Neutral Milk Hotel, “Holland, 1945”

The opening measures start out in a stereotypically rock and roll fashion, raspy voice counting off “two, one, two, three, four” over a metrically driven instrumental line. With abrupt lyrical phrases that do not necessarily match breaks in thought or expression, the first line is misleadingly turning the listener’s expectations on their heads. Despite expected genre-based conventions, “The only I girl I ever loved” is not introducing a love song, as the listener would anticipate, but rather a grotesque scene where our subject is “born with roses in her eyes.” Though this line is still somewhat cryptic and could be construed as merely symbolic, the subsequent line “But then they buried her alive - one evening, 1945” removes any remaining doubt that the nature of the subject matter at hand is steeped in morbidity. The persistent muted trumpets add an element of frivolity in opposition to the severe, macabre imagery, thus creating a backdrop of flighty irreverence in response to the somber nature of the lyrical composition. This interplay of expectations and execution adds to the mounting discomfort that is instilled in the listener as the final measures are passed back and forth between voices. As the instrumental lines amble around a resolution, they finally grow into an almost imperceptibly off-kilter final chord, leaving the listener with a sense of unease.

--Brandi Buckler