped me from doing so many things i would regret. thank you jeff mangum.
a beautiful and touching couple of tracks, that remind me of the preface to the last chapter of Fando y Lis by Alejandro Jodorowsky, and of the film itself. what a tragic but meaningful love.
I was in a long distance relationship with my gf and I remember us finally meeting and having such an amazing week and being at the airport saying our goodbyes I remember her crying not caring who saw what people thought.I remember waving bye and going inside the airplane tears running down my cheek as this song played. I played this song all the airplane ride back home.
when i first was exposed to this album and read the info i saw there was a part 2 to this song and also a parts 2 & 3 to KoCF. well, i forgot i had read there was a part 2 to this one in particular, and i remember i was doing.... something..... and when this song came on and he gets to the "two.... heeeeeeaaded booooooyyyy" part, i stopped DEAD in my tracks, and just bawled. there's something about pieces that recall something that happened earlier, throwbacks, or reprises, that always fucking ruins me.
I’ve had a pretty chaotic week and am just all done with everything. this song that I used to listen to in middle school has been playing in the background of my mind haunting me in my stress. Even though I have been dealing with a frustratingly silent break up after two incredible years and watching my brother grow up hating himself I can’t help but be consumed by these poorly sung words. again and again I hear nothing but noise save for one repeating line that has a new meaning every time I hear it “two-headed boy… she is all you could need” and I wish I didn’t have to watch once again people who were everything to me leave. I am not who I was when I heard this song for the first time and I’m sure I will be a different one when I hear it for my last.
Two headed boy All floating in glass The sun it has passed Now it's blacker than black I can hear as you tap on your jar I am listening to hear where you are I am listening to hear where you are Two headed boy Put on Sunday shoes And dance round the room to accordion keys With the needle that sings in your heart Catching signals that sound in the dark Catching signals that sound in the dark We will take off our clothes And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine And when all is breaking Everything that you could keep beside Now your eyes ain't moving Now they just lay there in their climb Two headed boy With pulleys and weights Creating a radio played just for two In the parlor with a moon across her face And through the music he sweetly displays Silver speakers that sparkle all day Made for his lover who's floating and choking with her hands across her face And in the dark we will take off our clothes And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine And when all is breaking Everything that you could keep beside Now your eyes ain't moving Now they just lay there in their climb Two headed boy There is no reason to grieve The world that you need is wrapped in gold silver sleeves Left beneath Christmas trees in the snow And I will take you and leave you alone Watching spirals of white softly flow Over your eyelids and all you did Will wait until the point when you let go
"...and in the dark, we will take off our clothes and we'll be placing fingers to the notches in your spine, and when all is breaking everything that you could keep inside. Now your eyes ain't movin', now, we just lay there in the clouds..."
These two songs man... I swear they connect me to a past life. The world on the brink of destruction and hellfire, but our bodies on the brink of verdent spring. Meh.
Here's the lyrics y'all wanted [Part 1] Two headed boy All floating in glass The sun it has passed Now it's blacker than black I can hear as you tap on your jar I am listening to hear where you are I am listening to hear where you are Two headed boy Put on Sunday shoes And dance round the room to accordion keys With the needle that sings in your heart Catching signals that sound in the dark Catching signals that sound in the dark We will take off our clothes And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine And when all is breaking Everything that you could keep beside Now your eyes ain't moving Now they just lay there in their climb Two headed boy With pulleys and weights Creating a radio played just for two In the parlor with a moon across her face And through the music he sweetly displays Silver speakers that sparkle all day Made for his lover who's floating and choking with her hands across her face And in the dark we will take off our clothes And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine And when all is breaking Everything that you could keep beside Now your eyes ain't moving Now they just lay there in their climb Two headed boy There is no reason to grieve The world that you need is wrapped in gold silver sleeves Left beneath Christmas trees in the snow And I will take you and leave you alone Watching spirals of white softly flow Over your eyelids and all you did Will wait until the point when you let go [Part 2] Daddy, please hear this song that I sing In your heart there's a spark that just screams for a lover to bring A child to your chest that could lay as you sleep And love all you have left like your boy used to be long ago, wrapped in sheets warm and wet Blister please with those wings in your spine Love to be with a brother of mine, how he'd love to find Your tongue in his teeth in a struggle to find Secret songs that you keep wrapped in boxes so tight, sounding only at night as you sleep And in my dreams you're alive and you're crying As your mouth moves in mine, soft and sweet Rings of flowers 'round your eyes and I'll love you For the rest of your life when you're ready Brother, see we are one in the same And you left with your head filled with flames and you watched as your brains Fell out through your teeth, push the pieces in place, make your smile sweet to see Don't you take this away, I'm still wanting my face on your cheek And when we break, we'll wait for our miracle God is a place where some holy spectacle lies When we break, we'll wait for our miracle God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life Two-headed boy, she is all you could need She will feed you tomatoes and radio wires And retire to sheets safe and clean But don't hate her when she gets up to leaveDaddy, please hear this song that I sing In your heart there's a spark that just screams for a lover to bring A child to your chest that could lay as you sleep And love all you have left like your boy used to be long ago, wrapped in sheets warm and wet Blister please with those wings in your spine Love to be with a brother of mine, how he'd love to find Your tongue in his teeth in a struggle to find Secret songs that you keep wrapped in boxes so tight, sounding only at night as you sleep And in my dreams you're alive and you're crying As your mouth moves in mine, soft and sweet Rings of flowers 'round your eyes and I'll love you For the rest of your life when you're ready Brother, see we are one in the same And you left with your head filled with flames and you watched as your brains Fell out through your teeth, push the pieces in place, make your smile sweet to see Don't you take this away, I'm still wanting my face on your cheek And when we break, we'll wait for our miracle God is a place where some holy spectacle lies When we break, we'll wait for our miracle God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life Two-headed boy, she is all you could need She will feed you tomatoes and radio wires And retire to sheets safe and clean But don't hate her when she gets up to leave
I’ve seen a bunch of people say this song is gutwrenching but to me it feels… warm? Like that moment right before you drift off to sleep. Cozy and warm but still kind of offputting
Uncontrollable crying. As if the hand of god touched me now twice. You didnt fail the world. The world failed you. Sadly this will never end for you. Whether that meant this loneliness or perhaps those uncontrollable crying moments. These moments are not just for me whem i held it in. Also those that died in the past. Im probably releasing their cries. Letting them live once more.
wow just had thot......emotional life pre and post this rekkid is so profoundly different that i do declare i can say say say that this this this collection of fabulouso songs made the difference in my life so much I draw a line between and after
And in my dreams you’re alive And you’re crying As your mouth moves in mine Soft and sweet Rings of flowers round your eyes And I’ll love you For the rest of your life when you’re ready
@@solartea_ Ah, good try anyway. Wish you the best of luck skateboarding! It is a great album that only improves with the number of times you listen to it. Stay safe!
If I wrote a book, a sprawling Anglian murder mystery for a listless, aging generation, I'd reference this classic. Heathlands by Patrick Norrie. Chapter "Your Heart." Where the needle sings, natch.
um... I like it... but... dafuq is it about? from what I can tell, Siamese twincest? which makes me very uncomfortable? I'm not sure why I made that a question?
It was written about how the singer has fallen in love with Anne Frank and fantasizes about spending his life with/saving her but ultimately knowing it's impossible. The other songs of the album provide more context.
@Virtuvirus That all sounds possible and I can see that angel, but there are direct references to Anne Frank's life, from the content in her diary to her entire family's death. Who really knows anything more than how mystically and amazingly beautiful it all is, from music to lyric, just perfect. I don't ever remember listening to anything delivered with such vulnerability and conviction of something not fully understood by the writer. It seems to me like he's just interpreting the sad and powerful imagery in his mind on whatever subject he doesn't fully understand line by line. And that's the best i could do interpreting the powerful imagery and melodies that i don't fully understand of this album. I'm thankful for it, whatever it is. Seems like it means something different to me every other year I submerge myself into it.
People, wtf are you talking about. This song, the whole of it, is one metaphor after another about records and turntables. I know you’d prefer murky and depressing meanings behind it, but it’s all just about records, sleeves, record players, speakers, platters, cartridges, tonearms, needles, grooves, songs and albums with a start and an end. Just listen carefully and relate. If you want to feel sad, better look somewhere else
Two-headed Boy Part 2 is the only song I’ve ever found that literally makes me cry every single time I listen to it.
my husband died n 2012 we loved this album so much...if you know the truth of what cremation does to a body, and add to it the Anne Frank factor...and the pure glory of tha album itself, which contans so many mysteries..well, yeas. I cry also every every time.
Yeah true. I literally can't help but cry at the "In my dreams.." part.
Another good one to try for that is Like Antennas To Heaven by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
It’s a perfect closing track.
Four years ago I was at the end of my rope. I was abandoned by everyone I knew and just existed, stuck in my hometown. I went to work and slept, for two years straight. Fresh out of high school and in a community college getting a degree in something I didn't care about. I ended up finding this album at one of my darkest points and listened to the whole thing in one sitting. For the next year, I would sing along to this album every day on the way to and from work. Things ended up getting better and I feel all those emotions just listening to this again.
*Still in the same job 6 years later
I'm so glad you're doing better. Hang in there. You are the only you there is or ever will be, and we (the world) need you.
thank you for sharing
I know how you feel, thank you so much for sharing! I’m glad you are here! You are loved and worth so much more then you think!
I’ve been at a low point listening to this album, however things seem to just exist and stay in place when I listen
"I will take you and leave you alone" , "..will wait until the point when you let go" & " but don't hate her when she gets up to leave"
these hook me the most...
This is the most emotional song I've ever heard.
Have you heard darude sandstorm yet???
Ageeed. Check out Jolene by Ray Lamontagne, Regret by Fiona Apple, It's Cool We Can Still Be Friends by Bright Eyes, The Pugilist by Keaton Henson, Bruno is Orange by Hop Along, Waltz #2 by Elliott Smith if you haven't already. They're up there too.
@@yahstino also anything by radiohead
@@mop_dadoor8024 So true. Exit Music, Nude, Daydreaming, Reckoner, ah man too many to name.
@@yahstino can't forget how to disappear completely
goddamn, part 2 is such a sad song. I haven't felt this way since I was a small child
hi, if anyone is looking for more sad songs, please listen to To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar, and pay close attention to "u"
ProsecutorGodot that song is heartbreaking.
***** Nice meme arrows bruh. Didnt' know you were part of the cool klub
i gotta say, i don't really like /mu/tants hangin' around here
+ProsecutorGodot our kind aint welcome round these parts
I dunno what it is, but Part 2 never fully clicked with me until just now. On a Tuesday morning at 6 am. These are undoubtedly Jeff's best lyrics period. Every line feels like a punch to the gut, but in the best way possible. What an absolute masterpiece.
Literally the greatest vocal performance I've ever heard
Exactly, isnt everyone that can make an acoustic song bone chilling
*CATCHING SIGNALS THAT SOUND IN THE DARK*
@@e.m.8184 for me it's RINGS OF FLOWERS ROUND YOUR EYES AND I LOOOOOVE YOU
I love neutral milk hotel and Jeff Magnum, but he just can’t sing.
It’s more of a shout or a yell.
He sounds a lot better when he’s a little more mellow.
I think he sounds good, he just can’t sing. But every time he yells, I can’t help but cringe.
@@CrammyCramyou when you realise what emotions are: 😓😓😓
One of the greatest songs ever
I had been doing a decent amount of coke throughout the night and started drinking some whiskey when I got home. I stumbled upon 2 Headed Boy pt.2 that night and had one of the deepest emotional connections I've ever had with a song before. I listened to it probably 20 times in a row and its beauty grew deeper and deeper every time I heard it. My favorite memory of finding a new song.
It’s the best on the album in my opinion. Very emotionally heavy song
You couldn't help yourself from mentioning the blow huh? Couldn't say intoxicated or inebriated, wouldn't be as impactful smh
Same, but I was in Art class. Sans blow. 🫶
When I discovered NMH I was on a shroom trip in the woods while camping so blow isnt all that bad@XxJohnnyGATxX
Please seek help
this song is a tragedy. the tragedy being it has to end eventually
I AM LISTENING TO HEAR WHERE YOU ARE
You could say the same about life
My favorite album of all time. ❤️
Same brother same
This album brings out so many emotions. Crazy.
"Two-Headed Boy"
Two headed boy
All floating in glass
The sun it has passed
Now it's blacker than black
I can hear as you tap on your jar
I am listening to hear where you are
I am listening to hear where you are
Two headed boy
Put on Sunday shoes
And dance round the room to accordion keys
With the needle that sings in your heart
Catching signals that sound in the dark
Catching signals that sound in the dark
We will take off our clothes
And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine
And when all is breaking
Everything that you could keep beside
Now your eyes ain't moving
Now they just lay there in their climb
Two headed boy
With pulleys and weights
Creating a radio played just for two
In the parlor with a moon across her face
And through the music he sweetly displays
Silver speakers that sparkle all day
Made for his lover who's floating and choking with her hands across her face
And in the dark we will take off our clothes
And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine
And when all is breaking
Everything that you could keep beside
Now your eyes ain't moving
Now they just lay there in their climb
Two headed boy
There is no reason to grieve
The world that you need is wrapped in gold silver sleeves
Left beneath Christmas trees in the snow
And I will take you and leave you alone
Watching spirals of white softly flow
Over your eyelids and all you did
Will wait until the point when you let go
Daddy, please hear this song that I sing
In your heart there's a spark that just screams
For a lover to bring a child to your chest
That could lay as you sleep
And love all you have left like your boy used to be
Long ago wrapped in sheets warm and wet
[Verse 2]
Blister please, with those wings in your spine
Love to be with a brother of mine
How he'd love to find your tongue in his teeth
In a struggle to find secret songs that you keep
Wrapped in boxes so tight
Sounding only at night as you sleep
[Bridge]
And in my dreams you're alive and you're crying
As your mouth moves in mine, soft and sweet
Rings of flowers 'round your eyes and I'll love you
For the rest of your life when you're ready
[Verse 3]
Brother, see we are one in the same
And you left with your head filled with flames
And you watched as your brains fell out through your teeth
Push the pieces in place
Make your smile sweet to see, don't you take this away
I'm still wanting my face on your cheek
[Bridge]
And when we break, we'll wait for our miracle
God is a place where some holy spectacle lies
When we break we'll wait for our miracle
God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life
[Outro]
Two headed boy, she is all you could need
She will feed you tomatoes and radio wires
And retire to sheets safe and clean
But don't hate her when she gets up to leave
(creaking, guitar hitting floor, footsteps)
Two GOATS right here
@@luavanzanten227 true true
"But don't hate her when she gets up to leave" makes me fucking BAWL every time.
🤓
its crazy that some people were saved by this album, while other's (like myself) experienced the start of their spiral BECAUSE of this album. this piece of art is beyond description, and dare I say comprehension. fav album of all time
Sounds like... comforted those disturbed and disturbed those comforted.
Yeah lol
I am having the most intense feels
This is poetry with an acoustic guitar and damn I can't stop playing it, even my sons, 6 and 7, are singing this...there is a visceral thing happening with jeff, like he's in tune with our biological need for imagery and it's just delicious brain and soul candy
I can second that my dad played this to me when I was young and I was absolutely enamoured by it
Well said! It's the imagery and strange melodies that get me.
My mom grew up in a (then) small Mexican village named Pisaflores in the 70s. Even in the early 2000s, it still had an Old World-feel to it. I imagine the young people that lived there in my mom’s time when I hear this song, dancing to old-timey songs in the city square and discovering each other. An Old World-approach to growing up.
Daddy, please hear this song that I sing
In your heart there's a spark that just screams for a lover to bring
A child to your chest that could lay as you sleep
And love all you have left like your boy used to be long ago, wrapped in sheets warm and wet
Blister please with those wings in your spine
Love to be with a brother of mine, how he'd love to find
Your tongue in his teeth in a struggle to find
Secret songs that you keep wrapped in boxes so tight, sounding only at night as you sleep
And in my dreams you're alive and you're crying
As your mouth moves in mine, soft and sweet
Rings of flowers 'round your eyes and I'll love you
For the rest of your life when you're ready
Brother, see we are one in the same
And you left with your head filled with flames and you watched as your brains
Fell out through your teeth, push the pieces in place, make your smile sweet to see
Don't you take this away, I'm still wanting my face on your cheek
And when we break, we'll wait for our miracle
God is a place where some holy spectacle lies
When we break, we'll wait for our miracle
God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life
Two-headed boy, she is all you could need
She will feed you tomatoes and radio wires
And retire to sheets safe and clean
But don't hate her when she gets up to leave
Thank you Jeff
Simple words placed truthfully represent everything I never truly heard my heart sing.
This song (Two Headed Boy) saved my life.... Seriously. About five years ago, I cracked. No joke. I was a professional who went to work on a daily basis--I did everything I was supposed to do--but it was a cage. See... I snapped like a twig. The doctors called it a "psychotic break." I was forty at the time, and I'd never experienced anything like psychosis or delusions, but suddenly I found myself lost in a jungian world of symbols and synchronicity. How amazing and wonderful and terrifying! Don't believe me? Wait and see... Anyhow, they sent me to four different psychiatric hospitals. My poor family.... They worried about me, but I was lost. I would sing this song (Two Headed Boy) aloud, screaming the lyrics, hoping that something in the universe would respond or recognize the tune. One time, another patient in the hospital recognized the lyrics, and he came up to me and sang, "Two headed boy... creating a radio play just for two..." Ughh! We cried together.... and he kissed me on the lips. (I'm a man, so I was shocked that another man kissed me, but I kissed him back and I loved him in that moment.) We. (Through the music that sweetly displays....) We two "crazy" people bonded over this particular song in a mental hospital and we sang this song.... Madness begets madness, eh? In a brief moment, we saw behind the veil. This song has a message that "crazy" people get. Do you get it? Do you belong with us? If you do, you're one of our kind.
Not necessarily Indie, but the most experimental music I've ever heard comes from the album Trout Mask Replica, by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band. Bear in mind that it will make Two Headed Boy sound like the simple pop song it is at its core. Most people say that they find it difficult to listen to the first couple of times, I usually assume they mean the heavily discordant melodies. In most of the songs on the album all of the instruments are not only playing in different keys, but also they're often not even using the same time signature. So not only, do the notes and chords being played clash, but the rhythms are completely different. The first time I listened to it I didn't find that unpleasant, but it did create this sort of anti-hypnotic feeling where I couldn't really focus well on the music, and maybe that's what people have meant by "hard to listen to. If you want experimental, go with Beefheart, if you're just looking for things with a similar sound to Neutral Milk Hotel, AJJ and The Mountain Goats will probably be enjoyable. They lack the Noise qualities of NMH, and I've never really found anyone else who's lyrical style was comparable to Mangum, but they use non-traditional vocal styles, and simple chord progression that rely on extensive vamping. AJJ and The Mountain Goats both have a much more honest and innocent quality to their lyrical styles. They don't really experiment with thought structures like Mangum does, opting instead for finding concise ways of saying things that give their songs a deep sense of sincerity. Hope some of that rambling mess was helpful, good luck in your search for music. Oh and I think Julian Koster, from NMH, is in a couple other bands. Check out The Music Tapes.
Malnoch i’ve listened to that. I need something more experimental.
Malnoch thx for the recommendations
Malnoch tbh TMR becomes more and more listenable every time you listen to it. For me, it clicked the first time. In my opinion Merzbow-Pulse Demon is the most experimental album ever
I haven't delved much into the realm of pure Noise, like Merzbow. I generally feel the same way about instrumental tracks, I have a strong preference for lyrical music. Sometimes I forget about pure instrumental stuff.
The best song, hands down, just something really profound and transcendental about it, it's brilliant.
anybody else unable to play + sing this song without fucking losing it before the end? i've never been able to do it.
The strumming always fucks me up
skoto I fucking lose it mentally.
Part 2 I find the most difficult
This is one of those songs that you just know you have to post a comment in honor of what it did to you as you listened but it's so utterly brilliant and so far out of reach that all you can say is something like what I just wrote and go to bed dreaming
Every year around this time I come back this album
It makes me want to explode from its beauty.
Lilac Mesh 😥😥😥😥😥
i've already exploded like a thousand times due to this album. and it was a fucking life saver every time.
i'm pretty sure i suffer from BPD, and i feel like shit constantly. whether it's my manic highs, or suicidal lows, i still feel hollow. it's so hard to feel. but, whenever i dissociate or start feeling terrible, two headed boy has been my therapy song. i don't know whether i would be the same without this song, cuz it's stopped me from doing so many things i would regret. thank you jeff mangum.
Hope you're doing better ❤️
You should see a doctor if you’re really think you have it. I wish you the best
Idk why, but that line "I will take you and leave you alone" kills me every fucking time I hear it.
This has all the feelings in the universe wrapped up in one very amazing song.
True
a beautiful and touching couple of tracks, that remind me of the preface to the last chapter of Fando y Lis by Alejandro Jodorowsky, and of the film itself. what a tragic but meaningful love.
love Jodorowsky, Santa Sangre is available on kanopy.com, I can't recommend it enough, magic realism at its sparkly carnival finest
Wow takes me somewhere I can’t explain
The more years that pass me by, the more I realise that this is quite probably the best indie song/pair of songs ever written
I was in a long distance relationship with my gf and I remember us finally meeting and having such an amazing week and being at the airport saying our goodbyes I remember her crying not caring who saw what people thought.I remember waving bye and going inside the airplane tears running down my cheek as this song played. I played this song all the airplane ride back home.
I have a theory that the two-Headed boy is actually a vinyl record
That's smart, I like your theory mane
I always thought it was about being in love with someone in your dreams
It's about the dark lord Satan, but never mind that.
Men have 2 heads and only enough blood to use one at a time
I’m so glad I shared this album with my brother
Same
hearing the two headed boy at the end of part 2 has the same vibe as sequels of films/shows referencing their predecessors as fanservice
I couldn't listen the whole part 2. Cause it just deepens my life's regrets and emotions & pain
The radest band in all the land!!!
when i first was exposed to this album and read the info i saw there was a part 2 to this song and also a parts 2 & 3 to KoCF. well, i forgot i had read there was a part 2 to this one in particular, and i remember i was doing.... something..... and when this song came on and he gets to the "two.... heeeeeeaaded booooooyyyy" part, i stopped DEAD in my tracks, and just bawled.
there's something about pieces that recall something that happened earlier, throwbacks, or reprises, that always fucking ruins me.
Two headed "buoys" on the legendary album cover. In all likelihood this fact has been observed on masse but if not, yay for me.
The sound of genius.
If you saw him live you are among the blessed because it is overwhelming live jx
I’ve had a pretty chaotic week and am just all done with everything. this song that I used to listen to in middle school has been playing in the background of my mind haunting me in my stress. Even though I have been dealing with a frustratingly silent break up after two incredible years and watching my brother grow up hating himself I can’t help but be consumed by these poorly sung words. again and again I hear nothing but noise save for one repeating line that has a new meaning every time I hear it “two-headed boy… she is all you could need” and I wish I didn’t have to watch once again people who were everything to me leave. I am not who I was when I heard this song for the first time and I’m sure I will be a different one when I hear it for my last.
Two headed boy
All floating in glass
The sun it has passed
Now it's blacker than black
I can hear as you tap on your jar
I am listening to hear where you are
I am listening to hear where you are
Two headed boy
Put on Sunday shoes
And dance round the room to accordion keys
With the needle that sings in your heart
Catching signals that sound in the dark
Catching signals that sound in the dark
We will take off our clothes
And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine
And when all is breaking
Everything that you could keep beside
Now your eyes ain't moving
Now they just lay there in their climb
Two headed boy
With pulleys and weights
Creating a radio played just for two
In the parlor with a moon across her face
And through the music he sweetly displays
Silver speakers that sparkle all day
Made for his lover who's floating and choking with her hands across her face
And in the dark we will take off our clothes
And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine
And when all is breaking
Everything that you could keep beside
Now your eyes ain't moving
Now they just lay there in their climb
Two headed boy
There is no reason to grieve
The world that you need is wrapped in gold silver sleeves
Left beneath Christmas trees in the snow
And I will take you and leave you alone
Watching spirals of white softly flow
Over your eyelids and all you did
Will wait until the point when you let go
the bestist song in the universe
This song is mesmerizing
"...and in the dark, we will take off our clothes and we'll be placing fingers to the notches in your spine, and when all is breaking everything that you could keep inside. Now your eyes ain't movin', now, we just lay there in the clouds..."
It's "Now they just lay there in their climb".
okay, thanks :D
+GoldPunkin thank you captain sarcasm, your input was much appreciated.
***** sir, that's racist. check yourself.
edgy af tbh fam
These two songs man... I swear they connect me to a past life. The world on the brink of destruction and hellfire, but our bodies on the brink of verdent spring.
Meh.
you said it
This album make anybody else feel really lonely.
It feels so heavily pining, longing to deeply connect, wanting to be held and never quite getting any of that - or losing it.
Here's the lyrics y'all wanted
[Part 1]
Two headed boy
All floating in glass
The sun it has passed
Now it's blacker than black
I can hear as you tap on your jar
I am listening to hear where you are
I am listening to hear where you are
Two headed boy
Put on Sunday shoes
And dance round the room to accordion keys
With the needle that sings in your heart
Catching signals that sound in the dark
Catching signals that sound in the dark
We will take off our clothes
And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine
And when all is breaking
Everything that you could keep beside
Now your eyes ain't moving
Now they just lay there in their climb
Two headed boy
With pulleys and weights
Creating a radio played just for two
In the parlor with a moon across her face
And through the music he sweetly displays
Silver speakers that sparkle all day
Made for his lover who's floating and choking with her hands across her face
And in the dark we will take off our clothes
And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine
And when all is breaking
Everything that you could keep beside
Now your eyes ain't moving
Now they just lay there in their climb
Two headed boy
There is no reason to grieve
The world that you need is wrapped in gold silver sleeves
Left beneath Christmas trees in the snow
And I will take you and leave you alone
Watching spirals of white softly flow
Over your eyelids and all you did
Will wait until the point when you let go
[Part 2]
Daddy, please hear this song that I sing
In your heart there's a spark that just screams for a lover to bring
A child to your chest that could lay as you sleep
And love all you have left like your boy used to be long ago, wrapped in sheets warm and wet
Blister please with those wings in your spine
Love to be with a brother of mine, how he'd love to find
Your tongue in his teeth in a struggle to find
Secret songs that you keep wrapped in boxes so tight, sounding only at night as you sleep
And in my dreams you're alive and you're crying
As your mouth moves in mine, soft and sweet
Rings of flowers 'round your eyes and I'll love you
For the rest of your life when you're ready
Brother, see we are one in the same
And you left with your head filled with flames and you watched as your brains
Fell out through your teeth, push the pieces in place, make your smile sweet to see
Don't you take this away, I'm still wanting my face on your cheek
And when we break, we'll wait for our miracle
God is a place where some holy spectacle lies
When we break, we'll wait for our miracle
God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life
Two-headed boy, she is all you could need
She will feed you tomatoes and radio wires
And retire to sheets safe and clean
But don't hate her when she gets up to leaveDaddy, please hear this song that I sing
In your heart there's a spark that just screams for a lover to bring
A child to your chest that could lay as you sleep
And love all you have left like your boy used to be long ago, wrapped in sheets warm and wet
Blister please with those wings in your spine
Love to be with a brother of mine, how he'd love to find
Your tongue in his teeth in a struggle to find
Secret songs that you keep wrapped in boxes so tight, sounding only at night as you sleep
And in my dreams you're alive and you're crying
As your mouth moves in mine, soft and sweet
Rings of flowers 'round your eyes and I'll love you
For the rest of your life when you're ready
Brother, see we are one in the same
And you left with your head filled with flames and you watched as your brains
Fell out through your teeth, push the pieces in place, make your smile sweet to see
Don't you take this away, I'm still wanting my face on your cheek
And when we break, we'll wait for our miracle
God is a place where some holy spectacle lies
When we break, we'll wait for our miracle
God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life
Two-headed boy, she is all you could need
She will feed you tomatoes and radio wires
And retire to sheets safe and clean
But don't hate her when she gets up to leave
I’ve seen a bunch of people say this song is gutwrenching but to me it feels… warm? Like that moment right before you drift off to sleep. Cozy and warm but still kind of offputting
I don't know why, but both part 1 and 2 made me cry a lot 🥲
this is the song that puts me to bed every night at 5 am
The world that you need is wrapped in gold silver sleeves
Left beneath Christmas trees in the snow
Masterpiece
Master bait
Rather sad songs, but nonetheless beautiful
This band is so underrated
I think about Carla when I listen to this song .❤
Uncontrollable crying. As if the hand of god touched me now twice. You didnt fail the world. The world failed you. Sadly this will never end for you.
Whether that meant this loneliness or perhaps those uncontrollable crying moments. These moments are not just for me whem i held it in. Also those that died in the past. Im probably releasing their cries. Letting them live once more.
6 am here, only thing that cures my migraine. weirdly enough.
I like this song~~
cool
Do you still do?
wow just had thot......emotional life pre and post this rekkid is so profoundly different that i do declare i can say say say that this this this collection of fabulouso songs made the difference in my life so much I draw a line between and after
apologies for BC pot gummies #zenko
first time I jead this was 90s BF, then I engaged and turned him on to NMH, we got married and now his spirit haunts me as Anne Frank
Wow man, a lot of crazy people in the nmh fanbase
Um. Are you ok? Are you alone right now? It seems like you are having a stroke as you type, you need someone to catch you
best song!!
Dax Riggs did an amazing cover of in the airplane over the sea. If you haven't heard it I recommend checking it out.
another alchemical legend
Kathe fora pou to akouw san na se episkeftomai sto parelthon, gia ligo, gia na parw ligh dynamh. Euxomai na eisai kala.
And in my dreams you’re alive
And you’re crying
As your mouth moves in mine
Soft and sweet
Rings of flowers round your eyes
And I’ll love you
For the rest of your life when you’re ready
My funeral song
brother see we are one and the same, and you left with your head filled with flames
Normally not into Modern music, but this entire album is badass. Very Violent Femmes-ish!
Joseph Lucero Th,,,, this came out in 1998 my dude. Not old old, but still a good 30+ years on it
You ever listen to Tumbleweed ? In Australia?
Ok why is this underviewed
im gonna learn guitar now
How'd it go? ❤
@@bmtsings4843 dropped it after a few days i got a skateboard now, in the aeroplane over the sea still my favourite album of all time though
@@solartea_ Ah, good try anyway. Wish you the best of luck skateboarding! It is a great album that only improves with the number of times you listen to it.
Stay safe!
This sounds so much like my life right now. Waiting for that miracle. It may be true i will wait until im at the end of my life
srsly tho, 4:26 to 4:58 is some of the creepiest sounds I've ever heard... :S
it's created by using a saw and a cello bow. only found out when I saw them in London 3/4 years ago!
Creeped me the fuck out
this song tells the story of my family
You like seriously part one needs some more credit
Amazing
You can't just use the N word just because you re anonymous on the intetmet
Radio play just for 2
The main riff has a Tonight,Tonight (Smashing Pumpkins) vibe
the album art reminds me of mellon collie too
i think she has a tambourine on her head
Ramen broth yeah you can see the little cymbal things
it's a potato
What do you think it's about
greatest
Is this song about a conjoined twin?
I'm here only with the melody chorus of Chosen and Losing Faythe by Dream Theater!
And all you did will wait until the point when you let go /sobbing/
I just heard this song mentioned in scary reddit video. Don't remember the story, was sleeping. Just remember the song.
and they'll be Play♠️Acing fingers through the Not♟Chess in your spine ;)
If I wrote a book, a sprawling Anglian murder mystery for a listless, aging generation, I'd reference this classic. Heathlands by Patrick Norrie. Chapter "Your Heart." Where the needle sings, natch.
Brother we are one in the same ❤
GOLD SILVER SLEEVES ah
God is a place you will wait for all your life
i wont make it bros
We're all gonna make it, bro
Daddy please, hear this song that I sing...
😢
: (
This almost sounds like a gospel song, thanks to the singer's accent and use of _melismas_ (drawn out loud notes).
This song is about eyedol from original Killer instinct . The original, not the terrible re-make.
um... I like it... but... dafuq is it about? from what I can tell, Siamese twincest? which makes me very uncomfortable? I'm not sure why I made that a question?
It was written about how the singer has fallen in love with Anne Frank and fantasizes about spending his life with/saving her but ultimately knowing it's impossible. The other songs of the album provide more context.
Other parts of it are about his brother who committed suicide.
Virtuvirus wtf, how?
that's makes a lot of sense actually, thanks for sharing!
@Virtuvirus That all sounds possible and I can see that angel, but there are direct references to Anne Frank's life, from the content in her diary to her entire family's death.
Who really knows anything more than how mystically and amazingly beautiful it all is, from music to lyric, just perfect.
I don't ever remember listening to anything delivered with such vulnerability and conviction of something not fully understood by the writer. It seems to me like he's just interpreting the sad and powerful imagery in his mind on whatever subject he doesn't fully understand line by line.
And that's the best i could do interpreting the powerful imagery and melodies that i don't fully understand of this album. I'm thankful for it, whatever it is. Seems like it means something different to me every other year I submerge myself into it.
✯
Elliot smith level
why are the comments of every music video filled with sad stories- i just wanna listen to some music, not read a novella
Some people are just cringe attention-seekers.
very weird that you would say this on a neutral milk hotel video
have you tried not reading them
I will take you and leave you alone.
Coulda connected them a lil better tbh
People, wtf are you talking about. This song, the whole of it, is one metaphor after another about records and turntables. I know you’d prefer murky and depressing meanings behind it, but it’s all just about records, sleeves, record players, speakers, platters, cartridges, tonearms, needles, grooves, songs and albums with a start and an end. Just listen carefully and relate.
If you want to feel sad, better look somewhere else
Let people create their own interpretations of it, fucks sake.
they still can do it. They can also write pedantic and intellectual comments about Power Rangers's main theme if they want to.
Have you ever heard the word metaphor?
I no longer need to look elsewhere for sadness, your complete lack of beauty has already exhausted existence.
How can someone be so devoid of imagination?
why is he screaming