"In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" | |
---|---|
Song by Neutral Milk Hotel | |
from the album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea | |
Released | February 10, 1998 |
Recorded | July–September 1997 |
Studio | Pet Sounds, Denver, Colorado |
Genre | |
Length | 3:22 |
Label | Merge |
Songwriter(s) | Jeff Mangum |
Producer(s) | Robert Schneider |
"In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" is the title track and third song on the Neutral Milk Hotel album of the same name.
Bandleader Jeff Mangum wrote the song almost instantaneously while staying in Athens, Georgia with fellow Elephant 6 musicians. The song was written soon after Mangum became romantically involved with Laura Carter. While sitting in the yard of their Athens home, Mangum suddenly announced, "I got a song in my head!" and ran inside the house to play the song for the first time. [1]
The song makes a brief reference to Anne Frank, who is alluded to throughout the album. [2] It is about a young man who realizes that one day he is going to die, and accepts the idea. "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" is one of the more uplifting songs on the album despite having death as the subject material. Stewart Mason of AllMusic writes, "'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea' is almost giddy at the thought of eternal rest: 'When we meet on a cloud, I'll be laughing out loud' probably isn't the average train of thought of kid barely in his mid-20s, but it certainly beats one of Kurt Cobain's howls of existential despair." [3]
The song opens with double-tracked acoustic guitars, whose "chords are full and serene in contrast to the percussive, bare triads" of King of Carrot Flowers, according to Medium's Joel Settlemoir. [4] Mangum's vocals are accompanied by acoustic guitars, "fuzz" bass work, a singing saw played by Julian Koster, Scott Spillane's flugelhorn, and minimal percussion. [3] [5] The song is in the key of G major, and for the most part follows a simple I-vi-IV-V chord progression. [6] It is in the 6/8 time signature and has a A A B1 A B2 A form. [4]
The song was critically praised upon its release. Consequence of Sound ranked it the 28th best song of all time in 2012. Reviewer Dan Caffrey writes, "For me, 'Aeroplane' glides along with an odd sense of ease. It's about how a brief moment of contentment can sometimes outshine a crippling tragedy in one's life." [2] SportsAlcohol.com ranked the song the 89th best of the 1990s. [7] WOXY listed it at No. 359 in its Top 500 Songs of All-Time in 2005. [8] German magazine Musikexpress ranked "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" as the 141st greatest song in its top 700 list. [9]
The Elephant 6 Recording Company is a loosely defined musical collective from the United States. Notable bands associated with the collective include The Apples in Stereo, Beulah, Circulatory System, Elf Power, The Minders, Neutral Milk Hotel, of Montreal, and The Olivia Tremor Control. Although bands in Elephant 6 explore many different genres, they have a shared interest in psychedelic pop of the 1960s, with particular influence from bands such as the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and the Zombies. Their music sometimes features intentionally low fidelity production and experimental recording techniques.
Elf Power is an American indie rock band that originated in Athens, Georgia, United States. The line-up consists of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Rieger, keyboardist Laura Carter, guitarist Dave Wrathgabar, bassist Bryan Poole, and drummer Peter Alvanos. They are part of the Elephant Six Collective.
Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed by Jeff Mangum in Ruston, Louisiana, in 1989. They were active until 1998, and then from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock and psychedelic folk. Mangum wrote surreal and opaque lyrics that covered a wide range of topics, including love, spirituality, nostalgia, sex, and loneliness. He and the other band members played a variety of instruments, including non-traditional instruments like the singing saw and uilleann pipes.
Jeffrey Nye Mangum is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who gained prominence as the founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of Neutral Milk Hotel, as well for his co-founding of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. Mangum is characterized for his complex, lyrically dense songwriting, exemplified on the critically lauded album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, as well as for his public image as a recluse associated with his extended periods of musical inactivity and minimal press interaction. An article published in Slate described Mangum as the "Salinger of Indie Rock." In 2023, Jeff Mangum received a Grammy award nomination for "Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package".
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the second and final studio album by the American band Neutral Milk Hotel, released on February 10, 1998, by Merge Records. The album is predominantly indie rock and psychedelic folk and is characterized by an intentionally low-quality sound. Traditional indie rock instruments like the guitar and drums are paired with less conventional instruments like the singing saw and uilleann pipes. The lyrics are surrealistic and opaque, exploring themes that range from nostalgia to love. An important influence for the album was The Diary of a Young Girl, a book of writings from the diary of Anne Frank.
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On Avery Island is the debut studio album by American rock band Neutral Milk Hotel. It was released in the United States on March 26, 1996, by Merge Records, and in the United Kingdom on September 30, 1996, by Fire Records. At the time, Neutral Milk Hotel was a solo project of American musician Jeff Mangum, who recorded the album with producer Robert Schneider from February to May 1995. On Avery Island is an indie rock and psychedelic folk album, with a lo-fi sound.
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Robert Peter Schneider is an American musician and mathematician. He is the lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer of rock/pop band the Apples in Stereo and has produced and performed on albums by Neutral Milk Hotel, the Olivia Tremor Control and a number of other psychedelic and indie rock bands. Schneider co-founded The Elephant 6 Recording Company in 1992. He received a PhD in mathematics from Emory University in 2018. As of September 2022, he is an Assistant Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Michigan Technological University.
Julian Koster is an American multidisciplinary artist. As a musician, he is a member of the Elephant 6 Collective, the leader of The Music Tapes, and a member of Neutral Milk Hotel. He is known for writing, directing, and acting in audio fiction The Orbiting Human Circus , and for performing with the theatrical troupe of the same name. He is also known for his heavy use of the musical saw in recordings, even releasing The Singing Saw at Christmastime, his only solo album released under his own name, in 2008.
Music from the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle is the debut studio album by the American band the Olivia Tremor Control, released on August 6, 1996, by Flydaddy Records. It is an eclectic album that encompasses a variety of genres, including indie pop, neo-psychedelia, and psychedelic pop. The Olivia Tremor Control were influenced by bands of 1960s and 1970s, such as the Beach Boys and the Beatles, as well as experimental musicians like John Cage. Dusk at Cubist Castle purports to be the soundtrack to an unfinished film, and the lyrics focus on surrealist imagery.
Laura Carter is an American multi-instrumentalist musician from Athens, Georgia. She is able to play the clarinet, keyboard, percussion, violin, guitar, drums, french horn, and Zanzithophone.
"Learning to Fly" is a song by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, written by David Gilmour, Anthony Moore, Bob Ezrin, and Jon Carin. It was the first single from the band's thirteenth studio album A Momentary Lapse of Reason. It reached number 70 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 1 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart in September 1987, remaining three consecutive weeks at the top position in the autumn of the same year. Meanwhile, the song failed to chart on the official U.K. top 40 singles charts. On the other hand, in Spain, the song peaked at number 1 on the Los 40 Principales chart.
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"Everything Is" was the first recording mass-released by Neutral Milk Hotel, at that point still largely an outlet for the songwriting of Jeff Mangum instead of a fully formed band. The recording was originally the second release on the fledgling Seattle label Cher Doll Records in 1993, in the form of a 7", with "Everything Is" as the A side, and "Snow Song Pt. 1" as the B side. The first 50 7"s pressed also featured different artwork, with each sleeve being personally xeroxed by Mangum.
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