What I got out of this commentary: -I remembered Neil is an actual human -Many parts of this album is just Neil reading off of his word of the day calender, browsing wikipedia and justifying his thirft store instrument addiction
You see a lot of self-deprecating stuff nowadays, especially relating to people and their art forms. You see people all the time being unhappy with where they are in their art, or complaining about how “I made this but it’s garbage haha it’s not good” which isn’t exactly healthy- It’s refreshing and can even be inspiring to see someone actually take pride in their work, and acknowledge that “hey, I made this and it’s great! I did so good at this! I’m proud of this!” is very nice. Personally it inspired me to strive to make things I was proud of, to work to improve so I could share my pride in my work with others. (this can go for any art form, be it music, drawing, painting, sewing, pottery, etc.)
I love how he starts with “Hey buddies!” That’s the kind of greeting you would use to address either a kindergarten class or a friendly colony of mice, I love it
I finally understand more about this album and it's 50% inspirational and 50% neil not knowing what he was doing or forgetting how he made the song. It is perfect
Reminds me of Cyriak streaming flipping through his old after effects files and just saying 25% of the time "How did I even do this? / I made this while drunk"
As always, Neil is a complete mood. "Micheal Jackson's still dead." "I like eyes amd all, but they're just windows to the eyes." "I'm glad when I can use a messed-up harp in a song" "Does anybody remember statues that cried blood?" "It looked suspiciously like math, so I didn't really try." "There's something about male-unrelatability in there, but it's mostly just a cloud-man song." "He's a human, you're a mermaid." "Fictional characters need to lighten up a bit." "I consider Reagan a pretty bad president." "Kokomo is not a real place, what are The Beach Boys trying to pull? Is it a tax thing?" "This song makes me think of if _Bruce Wayne's parents_ never died."
the fact that we almost got "father mushroom, ivanushka ushka uh oh oh" instead of "cause im the right one, on my touch tone touch tone telephone" is so cursed and i love it
Fine also got popular but it was sped up and it’s horrible and I hate it just as much as I hate the number 8! (It’s a repulsive number!) Fine sped up is how half my class knows lemon demon, it’s disappointing.
I kinda wish Ivanushka became its own thing, separate from Touch-Tone. The melody is kinda cool, plus I like the part where it gets slow and suddenly speeds up just to transition into the normal part. Also I've watched the movie that this song is based on (i guess?) as a kid, it would be kinda nice to listen to a song made based on something I remember. Edit: I forgot that there is a full Ivanushka version. Damn. Well, good.
"I liked doing this cartoon-ish strict dad because it let me yell most of the lyrics instead of singing, because all I really wanted to do was say things like "Don't talk about the internet" in an unhinged manner.."
My dad doesn’t listen to Neil at all, but I’ve shuffled Spirit phone in the car multiple times and now he constantly says “as your father I expressly forbid it” as a joke to me and I love him so much
this is the first time i've ever heard neil cicierega's speaking voice, so when this came on autoplay i had to do a double take and go, "wait is that him?"
“They should play this at all Father-Daughter dances. Instead of that fucking John Mayer song.” --Neil Cicieriga (I have no idea why, but I busted out laughing at this line.)
24:59 "hEy uh, so I have this theory..... do you like honey???" this entire commentary thing is just Neil saying buck wild shit for an hour and I LOVE IT
@@macbean3446 Maybe he was reading the list of gay anthems (which Two Trucks is on) and trying to write the most ostentatious possible gay anthem. Or maybe he just was listening to Frank Zappa and thought "I could maybe write a song that's sexual and a parody of American culture".
The transition between No-Eyed Girl and When He Died is my favourite transition out of all of them (As Your Father to Earn My Life is a close second) and I'm so glad it's Neil's favourite too
Wow, I would've thought that "sweet bod" was more about how European and Chinese rich people would grind up and consume egyptian mummies for sexual and/or medicinal reasons. That was something that DID happen, and lots of extremely dead people did get eaten because of this, to a point where now we have precious few mummies left.
I’m so glad Neil invented Awards, Telephones, Arcade Machines, Women, Death, Bodies, Wonders, Aliens, Fuzzy Men, Father Figures, Earnings, Ronald Reagan, Objects and Ants
I absolutely LOVE Lemon Demon. Absolutely and entirely. The first three months of this year were just me discovering and jamming out to all the albums under the name Lemon Demon. Neil saying that the way he listens to music being that vocals are just another instrument is amazing to me, since that's exactly how I listen to music, and as far as I know, no one else I know listens to music the same way. Neil if you see this, know that I love your nonsense songs, they're great! Also, I never really care when a creator says thank you for watching and all, it's usually just a "Neat" and I move on, but this one I felt proud of myself and teared up a tiny bit, where I don't cry typically at all. Lemon Demon has been a huge part of my life recently and I know I will always listen to these albums for as long as I'm alive.
Probably silly my bothering to share this, but from what he's told me my dad thinks of vocals in a similar way too, he introduced me to some prog rock stuff when I was younger that I think shaped my interest in music a lot, definitely including my love for lemon demon! There are dozens of us, dozens! (lol)
37:15 CAN WE ALL APPRECIATTE THAT THE FIRST DETAIL NOTE ABOUT SOFT FUZZY MAN IS THAT THEY TURNED THE TITLE INTO A NICKNAME FOR THEIR CAT???? THAT'S LITERALLY THE SWEETEST THING EVER-
I know this sounds like some kindergarten shit but Neil is really such a big role model and inspiration to me. No, I will not give context cause uhh just trust me my brain is a reliable source.
Ah, you have made me think of that every time I listen to eighth wonder. It’s alright though because two trucks is actually good when you block out Neil describing a relationship with trucks.
god, neil's commentary track here has so many quotable lines "What does it mean? ...It's a ghost! That's what it means." "Katy Perry is still relevant, and... Michael Jackson's still dead!" "This is the official anthem for dads, they should play this at father-daughter dances instead of that fucking John Mayer song." "Kokomo isn't a real place, so... What are the Beach Boys trying to pull? Is it a tax thing?"
@@eyemoisturizer Hehe Greek is one of the hardest languages to learn from it's sheer dictionary definitions and expression. Instead of having 1 word to describe multiple things, Greeks have multiple words to describe one thing. Alot of words are also in addition with each other to create even more words (fun fact 15% of the entirety of english language are Greek words exacly as they are. For example the word "Γεωγραφια" / Geography comes from "Γή" = Earth and "Γραφή" = writting essentially meaning "writting the earth" which is exacly what it is.) Panacea sounds exacly like that in Greek but just replace the C as S to a hard K and change the vowel highlight on the na. Basicly Greek doesn't exacly have an ascend just like japanese. The vowels are said loud and clear. Panacea is used preety rarely afar from jokes (since it's a miracle medicine). I myself was preety suprised that Niel used this word, it fit almost perfectly in context. (Wow this dragged of you prob just made a simple comment and I just started blathering left and right, oops).
R.I.P Redd The Fox ????-202 "Then there's one track doing all of the in-between notes, and that one sounds really funny on it's own. It's just me going: BAH. BAH. BAUH. BAH. 𝓫𝓾𝓱. BAH, 𝓫𝓪𝓱."
timestamps because i haven't seen a comment with them yet (some are based on when neil starts talking about it) 0:00 - Lifetime Achievement Award 6:06 - Touch-Tone Telephone 10:49 - Cabinet Man 15:13 - No Eyed Girl 19:16 - When He Died 24:08 - Sweet Bod 28:13 - Eighth Wonder 32:58 - Ancient Aliens 37:15 - Soft Fuzzy Man 40:10 - As Your Father I Expressly Forbid It 43:00 - I Earn My Life 46:13 - Reaganomics 49:45 - Man-Made Object 53:24 - Spiral of Ants bonus tracks happen all in quick succession 56:27 - Crisis Actors 56:47 - Redesign Your Logo 57:08 - Pizza Heroes 57:20 - You're at the Party 57:35 - Angry People 57:48 - Geocities & Angelfire 58:07 - Gravitron 58:31 - Moon's Request 58:46 - Cat Hacks 59:09 - Kubrick and the Beast 59:20 - Overall thoughts on the project
near the end i was zoning out and then i heard neil say "creator alex hirsch" and my immediate reaction made me cough so much i started to choke on my saliva
What I gathered from this is- Most artists: Come up with a theme/message that they want to convey, then craft a metaphor to portray it. Neil Cicierega: Comes up with a fun image, plot, or random topic to sing about, and inadvertently crafts a metaphor/meaning around it. and I mean that in the best way.
His comments on not really putting a lot of thought into the meanings and metaphors when listening to songs hit home. I’m really shit at detecting metaphors and themes in songs/literature/etc so I super feel that. My own writing tends to be very to-the-point and easy to parse because of this. I appreciate that I have permission to interpret songs that simply and literally-Spiral of Ants can just be about ants. :)
Geez, same here, and it’s something I feel terrible about- I take everything at face value, which makes me nervous at the thought of attempting song writing. This analysis of his made me realize hey, you can literally write about anything you want. You don’t need to have some deeper meaning or value to everything.
i can pull a pretty convincing theory out of my ass when i need to but for the most part i dont think about the lyrics too far past what neil consciously puts into his songs which is rather convenient for me
The reason why I love Spirit Phone is because I felt that the lyrics were to be taken literally and I didn't have to try to parse any hidden metaphors or understand what the songs "really meant". When Neil said that he listened to vocals "like it was just another instrument" I got so happy 'cause that's how I've always listened to music and I've gotten so many weird looks from people, but now I know I'm not the only one 😭
This is one of my favorite albums. I know every note. And yet, after listening to this, I have so much new appreciation for this album. It's crazy how much work he put into this. Also, I've been interpreting some of these lyrics completely wrong this entire time! And Neil, if you're reading this, I do plan on actually buying this commentary.
38:18 that entire sentence sounded like he talked on a morning show radio. You know as soon as the song starts (or at its end) they say sth similar with that exact tone and then the song plays out. That made me feel a vague fuzzy embrace.
@@deathtrooper2169 *Neil’s voice did bless my dreams, I had a dream about me and him going down an infinite slide after I watch this video and fell asleep*
i particularly like the album cover, the monochromatic color scheme, the cat and those lens flare things. i like to think that the part where the lens flares cross each other and make a third little sparkle belongs to a ghost in the background.
I gotta say, as one of those maniacs who listens to the lyrics, I have to say that I love insane lyrics. It’s so much fun to Decipher the lyrics song and come up with what I think it means, then watch this or go to Wikipedia and find out how wrong I was. Plus honestly, after I know what they mean I just jam out and sing along with the nonsense because that’s what life is.
55:35 I won't lie, Neil's songs would lose a lot of value to me if they didn't have such excellent themes and lyrical meaning, It's likely I wouldn't even listen to him if that was the case.
Yeah part of me was definitely disappointed when he brought up how he goes with a general theme or metaphor for a song without giving a ton of meaning to it. Then again, this album was a lot better than his previous ones when it came to interesting storytelling in my opinion, so I hope he continues in that direction for his next one
I do appreciate how his lyrics have gotten more evocative, but I also like a lot of his older lyrics to songs where it was either much more literal or mostly nonsense. I'd love to hear some of those with better production (and singing), but I think Neil's kinda moved on from those old songs and doesn't intend to revisit them.
Honestly Neil not having much of a deeper metaphorical meaning to a lot of his songs feels kinda freeing to me, cause sometimes knowing that I'm not, I dunno, stepping on the creator's toes emotionally, or ignoring some meaning that's important to them, makes it easier to let myself just go on a brain journey to whatever kind of theme I like. Like, to Neil it may just be honest fascination and fondness for this story about a ghost mongoose, but that won't stop me from feeling some kind of way about him going ham on the vocals, yknow? (also very fun to do with some of the older stuff that edges more on complete nonsense lyrics, Boat is a particular favorite of mine, great to zone out and jam to)(immediate edit lmao: oooh and Mold En Mono, also fantastic)
![No Place Like Home [Full Movie] (DVD Rip)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fva97uHIBBg/mqdefault.jpg)
when he said "do you like honey" I got scared that he was about to do an ad read
That's the real horror
"speaking of, this commentary album was sponsored by honey! honey is a free onli-"
remember kids, honey saves you money
[insert me commenting about the OSC pfp instead of the comment itself.]
@@hmmm.74 OSC related things are the most fun kind of dog whistle.
"hate sex leads to evil babies" -Neil Cicierega
Pog
homestuck
*F A C T*
@@BoogsNStuff SHUT
@@oreo625 im right.
I just realized I haven’t heard Neil just talking until now. He sounds so normal lmao
True.
i think th first time I heard Neil talk was probably the View Monster promo
u probably already have! ever seen that "50 states' official nightmares" video?
or potter puppet pals?
He sound exactly like he does during "Redeisgn your Logo" , but different... I feel strange.
"I like eyes and all, but they're just the window to the eyes".
P o g
@Quinn Thompson pp
"I like eyes and all, but i'm more of an ass person"
@Quinn Thompson pzzp
Deep
What I got out of this commentary:
-I remembered Neil is an actual human
-Many parts of this album is just Neil reading off of his word of the day calender, browsing wikipedia and justifying his thirft store instrument addiction
He’s not a human species-wise, we’ve all agreed to that.
He’s probably like... a siren or something.
SIREN NEIL
SIREN NEIL
SIREN NEIL- YOU'RE GIVING ME IDEAS
@@thesejokesarentfunnyyetthe9522 you’re right he’s half human and half machine
1.4k like
I love how much of this is him saying "i wanted to do this cool thing but i'm not talented enough so i faked it
That's how creativity is tho. You fake it like it's good and eventually you actually get something good
Great comment, even greater profile picture.
Great comment, even greater profile picture.
Ez
Neil saying "I really hit that note there" during when he died makes me super happy for some reason
NO JOKE I WAS LISTENING TO THIS AND I SCROLLED TO THIS COMMENT _EXACTLY_ WHEN HE SAID THAT
unrelated but i like your pfp lmao
INDEED YOU FUCKEN DID NEIL! WOOOOO
STAMP
You see a lot of self-deprecating stuff nowadays, especially relating to people and their art forms. You see people all the time being unhappy with where they are in their art, or complaining about how “I made this but it’s garbage haha it’s not good” which isn’t exactly healthy- It’s refreshing and can even be inspiring to see someone actually take pride in their work, and acknowledge that “hey, I made this and it’s great! I did so good at this! I’m proud of this!” is very nice. Personally it inspired me to strive to make things I was proud of, to work to improve so I could share my pride in my work with others.
(this can go for any art form, be it music, drawing, painting, sewing, pottery, etc.)
i wish neil was real
Neil exists in real life!
@@hamptoncomics he does not
whoa!
yea me too
Me too :/
I love how he starts with
“Hey buddies!”
That’s the kind of greeting you would use to address either a kindergarten class or a friendly colony of mice, I love it
The lemon demon fandom is a mix of both :)
colony of ants*
we are his ant farm
as soon as you click on one of his songs you become his buddy
@@eyemoisturizer spiral* of ants
I finally understand more about this album and it's 50% inspirational and 50% neil not knowing what he was doing or forgetting how he made the song. It is perfect
True.
Reminds me of Cyriak streaming flipping through his old after effects files and just saying 25% of the time "How did I even do this? / I made this while drunk"
YEAH
"like yeah, jokes jokes jokes, *but no im serious,* ok back to jokes"
Pog
luckynevx..........
@@kayaaa2686 DO YOU LIKE JOKES
@@s3ep108 erm... yes 😇😇🙏
this really is a kinnie thread and im all for it
As always, Neil is a complete mood.
"Micheal Jackson's still dead."
"I like eyes amd all, but they're just windows to the eyes."
"I'm glad when I can use a messed-up harp in a song"
"Does anybody remember statues that cried blood?"
"It looked suspiciously like math, so I didn't really try."
"There's something about male-unrelatability in there, but it's mostly just a cloud-man song."
"He's a human, you're a mermaid."
"Fictional characters need to lighten up a bit."
"I consider Reagan a pretty bad president."
"Kokomo is not a real place, what are The Beach Boys trying to pull? Is it a tax thing?"
"This song makes me think of if _Bruce Wayne's parents_ never died."
"Please just let me sing about Bugs"
“hate sex leads to evil babies”
Pog
You’re forgetting, “I get to plagiarize myself!”
"It was long before I thought about putting body parts in a videogame cabinet"
the fact that we almost got "father mushroom, ivanushka ushka uh oh oh" instead of "cause im the right one, on my touch tone touch tone telephone" is so cursed and i love it
the ivanushka version went viral on tiktok recently. idk why
@@stormcloudsabound yeah it's kinda weird??
Fine also got popular but it was sped up and it’s horrible and I hate it just as much as I hate the number 8! (It’s a repulsive number!)
Fine sped up is how half my class knows lemon demon, it’s disappointing.
@@Boppercatsped up??? 🤢
I kinda wish Ivanushka became its own thing, separate from Touch-Tone. The melody is kinda cool, plus I like the part where it gets slow and suddenly speeds up just to transition into the normal part. Also I've watched the movie that this song is based on (i guess?) as a kid, it would be kinda nice to listen to a song made based on something I remember.
Edit: I forgot that there is a full Ivanushka version. Damn. Well, good.
"I liked doing this cartoon-ish strict dad because it let me yell most of the lyrics instead of singing, because all I really wanted to do was say things like "Don't talk about the internet" in an unhinged manner.."
40:45
"Eyes are just the window to the eyes."
~Neil Cicierega
Dang that's deep
Pog
"this is a commentary track, for an album"
oh thanks for reminding me neil i thought this was the michelle obama podcast at first
Ah yes cool
"Michael Jackson is still dead"
Bro deaf people might be listening so he said it again so they could hear
@@classyified2153 deaf people can't hear
@@LemonBattery Ok
i love how half of the synths/drums/weird noises on this album come from some old half-broken electronic device that he found in someone’s basement
This sounds like he stole those electronics. Wait why the hell am I commenting before finishing the video?
@@masicbemester i’d believe it
@Megafauna I would be extremely confused because I don't have a basement
@Megafauna I would tie him up and force him to open a portal to whatever dimension he came from
@Megafauna id let him
1:12 I just noticed that he and his recording say “ quote unquote” at almost the same time
I feel like he paused a second before to wait and try to sync it up.
Once an jokester always a jokester
Pogs
"so people can just know im not dead" almost directly after "even katy perry knows youre dead
I KNEW i wasn’t the only person who thought about that
stack multiple cats for that extra vertical cat value,
hello brother
Y e s
Indeed
I loved that bit lmaoo☠
the comma at the end adds so much to this
My dad doesn’t listen to Neil at all, but I’ve shuffled Spirit phone in the car multiple times and now he constantly says “as your father I expressly forbid it” as a joke to me and I love him so much
What an absolute legend
i played “as your father I expressly forbid it” in the car one time with my dad and he thought it was funny c:
Petition to let Neil sing about bugs that don't matter
edit: petition has reached over 100 likes.... someone tell Neil he can sing about bugs now
hell yeah
hell yeah part 2
hell yeah part 3
hell yeah part 4
hell yeah part 5
I can sleep to this man's voice
Ikr it's so satisfying
I’m trying to do that but I’m reading the comments
ikr but then I get a little creeped out by the supernatural stuff
I agree
Best ASMR
Neil : maybe it's a ghost
Me : maybe it's smash mouth
Pogs
@@beansnsteakmakepeoplequake8821 poggers wait wtf this was 5 minutes ago?
Spyderz Always has been
Spyderz also uh my discord username is Yokai#9026 if you wanna add me 😳
Mouth dreams
imagine neil for 5 minutes explaining why he wrote two trucks
Aight i need this now
"so i went down the rabbit hole of the transformers fandom"
**slams credit card on table**
"so i saw these trucks and instantly thought "Yeah, theyre gay... Hey what if i wrote a song about that""
"Car crashes exist.. truck crashes. So just pretend their having sex, i'm not getting legal issues."
this is the first time i've ever heard neil cicierega's speaking voice, so when this came on autoplay i had to do a double take and go, "wait is that him?"
bahaha, i had the same reaction! i had to double-check to make sure it wasn't someone else commentating
I love that other ENA fans love Neil too
I was trying to find videos for my unlisted cursed spirit phone playlist and clicked on commentary out of context and was like “okay who- w a i t -“
same but i knew this is what he sounded like at the same time, like i just k n e w
Its 3 am and i read autoplay as autopsy. considering the topics in the album it didnt immediately register i read wrong
“They should play this at all Father-Daughter dances. Instead of that fucking John Mayer song.”
--Neil Cicieriga
(I have no idea why, but I busted out laughing at this line.)
busted? you sure about that?
@@FiSH-iSH can you. *not.*
Did bustin make you feel good?
@@VagueNaming w h a t
@@eyemoisturizer er- it’s a reference to another one of Neils songs, not a sex joke… I probably should’ve specified
me before neil cicierega :|
me after neil cicierega: :)
24:59 "hEy uh, so I have this theory..... do you like honey???" this entire commentary thing is just Neil saying buck wild shit for an hour
and I LOVE IT
the capital e really adds to this quote.
@@cy-bernet-ix thank youuu
@@starscj2757 no problem, i find the weirdest shit funny
@@cy-bernet-ix if you don’t find weird shit funny then you’re weird for being normal
neil needs to do audio books or podcasts or something. i love his voice! it's so calming :')
True, though
he does do a podcast with freind sof his, i belive.
he does do a podcast, it's called guaranteed audio!
I love his voice too
@@vodkapaccheri woah, seriously?? I had no clue! I'll have to check it out :'))
"most of my songs are based off of Wikipedia binges" *What the hell led you to Sweet Bod then*
t h e m e l l i f i e d m a n
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellified_man the article actually mentions the song in the "In popular culture" section so that's neat
what the hell led him to Two Trucks
@@macbean3446 Maybe he was reading the list of gay anthems (which Two Trucks is on) and trying to write the most ostentatious possible gay anthem. Or maybe he just was listening to Frank Zappa and thought "I could maybe write a song that's sexual and a parody of American culture".
@@hickorymccay2994 * whispers: two trucks is a- it’s a WHAT?!?! *
The transition between No-Eyed Girl and When He Died is my favourite transition out of all of them (As Your Father to Earn My Life is a close second) and I'm so glad it's Neil's favourite too
It has a strangely wistful feeling
I also like Ancient Aliens into Soft Fuzzy Man, plus the loop from Spiral of Ants back to Lifetime Achievement Award is really cool.
@@QuicksilverStudios0w0614 ofc the Spiral of Ants -> LAA is iconic!!! the thunder is so good
Fun Fact: Brodyquest transition to As Your Father perfectly
THIS
Wow, I would've thought that "sweet bod" was more about how European and Chinese rich people would grind up and consume egyptian mummies for sexual and/or medicinal reasons. That was something that DID happen, and lots of extremely dead people did get eaten because of this, to a point where now we have precious few mummies left.
Pog
I need to look into that. That is very disturbing, just imagine dusty old rich ppl consuming honey glazed corpse 🤢 some horror movie shit right there
Some ancient mummy dipped in barbecue sauce mixed with mayo
God I knew about the fact that people ate mummies but the fact that it was partially for sexual reasons is really fucking me up rn
✨ Cannibalism is *sexy* ✨
I thought there were maybe hidden meanings but no. mongoose ghost.
Monghost
gef
I mean the story is just cool man I would love to have a ghost mongoose terrorizing my decisions from within my walls
Ghost Mongeese eat Snake Demons.
@@lgbtqiarights Gef
Fun Fact: His sister worked on The Owl House
it seems they have some similar out-of-this-world interests. :D
also gravity falls
He’s like besties with Alex Hirsch lol
@@jcstrikesagain684 WAIT NO
@@KainoPhoeno Yepp
I’m so glad Neil invented Awards, Telephones, Arcade Machines, Women, Death, Bodies, Wonders, Aliens, Fuzzy Men, Father Figures, Earnings, Ronald Reagan, Objects and Ants
God Neil sucks for making Ronald Reagan.
and Mongooses (mongeese?)
Im so glad neil invented angels, angry people, the moon
I’m so glad he invented hacks and cats too, real sad he’s not real tho :(
COLA ITS ME GOOFER
i pray to god neil one day finishes his view-monster commentary.
Cool
yesssss i would love to see that
I don’t think he will :/ it’s been over 10 years and it sounded like he went through a goth phase while making it lmao
amen, we need more of the funny truck man talking about weird shit
i think he gave up after he realized that he was struggling on the last few songs on dinosaurchestra
Neil thanking us at the end had my eyes hurting
Pog
Yeah I was actually crying
@@oishi_sammich4542same
I absolutely LOVE Lemon Demon. Absolutely and entirely. The first three months of this year were just me discovering and jamming out to all the albums under the name Lemon Demon. Neil saying that the way he listens to music being that vocals are just another instrument is amazing to me, since that's exactly how I listen to music, and as far as I know, no one else I know listens to music the same way. Neil if you see this, know that I love your nonsense songs, they're great! Also, I never really care when a creator says thank you for watching and all, it's usually just a "Neat" and I move on, but this one I felt proud of myself and teared up a tiny bit, where I don't cry typically at all. Lemon Demon has been a huge part of my life recently and I know I will always listen to these albums for as long as I'm alive.
Probably silly my bothering to share this, but from what he's told me my dad thinks of vocals in a similar way too, he introduced me to some prog rock stuff when I was younger that I think shaped my interest in music a lot, definitely including my love for lemon demon!
There are dozens of us, dozens! (lol)
I'm the same way, maybe that's probably one of the reasons I like Lemon Demon so much
I use this album when I rollerblade down the street at high speeds at 1 am. The constant energy is perfect for dancing on rollerblades.
that sounds like a fantasy. amazing.
I would slam on the concrete and die if I did that
what a vibe
Can confirm I do the same thing but skateboarding
@@Vileplume87 that’s a badass way to go out
37:15
CAN WE ALL APPRECIATTE THAT THE FIRST DETAIL NOTE ABOUT SOFT FUZZY MAN IS THAT THEY TURNED THE TITLE INTO A NICKNAME FOR THEIR CAT???? THAT'S LITERALLY THE SWEETEST THING EVER-
22:34 what happens here is the laughing record sound actually plays out of nowhere. It scared the shit out of me when I first heard the vinyl.
Thank you for the info! :D
@@scaleonkhan183 no prob :))
thats terrifying
@@leelol111 love the niki pfp :D
I know this sounds like some kindergarten shit but Neil is really such a big role model and inspiration to me. No, I will not give context cause uhh just trust me my brain is a reliable source.
Same, honestly
Same here
hear hear I believe you
Same
Neil is actually the reason why I started making music myself
55:49 "Please, just let me sing about... bugs. Bugs that don't matter. That's all I wanna do."
That is oddly relateable.
he can sing about bug now
the desperation in his voice is what gets me. i'm one of the people he's terrified of, that listen to lyrics, and it almost made me feel bad. almost.
the desperation in his voice is what gets me. i'm one of the people he's terrified of, that listen to lyrics, and it almost made me feel bad. almost.
Neil: "I just want to sing about bugs"
Next song: "SPIRAL OF ANTS"
let the man sing about bugs
Ok so this has nothing to do with the comment but Jackson I am subbed to all the same channels
I animated an entire loop of a little character I created, and I finished animating at exactly the moment the video ended.
This is great.
Pogs
*NPG lowers shades*
“found you”
@@redpepper74 O SHIT-
Impressive!!!
The first time I heard this I drew wakko warner fanart
2:50 “And Michael Jackson’s still dead!”
...For now
Ahahah
anybody gonna tell neil that mike's not dead anymore
That’s being revised!
@@redpepper74 Even as we speak we're synthesizing blood and organs
@@thebluhu2096 Synthesizing heart and soul!
No matter how many times I listen to it, the beginning of Eighth Wonder always sounds like its gonna be a fancy sophisticated version of Two Trucks
that's all I'm going to think about when i listen to it now
same aghhh two trucks has ruined my brain
Two Trucks engaging in sexual intercourse
two truckeths
Ah, you have made me think of that every time I listen to eighth wonder. It’s alright though because two trucks is actually good when you block out Neil describing a relationship with trucks.
*"Hate sex leads to evil babies"* I will keep this in mind. Thank you Neil.
49:17 "and y'know, Kokomo is not a real place so, what're the Beach Boys trying to pull?"
This made me laugh too hard.
Pog
“Is it a tax thing??”
"I-is it a tax thing."
i was like "bro i live in kokomo wtf???"
Now we know what song is going to permeate mouth sounds 5
i didn't know what i expected neil's speaking voice to sound like, but i didn't expect it to be summer camp counseler
Homestuck?
Homestuck.
Homestuck!
homestuck
chain brokedn 😆
I don't have anything to do so I've just been reading comments I don't understand yet and admiring his facial structure for the past hour
@Wet Johnny NO I CAN'T UNSEE IT
same B)
god, neil's commentary track here has so many quotable lines
"What does it mean? ...It's a ghost! That's what it means."
"Katy Perry is still relevant, and... Michael Jackson's still dead!"
"This is the official anthem for dads, they should play this at father-daughter dances instead of that fucking John Mayer song."
"Kokomo isn't a real place, so... What are the Beach Boys trying to pull? Is it a tax thing?"
he sounds like the nicest person on earth and then turns around and writes a song about tampering with human remains
it's so funny. his music and the rest of his content is so off-the-wall batshit insane but the man himself is just a nice little guy
I wish he was my dad
I never realized the doo wop influence on No Eyed Girl, it's so clear now. I've always loved how When He Died uses the 50s progression tho
Pog
@@beansnsteakmakepeoplequake8821 poggegrs
Spyderz I just spam pog on comments. Check the top reply’s to find pog
"And you know, Kokomo is not a real place. So what are the Beach Boys trying to pull? Is it a tax thing?" - Neil Cicierega
What's your pfp, it looks cool
it's absolutely a tax thing. the beach boys are tax evading
Timestamp?
Wait he’s so chill
I'm so glad Neil Cicierega isn't real and Neil just made him up for this commentary track
Wdym glad :(
@@gatlina6019 It’s… sarcasm. 🤨
I'm so glad Ronald Reagan isn't real and Neil made him up for the album.
When He Died is the most Lemon Demon song there is. its macabe, whimsical, slightly sinister, and very satisfying at the end.
it’s macabre, just so you know :)
Love Neil saying quote-unquote as he says it in his song.
This commentary just makes me love this album even more.
Pog
Pog
Pog
i like how he says *hey buddies* it makes me feel an emotion
Emotions? Wow
That was unfunny I should go to bed
"One solution is for me not to take 8 years to make an album"
Uh oh!
04:48 ...I'd never realised it was "You're unnatural, babe!" and *not* "You're a natural, babe!" before
SAME ESDVB
SAMEEEE
Fun fact: Panacea comes from the Greek word "πανάκεια" which means "medicine that cures everything"
I had a stroke reading that greek word
@@eyemoisturizer
Hehe Greek is one of the hardest languages to learn from it's sheer dictionary definitions and expression. Instead of having 1 word to describe multiple things, Greeks have multiple words to describe one thing. Alot of words are also in addition with each other to create even more words (fun fact 15% of the entirety of english language are Greek words exacly as they are. For example the word "Γεωγραφια" / Geography comes from "Γή" = Earth and "Γραφή" = writting essentially meaning "writting the earth" which is exacly what it is.)
Panacea sounds exacly like that in Greek but just replace the C as S to a hard K and change the vowel highlight on the na.
Basicly Greek doesn't exacly have an ascend just like japanese. The vowels are said loud and clear.
Panacea is used preety rarely afar from jokes (since it's a miracle medicine).
I myself was preety suprised that Niel used this word, it fit almost perfectly in context.
(Wow this dragged of you prob just made a simple comment and I just started blathering left and right, oops).
1. i only know this word because of the novel “a gentleman’s guide to vice and virtue” or something
2. hello morgana
i did greek classes but i only learned the majority of the alphabet so i read it pretty well
@@sambru505 Yeah it's a preety rare word to use. I haven't heard it personally in over 6 years.
Now I want a commentary on his mashup albums.
Not a commentary but he did a guaranteed audio episode on mouth dreams
@@una_10bananas Where can i find it
And he did an interview with Anthony Fantano, the internet's busiest music nerd, about the first two.
My takeaway from this is that Neil's cat is named Soft Fuzzy Man
Neil’s cat’s real name was Maui! (sadly they passed away)
@@evilpossessedcat9572 I DIDN’T KNOW THAT IT DIED, RIP MAUI :((
heheheheheheheh😊😊😊😊
Everything this lad says is a quote I would gladly have on my tombstone
R.I.P
Redd The Fox
????-2021
“And you know, Kokomo is not a real place. so what are The Beach Boys trying to pull? Is it a tax thing?”
R.I.P
Redd The Fox
????-2021
"it's not a sex thing"
@@frigusium7216 purely professional
R.I.P.
Redd The Fox
????-2021
“This ending was a new composition for the album”
R.I.P
Redd The Fox
????-202
"Then there's one track doing all of the in-between notes, and that one sounds really funny on it's own. It's just me going: BAH. BAH. BAUH. BAH. 𝓫𝓾𝓱. BAH, 𝓫𝓪𝓱."
“Kokomo isn’t a real place.”
Me: *sweats in Indiana*
"What are the Beach Boys trying to pull? =~= Is it a tax thing?.."
Due to my strong personal convictions I wish to stress that this comment in no way endorses a belief in Kokomo.
same the first time i heard this i was so confused
Indiana isn't a real place
timestamps because i haven't seen a comment with them yet (some are based on when neil starts talking about it)
0:00 - Lifetime Achievement Award
6:06 - Touch-Tone Telephone
10:49 - Cabinet Man
15:13 - No Eyed Girl
19:16 - When He Died
24:08 - Sweet Bod
28:13 - Eighth Wonder
32:58 - Ancient Aliens
37:15 - Soft Fuzzy Man
40:10 - As Your Father I Expressly Forbid It
43:00 - I Earn My Life
46:13 - Reaganomics
49:45 - Man-Made Object
53:24 - Spiral of Ants
bonus tracks happen all in quick succession
56:27 - Crisis Actors
56:47 - Redesign Your Logo
57:08 - Pizza Heroes
57:20 - You're at the Party
57:35 - Angry People
57:48 - Geocities & Angelfire
58:07 - Gravitron
58:31 - Moon's Request
58:46 - Cat Hacks
59:09 - Kubrick and the Beast
59:20 - Overall thoughts on the project
This comment needs to be pinned
i just used inspect element to change all the song titles in this comment to Touch-Tone Telephone
THANK YOU
Thanks 🙏🏻
The strings in touch tone telephone have always scratched my "pick up the violin" part of the brain
“Fictional characters need to lighten up a bit”
I love your profile picture!
Catrin Lewis oh really? thanks
i drew it a long time ago, i wonder if i have the original image somewhere
Honestly true
engineer gaming?
@@teawastaken engineer gaming
"I like eyes and all, but... They're just the window... To the eyes"
@@HeyJinx Prospit or derse? ;)
@@HeyJinx Me too :)
near the end i was zoning out and then i heard neil say "creator alex hirsch" and my immediate reaction made me cough so much i started to choke on my saliva
"there's something in there about male unrelatability, but mostly it's just a cloud man song"
karly if you see this, i finally listened to the whole thing
how'd you know id be back here?
Pogs tho
Nice
@@beansnsteakmakepeoplequake8821 S T O P
@@Ivan14XYU no.
Plot twist: Neil's secretly the cat in the cover image
Hate you break it to you but the cat on the cover is dead :(
and the soft fuzzy man is actually the guy
Kinda makes sense, I also thought that the guy in the cover didn't look much like Neil, so ye, it's just some guy holding Neil in his true form
@@gunkymcsplunky Rip the best Soft Fuzzy Man
6:24 sounds like the dog of wisdom
Pog tho.
😳
If your ball is too big for your mouth, it's not yours.
ball-eve it or not im walking on air
what i got out of this commentary: every copy of cabinet man is personalized
hearing neil say shit was the best part of my day
he said the fuck word too
I'm confused on why, but take my like, and an extra cookie thrown in too because you have good taste in music 🍪
What I gathered from this is-
Most artists: Come up with a theme/message that they want to convey, then craft a metaphor to portray it.
Neil Cicierega: Comes up with a fun image, plot, or random topic to sing about, and inadvertently crafts a metaphor/meaning around it.
and I mean that in the best way.
23:21 i cant explain it but the bit where hes like "i really hit that note" is just the :] emoticon
oh my god yes
His comments on not really putting a lot of thought into the meanings and metaphors when listening to songs hit home. I’m really shit at detecting metaphors and themes in songs/literature/etc so I super feel that. My own writing tends to be very to-the-point and easy to parse because of this. I appreciate that I have permission to interpret songs that simply and literally-Spiral of Ants can just be about ants. :)
Geez, same here, and it’s something I feel terrible about- I take everything at face value, which makes me nervous at the thought of attempting song writing. This analysis of his made me realize hey, you can literally write about anything you want. You don’t need to have some deeper meaning or value to everything.
i can pull a pretty convincing theory out of my ass when i need to but for the most part i dont think about the lyrics too far past what neil consciously puts into his songs which is rather convenient for me
neil being an unreliable narrator about his own album
AGFJHKIL EXACTLY
The reason why I love Spirit Phone is because I felt that the lyrics were to be taken literally and I didn't have to try to parse any hidden metaphors or understand what the songs "really meant". When Neil said that he listened to vocals "like it was just another instrument" I got so happy 'cause that's how I've always listened to music and I've gotten so many weird looks from people, but now I know I'm not the only one 😭
"i like eyes and all, but they're just a window to the eyes"
I watched this a lot longer then I thought I would
Po
@@beansnsteakmakepeoplequake8821 g
I heard the newer Reaganomics first and I actually prefer that one lol
Its because the demo for Reaganomics was out for like ages before this came out
Pp
same here
This is one of my favorite albums. I know every note. And yet, after listening to this, I have so much new appreciation for this album. It's crazy how much work he put into this. Also, I've been interpreting some of these lyrics completely wrong this entire time! And Neil, if you're reading this, I do plan on actually buying this commentary.
Ikr
Po g
There is no right way to interpret lyrics bc death of the author. But yeah it is cool to see this
The only thing I learned from this video was that Neil loves obscure myths/history as much as I do
"What are the beach boys trying to pull? Is it a tax thing?"
neil’s voice makes me feel safe idk what it is, it just feels like a warm hug or something :)
I want him to feed me soup lol
@@Jen_issokool I want him to be my dad
I want him to to adopt me
38:18 that entire sentence sounded like he talked on a morning show radio. You know as soon as the song starts (or at its end) they say sth similar with that exact tone and then the song plays out. That made me feel a vague fuzzy embrace.
Oh, that’s amusing. I like that :>
_fuzzy_
*I have listened to this all, I shall now go sleep.*
Rest now You have earned it, May neil's voice bless your dreams
@@deathtrooper2169 *Neil’s voice did bless my dreams, I had a dream about me and him going down an infinite slide after I watch this video and fell asleep*
this is EXACTLY what i plan on doing. Its 7:30 am and im like, 22 minutes in
Wouldn’t that literally just be *mouth dreams* ?
I just wanna sing about BUGS
*oh no he’s really charismatic and insightful and his voice is really relaxing and now i’m going to have a strange crush on him for a while*
ikniwri
oh
I understand but oh
me
IM A GAY GUY AND I FEEL THE SAME WAY FUCK
and not to mention he’s a nerd and nerds are pretty
i particularly like the album cover, the monochromatic color scheme, the cat and those lens flare things. i like to think that the part where the lens flares cross each other and make a third little sparkle belongs to a ghost in the background.
Oh that’s actually really creative and cool lol
Omg I never thought of it as a ghost that’s awesome
It's actually biblical, Neil is dad, cat is boy, ghost is the holy phantom
i want this man to read me a bedtime story.
fr 😭
this is as close as it gets maybe:
ruclips.net/video/CGJXFSeKX3A/видео.html
I gotta say, as one of those maniacs who listens to the lyrics, I have to say that I love insane lyrics. It’s so much fun to Decipher the lyrics song and come up with what I think it means, then watch this or go to Wikipedia and find out how wrong I was. Plus honestly, after I know what they mean I just jam out and sing along with the nonsense because that’s what life is.
6:21 I'm sorry but neil making those ba ba ba noises really made me say "aww" out loud at 3 am
I often say “aww” when Neil (and him specifically) does something cute
"eyes are the window to the eyes"
-Niel Cicirega
55:35 I won't lie, Neil's songs would lose a lot of value to me if they didn't have such excellent themes and lyrical meaning, It's likely I wouldn't even listen to him if that was the case.
Yeah part of me was definitely disappointed when he brought up how he goes with a general theme or metaphor for a song without giving a ton of meaning to it. Then again, this album was a lot better than his previous ones when it came to interesting storytelling in my opinion, so I hope he continues in that direction for his next one
True.
I don't know. Lyrical meaning or no, his songs are a bop.
I do appreciate how his lyrics have gotten more evocative, but I also like a lot of his older lyrics to songs where it was either much more literal or mostly nonsense. I'd love to hear some of those with better production (and singing), but I think Neil's kinda moved on from those old songs and doesn't intend to revisit them.
Honestly Neil not having much of a deeper metaphorical meaning to a lot of his songs feels kinda freeing to me, cause sometimes knowing that I'm not, I dunno, stepping on the creator's toes emotionally, or ignoring some meaning that's important to them, makes it easier to let myself just go on a brain journey to whatever kind of theme I like.
Like, to Neil it may just be honest fascination and fondness for this story about a ghost mongoose, but that won't stop me from feeling some kind of way about him going ham on the vocals, yknow?
(also very fun to do with some of the older stuff that edges more on complete nonsense lyrics, Boat is a particular favorite of mine, great to zone out and jam to)(immediate edit lmao: oooh and Mold En Mono, also fantastic)