Neutral Milk Hotel - Sailing Through Lyrics

Jessie Eisenverg could play Jeff Mangum if a movie if ever made about this genius

some one says danny glover in this video

Jeff is the best. Bless the person who heard this song on a bootleg and asked him to play it.

Jeff sings beautifully, flying through the notes like a butterfly, hard to imagine there to be such emotion and sensibility in one guy.

he really likes that sweater, huh?

I used to live in the first song’s lyrics; he was and is a beautiful monster.

Five years is a long time to hear this in your head

i really wanna pee in your body i really wanna pee inside you

3:43 when you think you can sing a part an octave higher because of the feels but then realise that you can't and try to change back to the normal mid-sentence

He actually had the balls to do that live

Jeff Mangum is nothing if not sincere. I admire the passion on display in his music. As I've gotten older, I've become more attuned to how emotionally resonant NMH's lyrics are even though they're abstract and seemingly nonsensical. "Sailing Through" especially makes a lot more sense to me now after all the relationship troubles I've had over the years. I can _feel_ what he's getting at in a way that goes beyond mere words.

@billken1333 It's not about sex. It's about getting inside someone in another manner. Possibly an admission of envy or some other emotion.

@Pat Keville I thought it was just slandering people who sleep around a lot and wonder why they aren't satisfied

1:44 did he just match the resonance of the amp causing a natural feedback? lol

+versk8er419 fucking dope

The absolute madman.

this is amazingly great

looks like your dream just came true then.

Does he always wear that sweater?

He wants to be inside you.

What I would do for a neutral milk hotel comeback

tts12345678910 I come from the future...

Funny you say that

@jerry whoomst in some sort of time machine?

awesome

Lungs like a boss.

i prefer this version of sailing through to the one on beauty, he doesn't freak out at the end of this one

i listen to this whole thing every single time. amazing to finally see the video after listening to just the audio for all these years

It is about a ghost in a closet. Jeff once lived in a haunted closet.

@Theseventhknight You'll have to be more specific. I don't understand what you are disagreeing with.
MY point is that (imo) the phrase "I really want to be in your body" etc. does not refer to a desire to be physically having sex with them; I think it is that aspect of the relationship which IS the sickness: that it's crude and lustful but not loving.
Rather, the phrase refers to a strange sort of self-loathing (empathetic) de-toxification of both. Sorry for the wordiness.

@bookoflists well I think we disagree then--you think it's "obviously too literal", whereas I think it's perfectly acceptably literal.

Or maybe it's a synecdoche. It's literal while still representing the entire relationship.

@Theseventhknight
I understood him to mean that the lyric "I really want to be in your body, to be inside you" was not referring to a desire for sex (obviously too literal); whereas I think the song IS about relationships, love, and sexuality.

My two favorite NMH songs, played back to back. Words cannot express my gratitude for this upload. Thank you, defgav.

jesus, christ i have been looking for a sweater like that for like 5 goddamned years.

you find it yet?

jfc me too

actual goosebumps.

was this played at a christmas party?

3 people are liars.

@leifrksn1 Really? Him saying that is what made me believe it WAS about the sex. He said it so defensively.

@WeirdFro They are jealous and want that sweet sweater.

youtube.com/watch?v=rLkWODqzGK0

Everything about this performance is awesome, even the Cosby Sweater.

EuclidianProposition this aged kinda poorly

I'm pretty sure Saling Through is about a bad relationship, rather than drugs.

he doesnt sound old in a bad way!

his voice just sounds more mature.

are there no other videos from this show?

Thank you so much sir.

Effortless