In The Aeroplane Over The Sea Tabs:
- Holland, 1945 »
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Song: Holland, 1945
Artist: Neutral Milk Hotel
Album: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Tabber: Kyle Johnston
Tuning: E A D G
Note: I tried tabbing the timing as best I could, but listen to the song to get it yourself...
Intro/Verse Main ("The only girl I've ever loved"):
A |-3--3-3-3--3--3-3-3---------------------|
E |---------------------3--3-3-3--3--3-3-3-|
Variation 1 ("But then they buried her alive"):
A |-3--3-3-3--3--3-3-3------------5--5-5-5-|
E |---------------------3--3-3-3-----------|
Variation 2 ("With just her sister at her side"):
A |-5--5-5-5-5-------------5--5-5-5-5-3--3-3-3-3-|
E |------------3--3-3-3-3------------------------|
Variation 3 ("All sing to say my dream has come"):
A |-5--5-5-5-5--3--3-3-3-3--3--3-3-3-3-------------------------|
E |-------------------------------------3--3-3-3-3--3--3-3-3-3-|
Chorus ("But now we must pick up every piece"):
A |-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3---------------------------------|
E |---------------------------------3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|
Chorus End ("Just to keep ourselves at least enough to carry on"):
Play Chorus, but add a bunch of D's (5 on A) at the end.
Last Verse ("And here's where your mother sleeps"):
A |-------2--3--3-3-3----------------------|
E |-3--5--------------3--3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|
A |-------2--3--3-3-3-------------5--5-5-5-5-| ("And here is the room where your brother was born")
E |-3--5----------------3--3-3-3-------------|
A |-------2--3--3-3-3-----------------------| ("Indentions in the sheets")
E |-3--5---------------3--3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|
A |-------2--3--3-3-3-------------5--5-5-5-5-| ("Where their bodies once moved but don't move anymore")
E |-3--5----------------3--3-3-3-------------|
Last Variation 1 ("And it's so sad to see"):
A |-3--3-3-3------------3--3-3-3-----------|
E |-----------3--3-3-3------------3--3-3-3-|
Last Variation 2 ("That they'd rather see their faces fill with flies"):
A |-3--3-3-3------------5--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-|
E |-----------3--3-3-3---------------------|
Final Variation ("All when I'd want to see white roses in their eyes"):
A |-------2--3--3-3-3------------5--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-----------------------|
E |-3--5---------------3--3-3-3----------------------3--3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|
Intro/Verse x4
Variation 1 x1
Variation 2 x3
Variation 3 x1
Chorus x2
Chorus End x1
Intro/Verse x3
Variation 2 x4
Variation 3 x1
Chorus x2
Chorus End x1
Last Verse x1
Last Variation 1 x1
Last Variation 2 x1
Final Variation x1
Intro/Verse x3
Taken from the BassMasta ~ http://www.bassmasta.net
http://www.bassmasta.net/n/neutral_milk_hotel/.html
Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
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dakota Wanna Be |
#1 by dakota at Jul 5, 2005 at 7:18 AM EST |
| wow. this is one powerfull song. i thought it might be written from the perspective of the boy she fell in love with. "The only girl I've ever loved Was born with roses in her eyes But then they buried her alive" didnt he survive the war? Its been years since they made me read the book. i might be wrong. | |
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Clark Lead Player |
#2 by Clark Neal at Aug 13, 2005 at 9:36 AM EST |
| He is gotta be talking about Pepito Arrilo. Really interesting post pigoinkwhere! :D Been trying to find facts about Arrilo all evening. Difficult. Mangum is fuckin brilliant. word can't describe his music! | |
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LoKe Wanna Be |
#3 by LoKe at Aug 25, 2005 at 6:33 AM EST |
| im still confused about the little boy in spain... how does it fit in with the theme of the song? | |
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D-K Average |
#4 by D-K at Oct 3, 2005 at 2:58 PM EST |
| Being buried alive refers to a slow waiting death. A death that you know is coming yet can not do anything about it, this song is dark and sad and true. | |
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clair Average |
#5 by clair holman at Oct 26, 2005 at 8:18 AM EST |
| I also think this song is about Anne Frank, but also kind of war in general. "It's so sad to see the world agree that they'd rather see their faces fill with flies when I want to keep white roses in their eyes" -seems kind of like people choose death killing and war instead of choosing peace and innocence or 'white roses in their eyes'. My friend thought the little boy in Spain playing pianos filled with flames might be a reference to someone specific. Anyone know who? | |
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ben Wanna Be |
#6 by ben cashin at Nov 8, 2005 at 9:46 AM EST |
| this song for the most part is about, inspired by?, anne frank- jeff mangum has a kind of fascination with her, or so i've read. he is one of the most talented musicians i've ever heard... AWESOME cd, its a necessity to everyone's collection. anytime a friend asks me to recommend a band, its always neutral milk hotel first. | |
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Tom Rhythm Player |
#7 by Tom at Nov 11, 2005 at 3:48 AM EST |
| I think this song is about anti-semitism, to a point. But he mostly concentrates on Anne Frank. It's even historically correct, as her sister died with her in the concentration camp, "But then they buried her alive One evening 1945 With just her sister at her side " ANd she almost got out, but died of typhiod. This entire album hits me pretty hard and makes me cry sometimes, being Jewish and losing some family in the holocaust. I'm just so glad that someone wrote songs about this. | |
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Paris Average |
#8 by Paris Seawell at Dec 3, 2005 at 3:52 AM EST |
| being buried alive is not literal here - I think what he's saying is that taking a 13 year old girl, full of life, and confining her to 2 or 3 rooms is equivalent to being buried alive. Also, the bit about "And it's so sad to see the world agree That they'd rather see their faces fill with flies " is about anti-semitism. If you've ever seen films of the uncovery of the concentration camps - there were piles and piles of jewish corpses. really horrifying to see. And don't be mistaken, the powers that be knew what was going on in the concentration camps, but they did nothing about it. They could have bombed the train tracks that were taking the jews to the camps. they could have bombed the camps but they (we...) did nothing about it. And jeff is really nailing something. A lot of people hate jews - even people who have never seen a jew. Wierd. Good in yer, jeff. (my parents are european and they lived thru that war. I heard about it pretty vividly._ | |
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Julz Average |
#9 by Julz xx. at Dec 21, 2005 at 8:59 PM EST |
| Interesting analysis. I'd always placed a narrative on the entire album...a man looking back on his life before his death ("And one day we will die and our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea"...and the album's title is "The Aeroplane Over the Sea") but I had never associated it with any actual historical figures. Very interesting. Regardless, the song is great, the album is great, the band is great...it's just a masterpiece. | |
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juan Wanna Be |
#10 by juan gonzalez at Feb 6, 2006 at 1:58 PM EST |
| I'M the little boy in spain. no, i wish. not a clue. but anne frank wasn't a little boy in spain at any point in her life... maybe after she died. reincarnation? | |
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Randy Lead Player |
#11 by Randy Lott at Feb 23, 2006 at 8:52 AM EST |
| One of the most powerful songs of all time. The line "Now she's a little boy in Spain, playing pianos filled with flames" is the line that always moves me. Infact, when playing the song the first time, I wasn't really paying much attention AND THEN I heard that line out of nowhere and decided I had better start listening closer. I always took the song to be about WWII and anti-semitism, but I hadn't put two and two together that it was about ANNE FRANK. Thank you to everyone that pointed this out. | |
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dakota Wanna Be |
#12 by dakota at Mar 18, 2006 at 12:58 PM EST |
| being buried alive is absolutely literal. that's how she died... the franks and the van pels began living in the attic before 1945...and "then they buried her alive/ one evening 1945"...see, a few weeks after she died the allied armies freed the prison camp that she was at. "And only weeks before the guns All came and rained on everyone" "And it's so sad to see the world agree That they'd rather see their faces fill with flies " I think that this image is one of the saddest on the cd. I picture the Nazis heaping the bodies of the jews into a pile and pushing them into a grave. Faces filled with flies....terrible. | |
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john Average |
#13 by john at May 7, 2006 at 4:35 AM EST |
| the 'little boy in spain, playing pianos filled with flames' is Pepito Arriola. Not alot is known about the life of the musical prodigy. It is suggested that his his history has been obscured or "covered up" for reasons relating to the alleged murder of his female cousin by his aunt. He is often cited as proof of reincarnation: "At the International Congress of Psychology in Paris, 1900, Professor Charles Richet presented a Spanish child three and a half years old, named Pepito Arriola, who improvised upon the piano rich and varied airs. At the age of four and a half years he played six compositions of his own at the Royal Palace of Madrid before the King and Queen. His harmony was remarkable and his expression marvelous. The young artist has since become and incomparable violinist. The law of rebirth alone can explain many of these cases; their gifts are the results of immense labors which have familiarized their spirits with the arts and sciences." Also: "To tell the truth, there is in him a narcotic, it is neither the touch, neither the harmony, nor the agility, but the expression. It has a richness of astonishing expression. That it is about a sad or merry piece, or martial, or energetic, the expression is seizing . Often even this expression is so strong, so tragic, in certain airs melancholic persons or funeral, which one has the feeling that Pepito cannot, with his imperfect touch, to express all the musical ideas which quiver in him: so that I would almost dare to say that he is a much larger musician than he does not appear to be it ..." Sound familiar? | |
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Matt Average |
#14 by Matt John at Jun 6, 2006 at 4:56 AM EST |
| yes, anne frank. neutral milk hotel's lyrics never make much sense to me, but I still adore reading them. beautiful. in the aeroplane over the sea is one of the best albums I've ever heard. "And only weeks before the guns All came and rained on everyone Now she's a little boy in Spain Playing pianos filled with flames" ...gives me chills. every fucking time. | |
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Luke Rhythm Player |
#15 by Luke Williams at Sep 2, 2006 at 3:44 AM EST |
| is anyone else terribly afraid of being burried alive, with someone else by your side? that part give me the chills. but overall i think its a great song, cant stop singing it! | |
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John Average |
#16 by John Tinsley at Nov 25, 2006 at 5:08 PM EST |
| very true dansr. i hadnt thought about that. disturbing...but besides that this song is amazing. jeff mangum is pure genius! i love it! WOW! | |
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Alex Wanna Be |
#17 by Alex Zweck at Jan 2, 2007 at 11:26 AM EST |
| i didn't know what this song was about until i went to amsterdam, holland this summer and visited the anne frank house.. then it hit me like a subway train: anne frank.. good song.. | |
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cash Wanna Be |
#18 by cash putnam at Mar 30, 2007 at 3:25 AM EST |
| This one's awesome at high volumes. Only NMH would have the cojones to mix such brilliant lyrics with a crazy loud song. | |
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jordan Average |
#19 by jordan sjsjtkiris at Apr 16, 2007 at 1:54 PM EST |
| i really like the intro to this song... two... one-two-three-four! | |
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Jesse Wanna Be |
#20 by Jesse ritchie at Sep 15, 2007 at 4:14 AM EST |
| One of the most powerful, beautiful songs I've ever heard. Nearly brings me to tears every time I hear it. | |
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Jonny Rhythm Player |
#21 by Jonny Rhoades at Sep 27, 2007 at 11:32 PM EST |
| Spanish classical players who were children in 1945 were Jorge Morel and Villa-Lobos. I doubt he is talking about them though. | |
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Kyle Rhythm Player |
#22 by Kyle Robinson at Sep 29, 2007 at 10:11 PM EST |
| Interesting. Good song. | |
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/. Wanna Be |
#23 by /. com at Oct 9, 2007 at 12:20 PM EST |
| i love to sing along while listening to this song. it's just that great. | |
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