Aeroplane

To me my most meaningful experience of art was probably my first time listening to "In the aeroplane over the sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel. I remember hating most of it my first listen, yet feeling strangely drawn towards it, as if it where a candy that started off sour but then turned sweet if you gave it a chance and didn't spit it out. Listening to that album was the first time that I had actually listened to an album in full, without putting the album on shuffle or skipping any of the songs. I remember being confused and slightly appalled by the lyrics and how they seemingly made no sense. I also remember being amazed by how all of the songs where interconnected as if the entire album was just one long song. But most importantly I remember being emotionally crushed by the ending, and while I had no idea what the lyrics told, I knew what they meant. The song was musically simple, being Jeff Mangum (singer/songwriter) strumming basic chords accompanied by his nasally singing. The simplicity in the song immediately struck me because the song before was so loud, energetic, and happy that I knew that something special was about to happen. And right I was  because I was blessed with  "two headed boy pt. 2". I used this album as a gateway into new and more diverse/complex music, and while I've listened to thousands of songs since, "two headed boy pt. 2" will remain among my very favorite.