Lyrics for Naomi as interpreted by PLANES

Naomi Lyrics
Your prettiness is seeping through
Out from the dress I took from you, so pretty
And my emptiness is swollen shut always
Always a wretch I have become
So empty

I'm watching Naomi, full bloom
I'm hoping she will soon explode
Into one billion tastes and tunes
One billion angels come and hold her down
They hold her down until she cries

I'm tasting Naomi's perfume
It tastes like shit and I must say
She comes and goes most afternoons
One billion lovers wave and love her now
They could love her now and so could I

There is no Naomi in view
She walks through Cambridge stocks and strolls
And if she only really knew
One billion angels could come and save her soul
They could save her soul until she shines

So pretty

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ataraxia37
06-24-2003

Rated -1 
this song is about my friend naomi. the part about one billion lovers is so her.

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LuckyMonkey
05-25-2004

Rated 0 
Unlike most NMH songs, this song really creeps me out. I think it's about a stalker who has somehow obtained the dress of the woman he adores and obsesses over.

I could be completely wrong, though.

But still, it's pretty creepy....

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tackledspoon
01-22-2005

Rated 0 
Yeah, that first verse is quite creepy and you seem to have it. Then again, it's Jeff Mangum, so there's no real way of knowing.
The rest of the song is much less creepy and actually kind of sweet.
Just the chord progression and the way he sings really does give me an empty feeling, something most songs can't do. So pretty.

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tackledspoon
01-22-2005

Rated 0 
Yeah, that first verse is quite creepy and you seem to have it. Then again, it's Jeff Mangum, so there's no real way of knowing.
The rest of the song is much less creepy and actually kind of sweet.
Just the chord progression and the way he sings really does give me an empty feeling, something most songs can't do. So pretty.

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a_brilliant_career
01-22-2005

Rated 0 
i don't find this song creepy at all really. it never struck me as something involving a stalker... i s'pose the possibility is there, but it's still, to me, one of the most beautiful neutral milk hotel songs out there. who ever he's singing about he appears to care a great, great deal about, and none of the lyrics sound like he has any ill-will towards her. actually, the love he seems to possess for this girl come off as so pure through the lyrics, like he only wants the best for her and for her to feel good, et cetera.

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wingedfeetxc
04-09-2005

Rated 0 
I think it's about a girl, who Jeff things is amazing and loves, but is also a prostitute or something.

The first two verses seem to be about how he is in love with her but then the second verse, when he sings:
She comes and goes most afternoons
One billion lovers wave and love her now
They could love her now and so could I

It sounds like Naomi is a prostitute or something. 1 billion people love her. They could love her whenever they want and so could Jeff, cause she's a protituite or something.

In the final verse, Jeff sings:
One billion angels could come and save her soul
They could save her soul until she shines

That seems to imply that while she's done bad stuff, Jeff still seems the beauty in her and thinks that angel could come and save her soul; make her pure and good again.

That''s just my interpretation after reading the lyrics. That meaning would kinda coincide with other NMH songs like Song Against Sex, where Jeff rails against casual sex. Anybody agree or disagree?

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joystreet
05-07-2005

Rated 0 
I'm in the same boat with those of you who feel the song is a little creepy. Every time "so pretty" is repeated it just makes me think of an obsession he has with a girl he feels he can't show affection for directly.

I think I may subscribe the belief that Naomi is a prostitute.
I was also thinking perhaps it's possible that she is just a young girl, someone he sees walking to school every day, and the "billion lovers" could be the social scene composed of many school friends she is enveloped in. If this is the case, perhaps he's afraid of the corruption of her innocence he is anticipating.

I do think it is a little stalker-esque, but I don't think he means her harm. You can have an unhealthy obsession with someone to an extent that seems a bit disturbing without actually wanting to go too far. I think this is why the end of the song seems so pensive and wishful.

This song stuck out to me. Mangum isn't as loud in this as he is in other songs, but it comes off as being just as intense emotionally. It's neurosis that is so poignant in this song. Neurotic lyrics paired with lazy vocals. It's both soothing and heavy, to me.

Whatever the meaning, this is an incredibly beautiful song.


Also, side note: The first few seconds of it reminds me a bit of the Pixies.

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vincent h.
06-13-2005

Rated 0 
To LuckyMonkey - I see what you are saying, but it is inherently wrong. Jeff Magnum (in a great interview you should all read with Pitchfork) said all his songs are sincere longings about his heart and soul. So I think it is more realistic to consider this a song about a girl who Jeff knew/dated and cared a lot about, but ultimately left him or something to that ilk. A lot of Jeff's songs from this album are about women leaving him or being too different or incompatible with him, and I think this is the perfect example. I have always thought of it as song by Jeff about a girl he had a crush on or was in love with but never able to tell her how he really felt.

And on a side note, I agree 100% with joystreet, who submitted the lyrics. The first 10 seconds of "Naomi" sound EXACTLY like a Pixies song.

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dark.x.rouge
08-16-2005

Rated 0 
It sounsd like someone he had sex with (is seeping through / out from the dress i took from you), thinking it was going to be a serious relationship because the woman was someone he had really cared about for a long time, and then she never calls him and moves on to the next guy. The narrarator realizes that, to her, he was just a one night stand (one of many), and feels sad, but at the same time can't stop thinking about how amazing she was.

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vernelli
12-12-2005

Rated 0 
maaan, i love this song.

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Sarahluvsu182
01-11-2006

Rated 0 
I always thought she was famous..

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suclid003
02-20-2006

Rated +1 
The lyrics of this song remind me of creep by radiohead, but i think creep is bitter, while this song isn't as much so. In my opinion, I think this song is about unrequited love "And if she only really knew / One billion angels could come and save her soul" The guy in this song she's leagues above him, and this brings the empty feeling in his soul. He yearns for her from a distance but knows that she's out of his reach.

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lostsince1985
04-06-2006

Rated 0 
anyone heard the Joe Beats remix of this song? check it out at: http://www.joeybeats.com/ ... it's worth it.

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Yer_Ma
04-10-2006

Rated 0 
Yeah, that's actually the only version I've heard. The Black Heart Procession remix on that album is great too

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LuckIsAMetaphor
06-12-2006

Rated 0 
I dont think this song is creepy at all. This is one of Neutral Milk Hotels best songs to me. Maybe because it relates well. I think its beautiful and has more meaning than you guys are giving it credit for. I think its a betrayed love, shes cheated "One billion lovers wave and love her now. They could love her now and so could I." He still loves her but shes moved on. "There is no Naomi in view."

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hab204
07-12-2006

Rated 0 
i definitely don't feel the song's creepy, i think it's beautiful. he sees naomi as flawed because she is human, but he sees her potential for perfection and he wants her to attain it, to be infinite--"i'm hoping she will soon explode into one billion tastes and tunes"--beautiful.

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flippinazebra
09-18-2006

Rated 0 
First of all, I'm pretty sure Jeff Mangum writes from different perspectives. I don't think you can just accept all the lyrics as if they're written in first person or take what he says literally.

The whole feel of on avery island is kind of eerie (to me, that is completely personal) but in a pretty way. And I think this song is beautiful. Even if it is about a stalker (which I don't get from it, but your guess is as good as mine).

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flippinazebra
09-18-2006

Rated 0 
Or a prostitute.

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missme
12-20-2006

Rated +1 
this song is...so pretty

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BlackAndrew
12-24-2006

Rated 0 
This song is a very dark love song... it's beautiful, you can just drown in it. I don't bother about what the individual lines suggest, I just take it as a song about somebody precious... but there are sinister undertones such as the angels holding her down until she cries, and the bit where her perfume "tastes like shit."

Neutral Milk Hotel's songs are all very dark in some way, and they bring out a mix of emotions you can't catergorise- not just caring or sweetness or even hate, but a mix of them all at once... and it's very, very strange but always very beautiful.

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alveydc208
01-05-2007

Rated 0 
Ok let's look at the parrellism *sp* here. In the second verse the angels hold her down until she cries while in the last verse the role is different and the angels are liberating her and saving her soul. I really donno how that changes, or what it personifies, any ideas?

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1 Reply
cfonts
01-21-2007

Rated +3 
i'm getting sick of this talk of "stalkers". people are so god damn into themselves that if someone who they think is unworthy of them, likes them...then they are automatically marked as a stalker creep. this is bull shit, they need to get over themselves and look past what is only seen by eyes. he really seems to care and look up to this one person and wants to love her, truly love her. not fake love, real love. i guess that makes you creepy person....?

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littlelordfauntley
02-12-2007

Rated -1 
its about a prostitute or a hobag and she is redeemed. duh tards.

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littlelordfauntley
02-12-2007

Rated 0 
cfonts is talking from experience, i think he stalked someone.

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SMS
02-28-2007

Rated 0 
Naomi Campbell...

...it works.

With her.

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