Oh Comely - Neutral Milk Hotel (Lyrics)

Lyrics for Oh Comely, perfomed by Neutral Milk Hotel
Track #08 in the album In The Aeroplane Over The Sea released in February 1998.
Lyrics:
Oh Comely
I will be with you when you lose your breath
Chasing the only
Meaningful memory you thought you had left
With some pretty bright and bubbly
Terrible scene that was doing her thing on your chest
But oh comely
It isn't as pretty as you'd like to guess
In your memory you're drunk on your awe to me
It doesn't mean anything at all
Oh Comely
All of your friends are all letting you blow
Bristling and ugly
Bursting with fruits falling out from the holes
Of some pretty bright and bubbly
Friend you could need to say comforting things in your ear
But oh Comely
There isn't such one friend that you could find
Here standing next to me only my enemy
I'll crush him with everything I own
Say what you want to say hang for your hollow ways
Moving your mouth to pull out all your miracle for me
Your father made fetuses with flesh licking ladies
While you and your mother were asleep in the trailer park
Thunderous sparks from the dark of the stadiums
The music and medicine you needed for comforting
So make all your fat fleshy fingers to moving
And pluck all your silly strings and bend all your notes for me
Soft silly music is meaningful magical
The movements were beautiful all in your ovaries
All of them milking with green fleshy flowers
While powerful pistons were sugary sweet machines
Smelling of semen all under the garden was all you were needing
When you still believed in me
Say what you want to say and hang for your hollow ways
Moving your mouth to pull out all your miracle for me
I know they buried her body with others
Her sister and mother and 500 families
And will she remember me 50 years later
I wished i could save her in some sort of time machine
Know all your enemies
We know who our enemies are
Know all your enemies
We know who our enemies are
Goldaline my dear
We will fold and freeze together
Far away from here
There is sun and spring and green forever
But now we move to feel
For ourselves inside some strangers stomach
Place your body here
Let your skin begin to blend itself with mine

[@abhikmondal6017]

8:14 you could literally hear someone in the studio screaming "holy shit" at just how amazing the song was. and probably on how they did it in one full take.

[@Mineralsss]

I dont hear it

[@very025]

It’s Scott Spillane

[@nobody_5982]

@@Mineralsss you have to listen somewhat closely, the vowel in shit in the loudest, once you hear it u can hear the rest of the phrase

[@DaveAnchovies]

if yer listening to the record on a decent record player in the dark at 3:53 est, ya kinda hear it. and i think he's saying it after hearing the demented lyrics. yes, its a great. holy shit.

[@kanegreenhatch1008]

I went down a hole , and rose like a walking rock holding this song like a flag

[@CB-ym5ng]

This song man. I made it a mission to learn every lyric in middle school. Still one of my go to shower songs.

[@jakesauce9473]

oh oh oh comely...

[@BayVae]

How Old Are u ?

[@BayVae]

Im almost 20 and I committed myself to learn this song on guitar when I was in middle school @ 14 years old... I don't know anyone who knows this song let alone this band

[@jakesauce9473]

@@BayVae check out the wiki

[@TheDarkota]

Good album to lose your voice to trying to sing along

[@jaysonmunoz8342]

"Place you body here, let your skin begin to blend itself with mine" I haven't heard this album in a while but that part still gives me chills.

[@LawToxin]

what does it mean

[@user-og6hl6lv7p]

@@LawToxin seks

[@RollingCalf]

Same. It's what hooked me. So beautiful and intimate.

[@kkoyaanisqatisfy1432]

One of the best moments in the history of music when he sings "with mine". And i listen to A LOT of music.

[@FUBARx371]

This was the first song I ever heard by NMH. It can suit a perfect day or one straight out of hell itself and I was immediately addicted to the dream of Jeff's poetry.

[@irschlem]

This man only stopped because he knew something this beautiful might not happen again and it pained him to believe this. I, for one, am sad to not hear his voice anymore.

[@theonewhoknocks96]

This song is honestly a blast to sing along to

[@yoursillystar]

I agree.

[@uselessaccount9929]

Jeff's lyricism and the imagery portrayed in his lyrics are absolutely beautiful.

[@BGasperov]

5:50 - 6:05 This transition is just pure bliss.

[@PLAGUE-KARM]

6:44 onward is probably one of my favourite parts of any song ever, the way Jeff sings “mine” gives me chills every time

[@Tremors-8]

Wow, I did not realise how hard it is to sing along with this song. I don't know if I just have terrible breathe control or if his is amazing.

[@Imanfly]

Can confirm his breath control is just that good

[@RobotPilots]

And he's doing this for 8 minutes either

[@emdressdelrenaissance]

a very special person showed me this band and I love him

[@bn3121]

i feel the love fam

[@bamboostalker]

"Say what you wanna say. Hang for your hollow ways. Moving your mouth to pull out all your miracles aimed for me." Holy, Holy, Holy. 💗

[@gabrielmaffei7623]

[@NobodyQuiteLikeMe]

Let us hope and pray Gods will is done.

[@bn3121]

>Holy, holy, holy Idk if you were deliberately quoting Ginsberg here but it fits PERFECTLY

[@cadenwiener9686]

This is probably my favorite song off this album

[@ryandooner1440]

It is a masterpiece.

[@tooka5777]

Yep

[@abby4684]

Same

[@jacksoncardosoleite7180]

This is probably my favorite song of my life

[@RollingCalf]

Same

[@michaelk2481]

Posted 3 weeks ago? I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that still listens to them

[@catherinespinelli6701]

They're a band good til the end of time 😉❤️

[@grotto65]

I still love them. Especially this song.

[@afksjbdbsjansnnsnsnsjdb]

they will always be one of my favorites😔

[@jakesauce9473]

Oh, comely...

[@wokensavage1567]

i will never stop

[@haikalzikri9219]

Disturbingly beautiful

[@saphrondiehl7863]

I memorized every word of this song when I was 16 and still remember every word 7 years later. Will always be in my top 3

[@stephanietunc2240]

Yo same

[@lobsterthemobster2032]

What are the other two songs?

[@julezdacoolz5955]

@@lobsterthemobster2032yeah

[@jacobtuck3086]

No song has made me enter such a hypnotic state like this one whenever I play it on guitar and sing along. It sends my brain on autopilot and no other song has had that effect on me. Such a unique gem and no other song will ever come close to recreating that feeling for me

[@JackT13]

I remember hearing somewhere that this album was loosely based on the writer’s retrospective love of Anne Frank and when I first heard it I was intrigued by all of the subtle references made to Holland and aeroplanes dropping bombs and death and the aspirations of a young girl. Then this song came on; “I know they buried her body with others, her sister and mother and 500 families, will she remember me 50 years later, I wish could save her in some sort of time machine..” I was so dumbstruck by the cogency and forwardness of the lyrics that a few tears fell, just like when I finished reading her diary. Both her diary and this album are unquestionably beautiful and tragical beyond compare

[@danielplainview2584]

It’s kind of brilliant because Magnum infused a lot of autobiographical details into it, and I think this song makes allusions to the fall of man too as well as his birth. It’s essentially about all these things at once.

[@weemicroserfs]

I always wondered what it would be like to feel the impotent sorrow Jeff did, and have been lately blessed with such cursed understanding when the incredible Janusz Szeremeta was killed in battle last week. Like Anne, Janusz recorded a lot of his life, but posted it here on KZbin, instagram and TikTok. I am so overwhelmed with grief that such a beautiful light was put out. I wish I could save him in some sort of time machine.

[@christiangrove7012]

I was 7 and playing Morrowind.. While my mom played her cleaning music when I first heard this song

[@MorgansTrainClips]

You played morrowind at 7!? And your parents listen to music as good as THIS!? Jeez I wish I had parents as cool as yours

[@Camothor10]

You are awesome

[@LawToxin]

i had a similar experience when i was 10, i was playing silent hill 2 and my dad was playing it on his guitar and i heard it for the first time

[@eldihoda7794]

They literally made "lalala" and "dididi" sound good

[@sci_pain3409]

i mean, if the beatles could do it

[@agc2757]

5:50 and 7:30 are honestly 2 of the most chilling and all around greatest things I've heard listening to an album. This is up there with my favourite albums of all time, and this is one of my favourite songs of all time. Holy shit indeed.

[@bringme1kscrubscribers10]

God I have to listen to this song twice cause everytime I hear it I wanna look at the comments for like 8 minutes so I switch to this video from the other one

[@Jack_______oh]

Can't help but sing along to this one

[@austenfarrior2573]

this is the only thing in existence that I think is a honest to god trigger , fuck this instantly makes me feel like I’m gonna die for no reason

[@bottomlessnitch4891]

one year later but same i bursted out crying

[@shawnfisher7364]

Listen to blue period by kind of like spitting and between bars by eliiot Smith and oh comely back to back.

[@Camothor10]

Tf why

[@ricochetsixtyten]

@@Camothor10have you listened to the last 3 minutes of the song?

[@Camothor10]

@@ricochetsixtyten what? Is this mf a Holocaust survivor?? I just relistened and the only thing that could be “triggering” is the “they buried her body with others, her sister and mother and five hundred families” like sure it isnt great imagery but i doubt that OP has had her whole family massacred and buried in a mass grave. 🤷‍♂️

[@huntasoup]

I cannot believe I'd never heard this song when it was current. Brand New made me discover it and I couldn't thank them enough 💜

[@jakesauce9473]

I wandered into a room as a child and this discourse continued... it's been twenty years...

[@positive.juice.apartment]

ive listened to this song probably over 1000 times in my life. it talks to me whenever i have no one else to turn to :p

[@bn3121]

if anyone ever tries to tell you that one person singing with a guitar cant make a beautiful song please send them this

[@commandingsteel]

this is a really good song I saw NMH on their last tour and it was pretty awesome... i hit my weed vape the whole time lol

[@hexmaniac]

How does anyone listen to this song without crying

[@friendofyah3954]

Best song ive ever heard, 10 years standing

[@LemonWedgeinc]

I've had dreams like his before in my life, consistently for months, you can't ignore them, they lie within your subconscious mind, helping make the decisions that are important the most without your permission, and it’s really weird and sorta hard to explain lol Edit: I wrote this during a time where I was taking a lot of LSD and just, was not doing so good, still lucid dreaming though.. it’s been like 3 years since it started lol

[@danielplainview2584]

The verse starting with “your father made fetuses with flesh licking ladies” might be the best lyrical verse in popular music.

[@LawToxin]

wtf does it mean

[@madib1317]

@@LawToxindefinitely interpretational ‘your father made fetuses with flesh licking ladies while you & your mother were asleep in the trailer park’ for me these lyrics represent an affair the father sleeping with women (thus getting them pregnant) with flesh licking ladies (possibly prostitution?) while you & your mother were asleep in the trailer park he goes out at night & sleeps with other women while you & your mother are in the small, poor world he escapes at night that’s how i see it, anyway

[@charliestearns6819]

@@LawToxin if i were to guess along the lines of women who slept around a lot “flesh licking” probably meaning D-sucking, so hes saying person never grew up in a typical household

[@Raspberriicecream]

@@LawToxin it means he got a lot of "slutty" women pregnant

[@bn3121]

​@@LawToxinyou decide!

[@_saturncity]

i absolutety LOVE playing along to this loud as i can, its so much fun HAH

[@RSpracticalshooting]

This song saved me from a bad acid trip.

[@123souldedout321]

This sounds like an acid nightmare lol

[@stephanietunc2240]

Took forever to find this video. Not a popular song of there's but this is the staples of the beginning of my teenage years and where some of the best music from that time that I still listen to. This song is so good too.

[@zacharybunting3637]

I still smile that such a morose song brings to mind happy memories.

[@UntitledKirk]

This album is a magical, ineffable experience. It's an album that has stuck with me for many years, and will continue to have a special place in my heart for years to come. Mangum and company crafted a masterpiece in '98. Nothing else musically comes close to rivaling In The Aeroplane Over The Sea's emotional intensity, as far as I'm concerned.

[@lulusgirlforever]

Oh comely I will be with you when you lose your breath Chasing the only Meaningful memory you thought you had left With some pretty bright and bubbly Terrible scene that was doing her thing on your chest But oh comely It isn't as pretty as you'd like to guess In your memory you're Drunk on your awe to me It doesn't mean anything at all Oh comely All of your friends are all letting you blow Bristling and ugly Bursting with fruits falling out from the holes Of some pretty bright and bubbly Friend you could need to say comforting things in your ear But oh comely There isn't such one friend that you could find Here standing next to me only my enemy I'll crush him with everything i own Say what you want to say hang for your hollow ways Moving your mouth to pull out all your miracle for me Your father made fetuses with flesh licking ladies While you and your mother were asleep in the trailer park Thunderous sparks from the dark of the stadiums The music and medicine you needed for comforting So make all your fat fleshy fingers to moving And pluck all your silly strings and bend all your notes for me Soft silly music is meaningful magical The movements were beautiful all in your ovaries All of them milking with green fleshy flowers While powerful pistons were sugary sweet machines Smelling of semen all under the garden was all you were needing When you still believed in me Say what you want to say and hang for your hollow ways Moving your mouth to pull out all your miracle for me I know they buried her body with others Her sister and mother and 500 families And will she remember me 50 years later I wished i could save her in some sort of time machine Know all your enemies We know who our enemies are Know all your enemies We know who our enemies are Goldaline my dear We will fold and freeze together Far away from here There is sun and spring and green forever But now we move to feel For ourselves inside some strangers stomach Place your body here Let your skin begin to blend itself with mine

[@MsMiguel70]

Like life, sometimes it’s too much to take, then other times you need as inspiration and/or catharsis. Or maybe just into good tunes. Regardless. Thanks for the post.

[@andrewpennington2251]

Oh man. I dont think music is much to me anymore. This

[@sunmasterlvef]

best song on itaots easily

[@stephenbutler3190]

HOLY SHIT!

[@Donniegutz]

I saw the name of the performer in a book called will Grayson will Grayson I’m happy i read the book and looked up the name of the singer

[@jasonconerty2214]

My daughter was reading that when she was young. Came to that passage and said "dad, he mentions neutral milk hotel"

[@kfrost2804]

Epic song. Full volume singalong

[@ryandooner1440]

Not sure which is better. This or Little Birds. Both are masterpieces.

[@morganh1322]

This song helped me through quarantine and some of the toughest times mentally

[@lauragoldenberg7305]

Oh comely I will be with you when you lose your breath Chasing the only Meaningful memory you thought you had left With some pretty bright and bubbly Terrible scene that was doing her thing on your chest But oh comely It isn't as pretty as you'd like to guess In your memory you're Drunk on your awe to me It doesn't mean anything at all Oh comely All of your friends are all letting you blow Bristling and ugly Bursting with fruits falling out from the holes Of some pretty bright and bubbly Friend you could need to say comforting things in your ear But oh comely There isn't such one friend that you could find Here standing next to me only my enemy I'll crush him with everything I own Say what you want to say hang for your hollow ways Moving your mouth to pull out all your miracleee for meee Your father made fetuses with flesh licking ladies While you and your mother were..a sleep in the trailer park Thunderous sparks from the dark of the stadiums The music and medicine you needed for comforting So make all your fat fleshy fingers to moving And pluck all your silly strings and bend all your notes for me Soft silly music is meaningful magical The movements were beautiful all in your ovaries All of them milking with green fleshy flowers While powerful pistons were sugary sweet machines Smelling of semen all under the garden was all you were needing When you still believed in me Say what you want to say and hang for your hollow ways Moving your mouth to pull out all your miracleee for meee Da da da da da da da...Da da da da da da da...Da da da da da da da... I know they buried her body with others Her sister and mother and five hundred families And will she remember me fifty years later I wished I could save her in some sort of time machine Know all your enemies We know who our enemies are Know all your enemies We know who our enemies areee... Da da daa da da da da da da, daa da da da da da da da... Da da da da da da da da da, da da da da ah ah ah, da da da da da da da da.. Dee dee dee dee dee dee deeee... Goldaline my dear We will fold and freeze together Far away from here ('hai..r') There is sun and spring and green forever But now we move to feel For ourselves inside some stranger's stomach Place your body here ('hare') Let your skin begin to blend itself with mineeeee.... Dee, dee, dee, dee, da, da etc...

[@ED-gb7ce]

i love this song

[@karengozra5092]

Wow was surprised to hear this was an American band thought it was a British band the singer sounds like he is singing in a Bristol/ West Country accent.

[@jacobhaze4055]

I see my heart begin to heal. So long ago my trust within myself was shattered, would I ever love someone else the way I did her before things went sideways?

[@herhangi_]

illüzyondan ibaret olduğunun farkındayım, güzel olduğunu kabul etmeliyim, aksinde kalır mıyım bu geceden farksız

[@aglioeolio7730]

this song ruined my life. 10/10

[@johnthomson1845]

Song interrupted by commercial

[@nogussy]

Use an ad blocking extension

[@parallel_00]

"Holy _SHIT!"_

[@HeyDan1]

"Oh comely , i will be you when you lose you breath "

[@ml_tumer724]

Harika şarkı 👏

[@e.m.8184]

anyone else listening to this during world war 2?

[@firebanner6424]

this song fking destroys me every time. everything is so meaningless but my monkey brain can't help artificially assign meaning to things. is that all meaning is? all I know is that I'm cold and empty jeff

[@yungpm]

“meaning” is a 6 piece suit you have to tailor to yourself.

[@alleycat7115]

Thanks

[@skywardstargaze1768]

KNOW ALL YOUR ENEMIES.

[@TheCandyHole]

It is so sincerely incoherent

[@murilos2lyrics399]

If it's bad for you to sing, imagine for me Brazilian that I subtitled it in Portuguese and most of the words didn't understand, I stayed until now 8:00 in the morning subtitling because I didn't find any Portuguese subtitles, I'm a little crazy as “Oh Comely”

[@haydenziegler3033]

top 5 song ever.

[@HorkPorkler]

Cool

[@chrismoffatt604]

I can't believe Google now inserts ads halfway through sings. Goodbye youtube

[@Melititude55]

Love NMH!!!!💯✌🏻🫶🏻💙

[@carlosmiguel-ld4rz]

Best albums from each decade: 60's - Pet Sounds 70's - Dark Side of the Moon 80's - Misplaced Childhood 90's - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea 00's - Funeral 10's - The Suburbs

[@alpaca9994]

i disagree

[@carlosmiguel-ld4rz]

@@alpaca9994 sure! Tell me your opinion

[@alpaca9994]

@@carlosmiguel-ld4rz thanks for bieng kind about it some poeple would just get annoyed

[@alpaca9994]

@@carlosmiguel-ld4rz 60s - pet sounds 70s - the dark side of the moon. Or the wall 80s - combat rock 90s - ok computer. Or nevermind. Or in the airplane over the sea 00s - oracular spectacular. Or hot fuss. Or favourite worst nightmare. Or poeple who can eat poeple are the luckiest poeple in the world. Or back to bedlam. Or all the lost souls 10s - rooms of the house. Or beachboy. Or a constant state of Ohio. Or plastic beach. Or AM. Or the front bottoms. Or tomorrow is nearly yesterday and every day is stupid. Or I forget were we were. Or torches. Or dream you're life away. Orr melophobia. Or bieng so normal Sorry for there bieng so many I rank them the same so I couldn't shorten it

[@carlosmiguel-ld4rz]

@@alpaca9994 of course I dont get upset if you dont agree. Funny how we have very similar taste in music. However, there are some albums there I dont know! I will check them up

[@MustertheBrohirrim]

If someone asked what did growing up in the 90s felt like. This.

[@Enlisted_Goose]

wtf is this song about? I've probably listened to it a thousand times and have no idea.

[@gdogg1979]

Anne Frank

[@Pluraliste]

Sex with someone you don't love

[@drupe4773]

why tf did it play an ad in the middle of the song??? jesus.

[@yungpm]

I wish this record wasn’t a meme.

[@rayhan382]

what is the trumpet like instrument in the end called?

[@sealbe1885]

I was searching just now and it seems like in some of the live versions they use a violin for the high stuff at the end, but in the studio it sounds nothing like a violin. So unless they did some crazy shit to that violin in the studio, I'm not really sure what it is in the studio

[@ragedeeann644]

this would be nice if not for the ad part way

[@StuffFilms]

What on Earth is this song about, a regretful hookup or Anne Frank? Either way, poetry

[@Lundy.Fastnet.Irish_Sea]

To me, it's about these characters (the singer, and Goldaline) who are both in very low points in their lives the moment. they're both f*ing strangers to get some momentary pleasure and relief for their shitty lives. On one of those nights the two characters meet, and while they don't *personally* care about each other, the singer sympathizes with Goldaline. He feels like her enemy because he's using her for s*x, but Goldaline is doing just the same. So he hopes that maybe in another life or another time they may be happy with their lives, they may meet each other again and have a meaningful relationship or whatever, but for tonight they're just sad strangers looking for some f*ck.

[@_frogerino]

i’ve never heard “ear” pronounced as two syllables before

[@kanegreenhatch1008]

Live it and it looses its finesse

[@dhanashreegir6173]

Who's here after reading "the Disenchantments"

[@user-bg7ni7og9f]

oh shit

[@renatabellone4744]

Uff

[@petethecat4356]

In honor of Melanie Martinez

[@sarahsanders1729]

Potato

[@eeenilk7357]

I came here when I read Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

[@sketchyscratch]

tangents aren't deep keep seething

[@SomberSora]

What? Lmao

[@isee1158]

Not sure exactly why an ad has to play halfway through this song every time I listen to this upload of it. KZbin is garbage

[@wondersongsyt]

I'm sorry, those are placed by youtube, I have no control whatsoever of the ads being displayed nor their duration or timestamps

[@user-og6hl6lv7p]

If you haven't figured out how to block ads yet then you 100% deserve to see them. Bro, it takes 5 minutes to figure out how to do it.

[@bjamesW32]

Watching with Brave browser. No interruption. Probably the same with Firefox w adblok plugin