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, a singing saw played by Julian Koster, Scott Spillane's trumpet, and minimal percussion.[3] The song is in the key of G major, and for the most part follows a simple I-vi-IV-V chord progression.[5] It is in the 6/8 time signature and has a A A B1 A B2 A form.[4]
Release and receptionEdit
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.[6] WOXY listed it at No. 359 in its Top 500 Songs of All-Time in 2005.[7] German magazine Musikexpress ranked "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" as the 141st greatest song in its top 700 list.[8]
^"The 90 Best Songs of the 90s". SportsAlcohol.com. October 6, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
^"WOXY Top 500 Songs of All-Time (2005)". Rocklists.com. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
^"Die 700 besten Songs aller Zeiten: Plätze 150 bis 101". Musikexpress (in German). January 4, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
September 27, 2023
aeroplane, over, song, aeroplane, over, third, song, neutral, milk, hotel, album, same, name, aeroplane, over, song, neutral, milk, hotelfrom, album, aeroplane, over, seareleasedfebruary, 1998, 1998, recordedjuly, september, 1997studiopet, sounds, denver, colo. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the third song on the Neutral Milk Hotel album of the same name In the Aeroplane Over the Sea Song by Neutral Milk Hotelfrom the album In the Aeroplane Over the SeaReleasedFebruary 10 1998 1998 02 10 RecordedJuly September 1997StudioPet Sounds Denver ColoradoGenreIndie rock lo fi psychedelic folkLength3 22LabelMergeSongwriter s Jeff MangumProducer s Robert SchneiderBackground and composition EditBandleader 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 a singing saw played by Julian Koster Scott Spillane s trumpet and minimal percussion 3 The song is in the key of G major and for the most part follows a simple I vi IV V chord progression 5 It is in the 6 8 time signature and has a A A B1 A B2 A form 4 Release and reception EditThe 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 6 WOXY listed it at No 359 in its Top 500 Songs of All Time in 2005 7 German magazine Musikexpress ranked In the Aeroplane Over the Sea as the 141st greatest song in its top 700 list 8 References Edit Cooper Kim 2007 2005 In the Aeroplane Over the Sea 33 New York NY Continuum International Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 8264 1690 2 a b Top 100 Songs Ever 50 1 Consequence of Sound September 21 2012 Retrieved August 27 2018 permanent dead link a b Mason Stewart In the Aeroplane Over the Sea review AllMusic Retrieved August 27 2018 a b Settlemoir Joel November 13 2016 Analysis of Neutral Milk Hotel s In The Aeroplane Over The Sea Medium Archived from the original on August 28 2018 Retrieved August 27 2018 In the Aeroplane Over the Sea Rebuttal University of California Retrieved August 27 2018 The 90 Best Songs of the 90s SportsAlcohol com October 6 2015 Retrieved August 27 2018 WOXY Top 500 Songs of All Time 2005 Rocklists com Retrieved August 27 2018 Die 700 besten Songs aller Zeiten Platze 150 bis 101 Musikexpress in German January 4 2014 Retrieved August 27 2018 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title In the Aeroplane Over the Sea song amp oldid 1134740967, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
