| Neutral Milk Hotel – A Baby for Pree Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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There are obviously very different ways to interpret these lyrics. Jeff Mangum himself stated that the song was written for a friend of his who had a baby. Therefore, when I now try to interpret the lyrics, I choose not to take into account popular theories like the song being about abortion or miscarriage. The following is my personal interpretation: "Blistering Pree, all smiling and swollen Makes babies to breathe" -Here Mangum seems to describe the actual birth of his friend Pree's baby(/babies). She is swollen for obvious reasons. The smile might mean two things: (1) She is actually smiling, because she is looking forward to becoming a mom or (2) she is not actually smiling, but rather grinning in the excruciating physical pain she is experiencing. "With their hearts hanging open all over the sheets As soft as beets in some brown dresser drawer" -Not too sure about this one. I guess the "hearts hanging open" could be interpreted as the kids being ready for both receiving and giving back their mother's love. The second line is even trickier. Babies are soft. I have never considered beets as particularly soft, but their dark red color might resemble the color of a box-fresh newborn baby? As for meaning of "brown dresser drawer", I am completely clueless. "And with bees in her breath and the rest of her ringing They'll sting through her chest with a force hard and beating Till wonderfully wet she will get Until she's soaked inside her clothes" -Painful imagery. Pree's chest feels like its being stung from the inside by killer bees, her whole body is in the excruciating pain I mentioned earlier. I think this scene depicts Pree having her contractions and her water breaking. Especially because of the "she's soaked inside her clothes"-line. Another possibility is she's still just in the actual process of giving birth, and the pain has made her sweat through her clothes. "And there is no sorry to be sorry for For a roll around the floor some afternoon so sound and soft" -Here I think I understand the "what" but not the "why". It seems like Mangum's saying Pree does not regret having the baby, because the sex which impregnated her was "sound and soft", which, knowing Mangum, means completely heartfelt and passionate. But why does Mangum feel the need to point out Pree's lack of regret? Was Pree assumed to regret the baby? Is it because the father of the child(ren) left her, maybe? And that despite this, despite having to be a single mom, she still has no regret? I dont know. "It made her swallow all her sweat With every bit of breath she coughs" -The pregnancy was difficult for her physically (extra understandable if the father was not present to help her). She couldn't even breath properly without having to cough. Not sure how one swallows one's sweat. I'll assume it's a metaphor for the tiring pregnancy. "And when the day it came to pour all her babies All across the bathroom floor” Ehm. I don't know why there has to come a day to pour her babies all across the bathroom floor. Maybe she gave birth in her bathroom? Birthing enough kids to cover the entire floor? Maybe she gave birth in a bathtub? This could give new meaning to the line "Till wonderfully wet she will get/Until she's soaked inside her clothes". “She will be swimming in them all forever more" A metaphor for how her life from now on will revolve completely around her kids. |
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| Neutral Milk Hotel – A Baby for Pree Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Can't find a way to modify or delete comments, but the first paragraph was kinda confusing. This is what I meant to write: There are obviously very different ways to interpret these lyrics. Jeff Mangum himself stated that the song was written for a friend of his who had a baby. Therefore, I choose not to take into account popular theories like the song being about abortion or miscarriage. The following is my personal interpretation of the lyrics: |
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| Neutral Milk Hotel – A Baby for Pree Lyrics | 11 years ago |
|
There are obviously very different ways to interpret these lyrics. Seeing as Jeff Mangum himself stated the was for a friend of his who had a baby, I choose to not consider the popular theories of the song being about abortion or miscarriage, when I interpret the lyrics. This is what I believe the lyrics mean. "Blistering Pree, all smiling and swollen Makes babies to breathe" -Here Mangum seems to describe the actual birth of his friend Pree's baby(/babies). She is swollen for obvious reasons. The smile might mean two things: (1) She is actually smiling, because she is looking forward to becoming a mom or (2) she is not actually smiling, but rather grinning in the excruciating physical pain she is experiencing. "With their hearts hanging open all over the sheets As soft as beets in some brown dresser drawer" -Not too sure about this one. Makes it a little difficult to keep believing Mangum when he says it's merely a song about childbirth. I guess the "hearts hanging open" could be interpreted as the kids being ready for both taking in and giving back their mother's love, and for loving her back. The second line is even trickier. Babies are soft. I have never considered beets as particularly soft, but their dark red color might resemble a box fresh newborn's? I am completely clueless about the meaning of "brown dresser drawer". "And with bees in her breath and the rest of her ringing They'll sting through her chest with a force hard and beating Till wonderfully wet she will get Until she's soaked inside her clothes" -Painful imagery. Pree's chest feels like its being stung from the inside by killer bees, her whole body is in the excruciating pain I mentioned earlier. I think this scene depicts Pree having her contractions and her water breaking. Especially because of the "she's soaked inside her clothes"-line. Another possibility is she's still just in the actual process of giving birth, and her clothes are wet from her sweating because of the pain. "And there is no sorry to be sorry for For a roll around the floor some afternoon so sound and soft" -Here I think I understand the "what" but not the "why". it seems like Mangum's saying Pree does not regret having the baby, because the sex which impregnated her was "sound and soft", which, knowing Mangum, means completely heartfelt and passionate. But why does Mangum feel the need to point out Pree's lack of regret? Why would she regret having the baby, or the sex that made it? Is it because the father of the child(ren) left her, maybe? And despite this, despite having to be a single mom, she still has no regret? I dont know. "It made her swallow all her sweat With every bit of breath she coughs" -The pregnancy was difficult for her physically (extra understandable if the father was not present to help her). She couldn't even breath properly without having to cough. Not sure how one swallows one's sweat. I'll assume it's a metaphor for the tiring pregnancy. "And when the day it came to pour all her babies All across the bathroom floor She will be swimming in them all forever more" Ehm. I don't know why there comes a day to pour her babies all across the bathroom floor. Maybe she gave birth in her bathroom? Birthing enough kids to cover the whole floor? This could give new meaning to the line "Till wonderfully wet she will get/Until she's soaked inside her clothes". The last line anyway, I believe means that the rest of her life will revolve around her kids, she will be "swimming in them forever more". |
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