Jeff Mangum - Two Headed Boy part II - Live at Jittery Joe's

[KJGLipp]

I just got tickets to see him in Seattle. I'm pinching myself.

[Nagsworth]

Is that THE baby? Y'all know what the fuck I'm talkin' about.

[neutralsoymilkhotel]

Please don't disappear again, Jeff. 

[HerrZwist]

Sometimes I think Jeff forgets that he is not, in fact, a trumpet.

[OlDizyBee]

kid playing in the background probably had the greatest childhood

[colmo1992]

Bought my tickets today. November 30th I'll be seeing Jeff play in Whelans in Dublin. I'm a lucky guy.

[seanpatrickgilmore]

@colmo1992 better tape that shit they sold out near me in like a second

[HarryCaseyKid]

I wonder if he ever finished it? perhaps the version on ITAOTS is unfinished.

[Nagsworth]

@HarryCaseyKid I've been reading the story of ITAOTS and I don't think most of the band really expected most of the songs on the record to make the final cut, or at least thought they would be revised and re-recorded. The stream-of-consciousness style of Jeff's writing coupled with that feeling of capturing moments in song like that really adds an unspeakable magic to the music.

[brantham]

I don't cry often...but this song does it every time. Unbelievably sad song. Perfect.

[mezezezah]

My favorite NMH song besides Engine. Two songs that can always make me tear up.

[VermillionNIN]

if only there was more music from neutral milk hotel...

[JOYWRIGHT]

Across The Universe is the only song in history that can top this.

[krawlon]

hearing the live version literally makes me shiver. in the best way.

[jumaxe]

All the people who were at the Live at Jittery Joe's show were time travelers.

[dolcevespa1]

there's nothing unfinished here...it's epic and the ultimate

[TheBretthall]

How I would kill to be one of the random kids in the background...

[mydavegabicycle]

@TheBretthall Bit of trivia, the random kid that's featured at the end would grow up to become Ravi Hernandes, a member of the E6 collective that played with Circulatory System.

[bloodyeskimo]

So this song is beautiful, and this video is awesome.

However, all I could focus on was that epic baby in the back. He's doing ridiculous things, and it's distracting.

Goddamn baby

[hotmetaldobermans]

someone make sure that kid has this video.

[JOYWRIGHT]

Definitely considering getting "Tomatoes & Radio Wires" tattooed somewhere on my body.

[lifetisbutadream]

I think it's funny how such a beautiful, insightful comment up top was posted by someone with the name niggerlips2. lol

[NaziJesus]

i identify some much with this song

jeff is amazing

[orangutangangbang]

5:00 onward... what a set of lungs!

[LordSithis22]

This video should be archived in a steel lock-box in a bomb shelter where it could be discovered hundreds of years after we've all died in the nuclear holocaust.

[jStrat7]

it blows my mind that this song like.. exists.

wow.

[leppyleprecaan]

This version is my favorite... I love most:

a lover to bring a child to your arms who could lay as you sleep and love all that you are . . . how he loved to hug your tongue in his teeth in a struggle to find secret songs that you keep buried deep in your eyes sounding only at night as you sleep . . . she is all you could need, she will feed you tomatoes and radio wires . . . but don't hate her when she gets up to leave.

[PreciousRobot]

I'm still wanting my tongue on your cheek...

[jimshoez]

A secret song that you keep wrapped in boxes so tight, sounding only at night as you dream.

[Mithyus]

Genius, genius, genius...

[jakehartley1234]

Surreal...

[mytoecold]

even the fucking baby is excited

[DCM101]

Thank you for spelling it "mangum" and not "magnum"

[JuztinClark]

You really cant describe the lyrical talent that he has, easily the best artist ive ever herd.

[rain360]

This is quite possibly my favorite video on Youtube right now.

I like Jeff is only silhouetted and the focus is on the baby marveling at the lights above him.

It creates a very surreal atmosphere.

Like Jeff is outlining this little boy's life before it really even begins.

[Sephiroth96752]

The amount of expression in this song is almost horrifying. I can't imagine how someone could bear to go out night after night and perform this, when just LISTENING to this makes me feel emotionally drained. Doing this while actively having dreams about it... It's surprising Jeff didn't have a breakdown sooner.

[PreciousRobot]

The end just gives me chills...

[extinctforyoursins]

If only Jeff would come out with another album.

[suppage99]

@extinctforyoursins It would outsell every hit album from every famous musician ever combined. In fact, people would buy multiple copies.

[0ysterburg3r]

kudos to everybody watching this vid and enjoying it....this kinda stuff makes me value life so much more than i already do

[0ysterburg3r]

true art. im glad i ever found Jeff Mangum and Neutral Milk Hotel

[xannybee]

I...jesus. this is amazing.

[chairmanmike]

this song tugs at my heart strings. Jeff's vocals are so endearing and childlike. Reminds me of a deep innocent yearning.

[Swiftlygothedays]

The child clapping at the end. It's somehow very fitting. Innocent.

Oh, Jeff, you've made me feel more emotion than any other musician ever has. Sigh...

[lowaslow]

Incredible.

[bakinslato]

that is the luckiest fucking kid on earth.

[FairRabbit]

god damn. this is the most beautiful song ever written. i want to get his face tattooed over my heart. *sigh*

[jtallen12345]

the best songwriter of our generation

[DrFuckup]

Jeff Mangum- You are exempt from ever having to perform or record again. You've made great music and performances that have been recorded for posterity. These stand the test of time. Your collection of work is more significant than most bands that have gone 30 years...Of course, if you WANTED to make new tunes, we wouldn't mind...

[tylerprime1]

that would kinda suck. Oh yeah, when you were very young, just young enough not to remember, we took you to the coolest, most amazing concert ever and you danced around in a tutu and played with a teddy ear for 2 hours. now, not only cant you remember that concert and there's no chance that you'll eer witness such a thing again, there's a very popular video of you dancing in a tutu on youtube

[SimMaster]

that boy in this video has to be old enough to post on the internet.. i wonder if he even remembers this

[bokunoatamanonaka]

i am not sure the reason,but

whenever i hear this song,

i begin to cry.

just great song.

[rain360]

@bokunoatamanonaka I get the same way.

[alex10645]

god i miss him.

[sekaijin]

this is (in my opinion) the pinnacle of the album which i can use to determine with whom i can become close friends. if someone is not moved by this music then i am afraid something is wrong with their soul.

[Sonsofyesteryear]

Amen! I think it takes a certain type of individual to look past the shitastic sound quality of the aeroplane, and the insanely nasally vocals and see the album in it's entirety! It is by far one of the greatest, and listening to it from beginning to end with and open mind I think anyone could see that. Funny thing is as much as the general population knows nothing of this band I talk to an A&R scout for sony records and he absolutely loves NMH

[bclizz]

anyone else notice how legit this video was shot?

[IAmAnEngine1]

So beautiful.

[shakezulathemicrulah]

Excellent

And god damn, can Jeff sustain a note

[TaoOfPhilosophy]

Love the closeup on the kid at the end there.

[hellaburns]

I really prefer the lyrics in this version to the lyrics on the album... something very powerful about "...before he went and tore out your heart"

[krissylee9288]

1997, by film maker/documentarian Lance Bangs

[OGjays1]

WOW!

[againwerise12]

this is amazing

[MrBallenger926]

i love you, whoever posted this or recorded it for that matter. truly beautiful.

[krissylee9288]

film maker and documentarian Lance Bangs filmed this

[TaoOfPhilosophy]

How do you know that? As in, where did you find that out?

[ShzaMack]

Amazing, but I'll keep my praise short because it's all been said.

You know how everybody is always saying it's such a shame there's no more NMH? Well the other day I realized it's probably better to leave Aeroplane as our last memory instead of totally changing and losing fans like some bands do. Of course I like songs like Little Birds and there's only one song Mangum's ever written that I didn't completely love (through my tears, and it's still a decent tune)... Im just going to be thankful

[nataliewheeleryo]

this performance is truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever watched.

I made a cover of this if anyone wants to check it out

[wicryeker]

show me

[VanHalen010]

I heard 1940 and five for three weeks?

[andtvergara]

19, 40, and 5 which we weep

[GhostOfDanJohnston]

Thank you for posting this.

[VanHalen010]

Wanting my face on your cheek is what Anne Frank said about peter one of the other people in hiding with her who she had a crush on. Anne also said in her diary that peter and another peter she knew beforehand was one in the same.

[ekdurk]

unbelievable

[fungamesss]

wow. better than i expected. amazing

[ANGELUSisWATCHING]

absolutely perfect

[theweepingwall]

for a lover to bring

a child to your chest (arms)

that could as you sleep

[cappast]

i'm not saying i know what this song is about, but it always made me think of the stories of Elvis Presley and his still born brother Jesse. It sort of hints at an eternal longing, the "wanting my face on your cheek" he's remembering something that once was real, like a childhood memory, but isn't anymore. This song makes me cry, and i don't know why.

[KillaNowski]

im very glad this video exists

[adv1k]

as am I

[godandxzd]

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

beautiful and sad

[siubo27]

Fucking Genius.

He has all the talent that most pop stars lack.

[revolution999999999]

the most powerful live performance ever. no stadium concert can ever match this. NMH is the greatest band ever.

[bradulator]

that is such a freaking long note he holds out near the end. fantastic song

[fantasticoplaya]

in my dreams youre alive and youre crying

[PhillyFlyers8]

God knows we could all use you back jeff.

[niggerlips2]

this is the most heart breaking song i have ever listened to. it's like he's finally given up and realize that all he can love is a ghost.

[hpsfl]

@niggerlips2 Such insight from niggerlips2!

[anman913]

@niggerlips2

I wasn't going to like this...then i saw your name.

well played.

[twoleggedzoo]

holy shit

this song sounds sooo haunting and powerful making your bones rattle as they jerk at your heart.... wow

[inglesidecatamaran]

Lyrically, this is the greatest song ever written. Jeff Mangum is such a great lyricist that his own lyrics brought him so much emotional distress and caused him to have night terrors about not being able to go back in time to save Anne Frank and her family. References about a two-headed boy seem to be a boy with his head split open in a concentration camp. He also says "head filled with flames" which is just tearjerking. Remember, these are terrors inflicted on CHILDREN. And they're all TRUE.

[OneRadRudeboy]

I really do agree, I love his lyrics, ESPECIALLY this song

[billiumbean]

While I agree with most of your comment, I think the symbolism behind "Two-Headed Boy" lies more in the lines "Brother, see, we are one and the same," and "I'm still wanting my face on your cheek."

If you think about it, Parts 1 & 2 could each be different perspectives from the same man at different points in his life.

[yousuperpussy]

i don't think your right about the two headed boy, in the diary of anne frank she lives with peter but she loved this other boy named peter before they came to the secret annexe and she eventually loved the new peter but doubted wether she actually did love him yada yada yada, and thats the to headed boy, peter. it seems jeff mangum is either relating to peter or writing from his perspective or a bit of both.

[jmc1321]

The baby's cries enhance the song. Too bad they don't do it when he says in my dreams you're alive and crying.

[jtallen12345]

Now that i've seen the actual baby crying on youtube i don't find the crying on the record as eerie anymore! Ruined it for me lol. Amazing performance from an amazing artist *****

[saladfingerz17]

absoloutly breath taking, jeff is pure genius, please kome back jeff we all need you

[horlock91]

WHY CANT YOU COME TO ENGLAND JEFF!!!!!!!! all my money, all my worldly possesions, my soul to see this band.

[jtallen12345]

I second that.... Maybe if we can get enough people to offer up their worldly possessions and their eternities to Mangum he might come do a gig in the UK somewhere... lol

[cmallon135]

that baby has no idea how lucky she is to be there

[cartographersband]

Stupid babies... they should be more aware! lol jk : )

[jtallen12345]

I've never seen these jittery joes videos... It's made my day! i've always imagined the place to look completely different - i have no idea why....

[DarknessHowls]

It's great...when it get to, "and we wait for our miracle, God is a place we'll live for the rest of our lives!", I have a mini orgasm from the sheer awesomeness.

[naomiwitter87]

this song is beautiful, jeff is brilliant, and his songs are magnificent !

[MrElationRx]

this song is timeless

[kevin23va]

lmao

[kevin23va]

hahahahahahahaha

[JakeFilms]

At least we can spell "Oh".

[c2thebaker]

to me, this is the greatest song ever written

[MysteryBroomAtic]

God is a place we will wait for the rest of our lives

-fav part of the song-

i <3 jeff

[billiumbean]

I think this is the best reprise in the history of indie rock (if you could consider this a reprise).

Two-Headed Boy Pt. 1 had such a thick, almost spiritual optimism that comes with being young and in love. Part 2 is so resigned and world-weary, the same melody sung fifty or sixty years later. It's breathtaking.

[zdskate21]

best melody ever created

[TomReeseqazwsx]

btw i am jocularing that he said that, not the song

[TomReeseqazwsx]

haha, itll probably never come out

[DriftingMunki]

The little boy clapping got me.

:]]

[camrenishot1]

I've always wondered if that child has any memories of this show. Because that would be a pretty amazing first memory.

[NmHman127Nugget]

ahahaha wow i thought the same exact thing

this song is so trippy

jeff is so good its trippy

[scummy51]

found out about this song by accident....and it has helped me through some tuff times...i have to say one of the best songs ever.....pete scotland...

[Crp80023]

What an amazing song

[hos24]

we should all be so lucky to have this shared with us.

[NmHman127Nugget]

so wats going on behind him here?

[AnnabelleBelieve]

"19 forty and five

til whenever you're ready"

it's like a new hyphen. 1929-1945

1945-> til whenever you're ready

[jdh1990110]

the 'and love all you have left' in the final version is devastating.

[RyanSmith1313]

such a surreal video. A silhouette of Jeff playing in front of a mother caring for her child. underneath that big light contraption haha. The baby crying helps too. This video is incredible.

[Huffah007]

Where did Jeff go.

I heard hes in another band, which the name escapes me atm.. But i think NMH should preform one last time. Im sure it would complete my life to hear those beautiful songs live.

[JOYWRIGHT]

This is probably one of the greatest songs ever written.

This is CERTAINLY one of the best albums ever redorder.

This is without a doubt one of our country's most brilliant lyricists.

I am in awe every time I listen, No JOKE!

God has blessed the world with Jeff Magnum!

[threebobs]

YES!

Absolutely.

[dolemiteX]

Wait, that little boy only has one head...

Fantastic song!

[bodysnatcherxx]

This song may be the most beautiful thing I have ever heard in my entire life. His voice is so unique and haunting. It almost lingers in the air.

[dannaaaah]

talk about a supernote. leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee­eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeave

he is amazing. AMAZING.

...amazing.

[pigler]

jeff...there's so much to be said about him i dont even know where to start he displays emotion so well its unreal absolutely haunting how he conveys his thoughts and soul purely through verse amazing

[TannersRoomLive]

jeff's voice is so hauntingly beautiful, i pray for a return, even if it is to no avail

[richiestoner101]

Your pray has been heard.

He has been sited playing "Engine" (with Julian on singing saw) at the Elephant Six Holiday Surprise Tour.

If you get yourself down to a show, you may be lucky enough to catch the legend at work. (;

[f1i2s3c4h5e6r7]

It's funny how at least 3 songs on this album are about Anne Frank. What an unexpected consequence of a diary.

[captainmccool]

I honestly felt my stomach in my throat when the person who filmed this zoomed in on the baby in the background, for some reason that was beautiful. I love this song too.

[spikespeigel126]

Wow. Just wow. I've had this song on repeat for the past week or so. No idea why. It just feels right though. Just like this performance. Sure, some of the lyrics are different and the ending isn't as subtle as the album version. But wow.

[cupkakes4]

I also go through phases of listening to this song over and over again.

[alexbericheath]

I love the way the kid's crying in the background. It's great. Great ending to an album like.

[cosmolyn]

the child is Ravi Fernandes. he was collaborating with Jeff, just in his own, pre-verbal style.

[TheKingofMarigolds]

I don't think I could have been there and not burst into tears while he was singing

[Velourium]

I couldn't imagine the album without this closing.

[yermusicsshite44]

it's the difference between artists that wear it on their sleeve, and ones that show up for the glitz and everything but the music. don't negate someone's personal opinion just b/c it's not in line with your way of looking at something. music is universal, mate. and that's what makes it so great.

[306163855]

i know and agree with everything you are saying

which is good

im sick of people on youtube causing arguments over opinion

finally, someone who i can relate to and agree with

thanks :)

[yermusicsshite44]

it's all good my friend. at least you & i have good taste is music.

cheers...

[yermusicsshite44]

b/c i say that this is what music was meant to do, i mean that from my perspective. i don't want to waste my time or life with fluff, or filler. i want it to say something. radiohead say something. mangum says something. johnny cash said something.

[yermusicsshite44]

this is what music was meant to do to you. make you feel down to your core what it means to be alive. jeff's music works the way that it does because we feel it. it resonates in us. i've never heard a voice like this before. he wears it on his sleeve. and that's what makes people like us revel in his amazingly heartfelt voice, and his raw, emotional delivery. thank you jeff. wherever you are. thank you.

[IcyMice]

totally agree.

his music sends chills through my body like no other song has.

[306163855]

thats not true

music isn't limited to cutting you to the core.

in Jeff's case, it is so.

but some music can be made to make you feel happy, make you dance, make you drowsy.

i believe music creates an emotion.

you cannot honestly think all music 'meant to do' what Jeff's does

[yermusicsshite44]

of course music creates an emotion. that's why it's the greatest form of communication. it's universal. it gets the point across better than a powerpoint presentaion. but, music like this does hit you where it truly means something to you. screaming fans think that there favorite artists hit them to the core. you or i would listen to it, and think, "eh. i don't see it." but that's why music means something different to everyone.

[calhopkins]

powerpoint sucks

[Vin2241]

Good point

[TheRapeSeal]

This song gets to me every time. Right around "and when we break we'll wait for our miracle" is when I start sobbing uncontrollably. I wish I could meet Jeff Mangum and hug him and say thank you for writing the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. If I could do that, I think my life would be complete. I guess until then, I can wait for my miracle.

[Huffah007]

Where did he disappear to????

Seriously! I wanna go to a concert D:

Too bad those are long gone... ;_;

[iamawildcat]

i believe he is involved with beirut at the moment, go see them! = ]

[shannon557]

hes involved in a lot of things including the 2nd imaginary symphony for cloudmaking and yes, beirut. but that dosnt mean that he plays with the bands live

[iggypoprox]

he is involved with beirut????? how? like did he produce, or play on a track?

[jennnkc]

i am unbelievably glad i saw this video,

"in a struggle to find

secret songs that you keep buried deep in your eyes"

new beauty, same song

[bregmentality]

jesus, this shit fucks me up.

[kazao25]

gasp

[amazingcoffee]

Jeff Mangum, where have you gone?

[coreyonthesun]

I like the lyrics in this one better I think.

The finished version is amazing also