I apologize if someone already addressed this issue. Please point me to the thread if that is the case, but I've listened to this song 7,322,111 times and I still come up with new interpretations. I believe the general thrust of the song is a statement about the idealistic relationship and that it's impossible, why bother? Insert "meaningless sex" for "idealistic relationship" and you have another interpretation.


Somebody, anybody?


And the first one tore a picture
Of a dead and hanging man
Who was kissing foreign fishes
That flew right out from this hands
And when I put my arms around him
I felt the blushing blood run through my cheeks
And an eeriness surrounded when his tongue began to speak
And he said...Oh boy you are so pretty
Enough to wrap tight in rice-paper string...
And when I finally kissed him the whole world began to ring
Lost like a bell that's tipping over
With two cracks along both sides
And I knew the world was over so I took a look outside
And watched the fires that were reaching
Up to the weather vane and the tops of trees
And the waiting scene and the sunday dream
They're all waiting here for me

-----------------
The first part is his initial experience. Whether that experience is a relationship, loss of virginity, or first love, I don't know.

There is a biblical verse, "dead and hanging man" and "foreign fishes from his hand", I think he's talking about Jesus Christ here. He's no longer like Jesus,
but it took two people to do this "like a bell with two cracks along both sides"
The result is still very beautiful for him, the ideals are still available even with all the madness outside. This is it for him, this is all he wants

"And I knew the world was over so I took a look outside
"And watched the fires that were reaching
Up to the weather vane and the tops of trees
And the waiting scene and the sunday dream
They're all waiting here for me"


---------------------------------------------------------
Part II

Deli markets with their flower stands
Pretty girls and the burning men
Hanging out on the hooks next to the window displays
And I took out my tongue twice removed from my face
Across a bridge and across the mountains
Threw a nickel in the fountain
To save my soul from all these troubled times
And all the drugs that I don't have the guts to take
To soothe my mind so I'm always sober
Always aching, always heading towards
Mass suicide, occult figurines
And wasted gas-station attendants
Attending to their jobs
And a nice drive in the country
Finds a nice cliff to drop off
Oh when this life just gets so grating
All the grittiness of life
But don't take those pills your boyfriend gave you
You're too wonderful to die

This is now a mundane image of life. "Deli markets and their flower stands"
I think he begins blaming the men here. "All the pretty girls and the burning men" "Burning" - Why are men burning? is it their libido? Their inability to be faithful? What's hanging out on the hooks? Are all men looking at woman like deli meat? Is he looking at them as flowers?

Whatever it is, he's trying to avoid it. He goes far away. He's trying everything in his power but he can't avoid it. The world is filled with shit, "all the grittiness of life" I think he is hard on the male gender here, "pretty girls" and "too wonderful to die." Maybe "the pills your boyfriend gave you" are the lies men feed woman to make them believe they're crazy or paranoid. And death is submitting to this lie.

Does anybody think that there is a connection between the "gas station attendant" and the end of the song?

He's trying hard to avoid something he thinks is inevitable. But there is a larger problem, something that isn't easy to see. "Mass suicide, occult figurines"

-------------------------------------------------

Third Part

And the last one tore a picture
From a pornographic page
But all the pleasure points attacking all
The looks of love were staged
And its a lie that you've been giving
It just hurts you everyday
So why should I lay here naked
When its just too far away
From anything we could call loving
Any love worth living for
So I'll sleep out in the gutter
You can sleep here on the floor
And when I wake up in the morning
I won't forget to lock the door
Because with a match that's mean and some gasoline
You won't see me anymore

This is his last experience. Some woman, well versed in sex, tried to love him.
He didn't buy it, it's all fake. But who's faking? Is it him or the girl? Again he's taking the blame, "I'll sleep here on the gutter" But why is she sleeping on the floor? Is this his way of saying that "any love worth living for" doesn't exist. Nobody can be in the bed. When he says, "I won't forget to lock the door", I think he is trying to protect her in the house. He leaves and becomes what he tried to get away from in the second part, a burning man.


I don't know how Mangum did this or what he was going through at the time. But it's an amazing song.

did you mean to say 'thrust'

didn't I say thrust?

yes you did. i was pointing out the pun between that and the topic and didn't know if it was intentional.

i'm not sure what this is all about, but it seems really interesting.

i baked some fish for supper tonight.

All that I know about this song is that it is amazing and that it was my intro to NMH.

I love everything about it and about the band.

ah, i see. this thread is about neutral milk hotel.

no wonder i was nonplussed.

plussed 1…

"You keep on using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Ahhh, yes. Ha. Of course, completely intentional.

Always my favorite part of the song.
Thanks for the post. I enjoyed reading your thoughts. We could use more of this around here. I have no idea what the lyrics mean specifically.

I don't think anybody knows. One interpretation involves equating drugs and lies, sober being honest. He can't lie to himself to make him feel better.

Another is that sex is a drug, at least indirectly. You see, orgasms cause a release of endorphins into one's cerebral-spinal fluid and endorphins are somewhat responsible for the emotion of happiness. But be careful, you can deplete your level of endorphins. For example, if you masturbate 10 times a day, it's probably not going to make you happy. I know, it's counterintuitive, but it's also science.

This is my favorite NMH song. I can listen to it 10 times in a row.

I too am looking for a man with six fingers!

I have the usual ten fingers, but I have a "third leg".