Neutral Milk Hotel - Two Headed Boy Part 2 / Holland 1945

Bottom Of the Hill , San Francisco, CA - April 12 , 1998

[@jackbradley8087]

Very good quality for a video filmed in 1945 Holland

[@Rauraurauuuuu]

Funny hpw they maneged to make a rock concert even though they were at war at the time and rock wouldn't be invented in like, 10 years or so

[@AaronKaiMCDNLD]

@@Rauraurauuuuu yeah it's so amazing how they wrote a song about anne frank, when she just died then

[@billsux2139]

@@AaronKaiMCDNLD are we rly going to have the fight that not all NMH songs are about Anne Frank

[@gardenhead5832]

@@billsux2139 bro if you think Holland, 1945 is not about Anne Frank I don't know what to tell you

[@johanretard3615]

Bro film "quality" was basically figured out and in higher definition than this by 1945... color film didnt become really feasible until the 50s and looked like dog shit (like this) for quite a while. Bad joke moron... get a life!

[@carl1973]

Two headed boy part 2 is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Jeff is such an amazing songwriter, his lyrics hit me in a way that very few other musicians can do. I hope I'm able to see him perform sometime in my life.

[@LoverOfManyArts]

Agreed

[@jacksoninc.4062]

I almost cried when the outro hits. It hits really really hard gosh

[@SassyTableCloth]

@@jacksoninc.4062 The opening lines never fail to make me cry

[@josephparsons7896]

and all without making any sense

[@broccolibuttermilk]

ayo

[@DrIcedTea]

My cousin would always babysit me, and I was only 5. She would always play on the guitar and I remember her singing this song. Her parents never like this type of music, and my parents never like it either (Note to self: I live in a Hispanic community so my family only like Spanish/ Mexican music). Anyway I always love how she would sing, even if I did not knew the lyrics, it was so relaxing until one day I heard she passed away in a car accident. I was sad, and as a kid I never heard and found the songs she sang. That was until I age 22, I was helping my uncle move stuff around since they were moving, and I saw a large collection of CDs that really caught my attention (The Smiths, The Cure, Neutral Milk Hotel, Bright Eyes and so many more). I told my uncle if I can keep the CDs and so he let me. Unlucky the cd were weathered out and scratch, so I looked it up in Spotify, and then I heard it again, Two Headed Boy: the nostalgia chill down my spine and I felt like crying.

[@GregTheBearFighter]

❤️

[@AI-Consultant]

long story bro this isn't reddit. 😂

[@catinthetar]

Great story ❤ thanks for sharing. I enjoyed that.

[@samueljohnbecker1737]

@@AI-Consultant YO FUCK OVERSIMPLIFICATION lets have have real lives

[@Andyyoureastar]

May she rest in peace. She sounds like she was a beautiful influence on you

[@blitzkrieg6963]

There's something magical about video recordings on VHS tapes. A very nostalgic warm feeling to it

[@bgl11]

Sometimes I think about the shows back then, there was something so much simpler about it all. I'm glad for the handful of VHS recordings we have. Looking back sometimes I wonder if any of it happened at all.

[@gamingmangwmrr6943]

Blitz Krieg probably the hiss and blurriness that when compared to today’s recording equipment seems homemade and personal(warm) like it was recorded by a younger version of ourselves(nostalgia)

[@fakedeep8678]

Looks more like a memory

[@averyellis]

Absolutely , I just wish VHS re-re-re-recordings could retain the same audio quality. Video degradation adds, but leaves audio way behind.

[@guillotine684]

@@bgl11 Yeah, just like the vhs tapes by Leonard Lake and Charles Ng. To this day the sounds and images on those recordings hold a lot beauty in my heart. I will forever cherish.❤

[@JasonWindsor88]

This seems kind of silly to say, but after listening to both albums for some time without having any real idea how Mangrum looked & performed in real life, he's exactly what I would sorta hope for... Unassuming yet possessed, channeling a kind of unadulterated emotion that maybe he even doesn't always understand. Anyways, thanks for the post.

[@ZachJenkins]

I think it Margnum

[@nba2ksosa]

mangum

[@mikogale]

gosh darn people, it's magndrum

[@calebduarte5255]

“Unassuming yet possessed” is an excellent way to describe Jeff’s stage presence.

[@jackblank5777]

my mountaintops need a tissue...

[@RednaZela]

Incredible. They were so ahead of their time. Lots of bands came about in the late 00s that pretended like they were from another era. It wasn't a cool thing to do in 97'. But they set a spark which took forever to turn into a fire. And of course it did. They were greatness.

[@charliestubbs6151]

It’s like they don’t belong in this timeline

[@annabelle4683]

I really like the transition from a really calm crowd to a mosh pit lol

[@geometricallegory]

This song (Two Headed Boy) saved my life.... Seriously. About five years ago, I cracked. No joke. I was a professional who went to work on a daily basis--I did everything I was supposed to do--but it was a cage. See... I snapped like a twig. The doctors called it a "psychotic break." I was forty at the time, and I'd never experienced anything like psychosis or delusions, but suddenly I found myself lost in a jungian world of symbols and synchronicity. How amazing and wonderful and terrifying! Don't believe me? Wait and see... Anyhow, they sent me to four different psychiatric hospitals. My poor family.... They worried about me, but I was lost. I would sing this song (Two Headed Boy) aloud, screaming the lyrics, hoping that something in the universe would respond or recognize the tune. One time, another patient in the hospital recognized the lyrics, and he came up to me and sang, "Two headed boy... creating a radio play just for two..." Ughh! We cried together.... (Daddy please....) and he kissed me on the lips. (I'm a man, so I was shocked that another man kissed me, but I kissed him back and I loved him in that moment.) We. (Through the music that sweetly displays....) We two "crazy" people bonded over this particular song in a mental hospital and we sang this song.... Madness begets madness, eh? In a brief moment, we saw behind the veil. This song has a message that "crazy" people get. Do you get it? Do you belong with us? If you do, you're one of our kind.

[@Jack-fh1qh]

Geometric Allegory Amazing story

[@AdrianGarcia57]

Geometric Allegory we aren't meant for work

[@idontknowoffiser]

Sounds like you got the gay

[@tobalt1]

How are you now?

[@BLUEWALDOMUSIC]

Would like to know how you’re doing these days

[@pechinburger]

Holland 1945, man that song just makes me FEEL

[@kerrgal]

I hate that I only discovered Neutral Milk Hotel a couple of hours ago (via Amanda Palmer) and that I could've been at this show at the BOTH.

[@JDeissreVIEWSFROMHELL]

Welcome. We hope you enjoy your stay.

[@mmmanutd]

Ahh, 7 years ago. When NMH was doing live concerts

[@MrRandomWalkthroughs]

Jeff Mangum. The only man who can still look awesome with a Bill Cosby sweater and a bowl haircut.

[@saturatedneowax]

I could pull it off

[@jimrye7952]

@@saturatedneowax very very humble, love to see it

[@saturatedneowax]

@@jimrye7952 not as well as Jeff tho 😉, lol

[@TheFilmsKaper]

This album came out a month after i was born, and i just discovered this band a few months ago. I feel so blessed and i'm not even religious. This speaks to me in a spiritual way.

[@ThomasBaxter]

That's the way it got all of us.

[@kitpalmer1583]

You're about a month older than me :') I only just realised today I'm a couple of weeks younger than the album.

[@nathanasbury2083]

They're not religious themselves. Magnum said in the interview he uses Jesus Christ through the album as an idea. He's not a christian himself.

[@ayusha149]

This song is 3 years older than me

[@filthydirtstep]

So what does it say to you?

[@jeffdunn837]

He looks like he's possessed up there. That album truly is magical

[@oceankiddd]

Holy shit that was way more lively than I expected. What amazing footage.

[@SethDoray]

Can't believe this song was so ahead of its time back in the 40s. Hollanders must have been psyched to have an English band tour through back then.

[@SethDoray]

It's a joke ^^°

[@PurplingYellow]

>you will never own a sweater that stylin

[@DB-jf2dw]

7 years late but the Robin Pecknold sweater is a worthy opponent

[@touyaloid]

@@DB-jf2dw putting two bad bitches against each other for no reason

[@plasticpirate]

You know, I won’t no will Jeff magnum lives undefeated in sweaters

[@MetaBuddha]

Only Jeff can rock out that hard during a euphonium solo.

[@Deviltriggerfounder]

/mu/: the audience

[@AtlanticSpamHammer]

+Fook off, Griffith. lol

[@стрелок-ч7р]

2005 moo maybe. post 2006 mu is literally reddit, full of lame fuckwads that cannot even play any instrument

[@govegan6682]

yevrey i doubt the people who liked this comment was in /mu/ in 2005 This is so shitty "/mu/ was better in 2001 when there was nobody there and the site didn't even exist now it's god people with opinions muh patricianship"

[@lmao8173]

i don't like fraternities

[@cesarbravo822]

I got all teary eyed all of a sudden. Two Headed Boy Part 2 is such a beautiful song.

[@kristinuna4258]

discovered nmh a few years ago, to this day it still amazes me

[@MarcusConstantine_Cavalida21]

I've been writing an album for 2 years already. Every time I write about history and retell the tales of others, there comes the point that your so into it that the lyrics just blur up into a hazy mess of emotions. The point where if the question "Who are you talking about?" was asked, the person in the lyrics could be an ex, the Nazis, the victims of the Nazis, your sister, your brother, that one really messed up serial killer, because before you were even born, people already felt the same exact emotions and said the same exact things you now say and feel for those who live today and in that sense we are all "one and the same" The past and the present merge. The "only girl he ever loved" who died in 1945 became a "little boy in Spain" and lives even today among us. In all those pure of heart who will be taken by the monsters of this world.

[@nolanwolfe]

Has your album been released?

[@joelfan33]

2 years late, but as a songwriter and NMH fan, this is the best way I’ve ever heard someone describe Mangums lyrics and songwriting in general.

[@ransummer1]

..one of your favorites..Missing you brother Steve-

[@irascib1e]

in my dreams, you're alive and you're crying.

[@howtoeataham]

My favorite line from the album

[@poorsonwelles]

I'm happy this video exists

[@Bigsquatch_ky]

Bowed electric bass is an oddity.

[@tsocheff]

my dad went to this show

[@danielsimpson6971]

I think this is possibly the greatest video I’ve ever watched

[@MrShahid0072]

One of the greatest songwriter in my books!

[@cIownzone]

comment sections like these make me afraid to bring up NMH in real life

[@mfmatthew420]

holla

[@CrimeMinister1]

This is my favorite neutral milk Hotel song

[@WakaFlockaBaka]

Stephen Colbert played Holland 1945 for the end credits at the end of his final taping of The Colbert Report

[@Re8eccAlice]

I know there have been enough comments about his sweater, but...umm...it just looks SO WARM.

[@declanwarner4835]

Becky Groves I know right that sweater looks so comfortable!

[@declanwarner4835]

@Kermit Amphibious maybe they would like to have a nice discussion about Jeff’s sweater with me 🤷‍♂️

[@declanwarner4835]

@Kermit Amphibious you never know

[@Embre]

no please two headed boy part 2 already breaks my heart but now in a *different key???* i can't take it

[@doozle5132]

Hard to get chaos sounding that good.

[@southerndandy89]

RIP Anne and Margot

[@Guanjyn]

Love the callback to part 1 in the second half of the song.

[@edgarroberts8740]

"And in my dreams you're alive and you're crying"

[@JammastaJ23]

With all the shit that's going on I really hope Jeff gets a spark of inspiration to make new music again. His catalogue is way too small.

[@ElChanateRifa]

In my dreams, Anna's alive and with Jeff she'll cry no more...

[@BiggestMuscles]

0:00 Two Headed Boy Pt. 2 4:39 Holland 1945

[@gav8558]

When we break, we’ll wait for our miracle. God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life.

[@saturatedneowax]

pavement!

[@1969elcamino350]

I want that sweater, it looks so comfortable

[@vidiia]

the Bottom of the Hill is a godly venue

[@slug_girl9104]

Just don't hate her when she gets up to leave

[@adamneddo]

Awesome!!!

[@queenieofthegalaxy1049]

I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH

[@myconman95]

i love watching those two heads jump in and out of the shot at 5:00 idk why i find it so funny

[@care1essange1s]

If anyone can watch this without feeling anything, then they must be made of stone.

[@FrenchKettleStation]

I agree, and I have felt his songs performed live.

[@zorth42]

jeff mangum needs to play a live show in front of no one because no one devserves to see him live

[@cthulusgardener]

Fucking raw emotion

[@Imptheshrimp]

Oh, durr. How did I not see that. Thanks!

[@neilwilson5785]

He keeps on sending out higher level vibes. He is for real.

[@augustalexander8179]

This song always breaks me.

[@TheBlackHeartedCrow]

beautiful.

[@Medic_naturalist]

Goosebumps

[@JasonWindsor88]

I can't seem to find what "TheRosettaStoned" said that's got everyone so up in arms. What did he say?!

[@dougmann777]

Holland 1945 has a bit of a punk edge, done live. I like it.

[@nathansidwell4486]

Amazing! Thanks for sharing. greatest album ever!

[@penandpaperMUSIC1]

incredible, wish i could be there

[@theowenwelch]

"And only we speak for the guns, and I have like 30 lungs."

[@luise2534]

thank you john green

[@prrpgaaff]

Awesome

[@OvercomingAwkward]

NMH IS COMING BACK WHOO HOO!!!

[@alexcaruso901]

Look at the intensity in his face

[@SilenceTheSacred]

Thank fuck there are videos of this.

[@oxyiscool]

I'll never understand why American crowds feel they need to make noise in the quiet bits?!?!?!

[@UpperCrustthe3rd]

nice

[@declanwarner4835]

UpperCrustthe3rd nice

[@LemonWedgeinc]

nice

[@templerepulsivo]

nice

[@turbokwaz]

I will see this Tomorrow night...

[@0subdub0]

Um, are you joking? This was filmed in '98. How old were you then? I was old enough to go to this show WITHOUT my parents and I sure as hell would have moshed to Holland 1945 if I was there. In fact, look at Jeff when Holland 1945 starts. HE'S HEAD BANGING! *gasp*

[@doughboywhine]

Who are you talking to?

[@alphavolta5038]

@@doughboywhine this comment is so old that there wasn't a proper reply function at that point in KZbins history. Presumably responding to someone who wrote another comment 10 years ago lol

[@samfisher1663]

For those who don't know, Holland 1945 is a based on the diaries of Anne Frank And Two Headed Boy (part 1 and 2) is about Siamese Twins.

[@fleurpvnk108]

I don't think 2 headed boy is literally about twins. In a way the first part is also about Anne Frank, as well as lines in part 2.

[@kitpalmer1583]

Yeah, the songs are kinda stream of consciousness and summing them up in a couple of words doesn't really work. The Anne Frank theme is kinda the thread through the entire album, but Holland, 1945 is also believed to reference a friend of the band who committed suicide. And yeah, that's a super literal interpretation of just the title "Two Headed Boy", but we really don't know what Jeff Mangum was thinking. Don't even think he does.

[@anglonrx2754]

Two headed boy pt 2 is abt the 2 boys Anne liked who were both called Peter. Some of the lyrics are directly lifted from her descriptions of them she describes both Peters as "one and the same", for example. The same is true for pt 1

[@ismagillicutty]

crowd is jumping just like minecraft avatars in the pit

[@michaeldominick735]

This song always makes me cry. 😢

[@pr0dd2k9]

Gibson ES-125

[@parkt6792]

the only girl i've ever loved, was born with roses in her eyes, and then they buried her alive!!! one evening 1945!!!

[@AutumnLaws]

Man, back in the days when people actually danced to Jeff Mangum. Now you're lucky if the people at the concert know any other songs besides "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea"

[@RohnitShetty]

I heard abt NMH in a book Will grayson will grayson

[@Medic_naturalist]

I’m moved more than from any church service

[@blake2112]

God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life.

[@humbertesque]

The trumpeter was so bad that I could not contain a chuckle or two. Great performance, though.

[@cIownzone]

Cunnilingus i know it's been five fucking years but what are you all on about? it sounds fine, it's just different than the album cut

[@johncarson7679]

just seen then at mann center. fucking best show ever!

[@PhunkadelicPhish]

y not its a hyped up song

[@lavalampenthusiast1]

this gives me fucking chills

[@dawnpriest7814]

I've been listening to Itaots and other random nmh songs every day for 6ish months. I listen to other music too, but it just seems boring in comparison. I have reached the stage where I'm mad that there isn't more NMH albums. Why, Jeff, why??? They had the potential to be legends.

[@oscarriley9265]

Listened to radiohead b4?

[@dimwitted-fool]

@@oscarriley9265 no bro I haven’t heard of them who are they?

[@nolanwolfe]

if they never disbanded, we’d probably get an album sort-of-like Ferris Wheel sometime early-2000s

[@noamont9936]

wish i was alive here

[@goobey7512]

How did you record him

[@oldirtyjacket6462]

Camera 🗿

[@julianwhitee]

Classic

[@FleaIsDaMan]

@TheRosettaStoned Sounds like the kind of thing a Tool fan would say. Hateful reception, without any constructive reasoning on why you dislike something.

[@Ilychant]

Not every Tool fan, you know that

[@YourFriendTommy]

rose petals rose petals rose petals

[@Imptheshrimp]

If anyone could tell me the brand/model of that guitar, I would be forever indebted.

[@SirBoot32]

Stella potentially. Harmony maybe. Just search arch top guitar.

[@sealbe1885]

To my knowledge its a Gibson 125

[@livan7000]

síii

[@pthompson2005]

Jeff needs to respect the artistry LOL

[@epicgeorge]

JUDAS!

[@alsharpe]

I don’t believe you. You’re a liar

[@evangel1460]

I know that feel bro. I saw him back in February, when I was talking to everyone about all these different albums like the early stuff, like the 1992 release's when he called himself "Milk" nobody had any idea what that was! Some people even didn't know what On Avery Island was! Their first album! And nobody knew about it. It makes me sad that these "hipsters" (hate that word) think they know all about NMH and don't know anything except for ITAOTS... Sad really.

[@Muckruckuck]

no, it is. and you are.

[@naguleader]

how was it?

[@pivot1022]

lol

[@mr.nazareth4501]

Haha haha

[@declanwarner4835]

Kek

[@saturatedneowax]

@@cortisonesss Ford.

[@iHeartCoolStuff]

this doesnt look much like bottom of the hill. maybe its changed some in 12 years

[@declanwarner4835]

iHeartCoolStuff I’m pretty sure it has

[@averyisland]

NO STAHP JEFF TOO MANY FEELS NOOOOOO STAHP [necks self because of feels overload]