Oh Comely

There seems to be multiple story lines throughout the album. Two clear ones are A.) Anne Frank and B.) reincarnated conjoined twins. These two stories very well might merge. It's hard to say. I'm figuring all this out as I write it.

 As I piece the story together I find that the songs aren't in chronological order.  If we change the order of some of the songs, a through line begins to present itself.  So, this is me trying to understand the story of the conjoined twins and what, if anything that has to do with Anne Frank.  

1.)King of Carrot Flowers Part 2. The time before. Limbo. Purgatory. The rhythym here and the instrumentation create a feeling of being stuck in time. The lyrics are spiritual. "I love you Jesus Christ." Floating suspnended in a mother's womb.

2. Oh Comely "But now we move to feel For ourselves inside some strangers stomach Place your body here Let your skin begin to blend itself with mine"

   "Inside some strangers stomach" could be how someone reincarnated as a fetus could look at their present situation. The "let your skin begin to blend itself with mine" line could refer to growing together in the womb as conjoined twins.

3.) The King of Carrot Flowers part 3: "Up and over We go through the wave and undertow I will float until I learn how to swim Inside my mother in a garbage bin Until I find myself again, again"

The birth. Being birthed. The music here is frenetic and charging. The imagery in the lyrics as clear as any on the album. "Until I find myself again" referring to being reincarnated. The next two verses the baby (ies) getting older. The following three lines, one from each verse, takes us through the first few phases of life: "I will float until I learn how to swim I will spit until I learn how to speak I will shout until they know what I mean."
There is also something in the third verse about a "synthetic flying machine." I have no idea what this means. It's only of note because of another line in Oh Comely: "I wish I could save her in some sort of time machine." Are these thoughts related? I don't know.

4.) The King of Carrot Flowers Part 1: "When you were young you were the king of carrot flowers." This song also has some of the most straightforward lyrics on the album.

It's about two young people who shared a (shitty) childhood (twins? brother and sister?) and how they dealt with it (imagination, solace in each other, etc.) "And your mom would stick a fork right into daddy's shoulder And dad would throw the garbage all across the floor As we would lay and learn what each other's bodies were for

And this is the room One afternoon I knew I could love you And from above you how I sank into your soul Into that secret place where no one dares to go" The two seemed to have shared a sexual relationship of some sort. (Also noteworthy but ambiguous is the referring to "your" mother, but when talking about the father, just saying "Dad".) It also could be that the mother and father in this song are talked about more in Oh Comely: "Your father made fetuses with flesh licking ladies, While you and your mother were asleep in the trailer park".

5.) In the Aeroplane Over the Sea: One song on the album that potentially seems like a stand alone, but if you listen to the lyrics with the conjoined twins theme in mind, there are some interesting connections: "What a beautiful face I have found in this place; Let me hold it close and keep it here with me. And one day we will die and our ashes will fly. Love to be in the arms of all I'm keeping here with me." Just a selection of lyrics from the song. Didn't to want to post all of them. Particularly of note, expecially when trying to build the conjoined twins theme is the last line above "love to be in the arms of all I'm keeping here with me."

6.) Two-Headed Boy: (the events in this song are out of chronology, much like the entire album) Upon first listening I assumed two-head boy to be symbolic for something else (someone consumed with sex, someone who's bi-polar, etc.) but I now see that it's possible the title is meant to be taken literally and the two-headed boy refers to a set of conjoined twins. In this light, I believe the second verse and the third verse are about the twins enjoying life and each other's company\falling in love:

"Two headed boy Put on Sunday shoes And dance round the room to accordion keys With the needle that sings in your heart Catching signals that sound in the dark Catching signals that sound in the dark And in the dark we will take off our clothes... Two headed boy With pulleys and weights Creating a radio played just for two In the parlor with a moon across her face And through the music he sweetly displays Silver speakers that sparkle all day"

I believe the chorus is about the twins having surgery to seperate them (likely against their will) and one of the twins dies during the procedure:

"We will take off our clothes And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine And when all is breaking Everything that you could keep inside Now your eyes ain't moving,now They just lay there in their climb"

The last line of the third verse also support this: "Made for his lover who's floating and choking with her hands across her face."

The first verse is a case of en media res. The song starts with the twin already dead and the boy being alone in his room, reaching out and trying to connect with her:

"Two headed boy All floating in glass The sun it has passed Now it's blacker than black I can hear as you tap on your jar I am listening to hear where you are I am listening to hear where you are"

The fourth verse is the boy saying goodbye to his sister/love: "Two headed boy There is no reason to grieve The world that you need is wrapped in gold silver sleeves Left beneath Christmas trees in the snow And I will take you and leave you alone Watching spirals of white softly flow Over your eyelids and all you did Will wait until the point when you let go"

6.) The Fool: A funeral dirge.

7.) Holland 1945: "The only girl I have ever loved...." and he then goes on to describe Anne Frank (but then they buried her alive with just her sister at her side and only weeks before the guns all came and rained on everyone) So if the narrator of this song is the same narrator from the first 5 songs, then it stands to reason that the only girl he ever loved is his twin and is also Anne Frank. So was Anne Frank reincarnated as his twin sister? Some lines that support this:

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea: "Anna's ghost all around, Hear her voice as it's rolling and ringing through me." Oh Comely: I wish I could save her in some sort of time machine. Ghost: Ghost, ghost I know you live within me I feel you as you fly In thunder clouds above the city Into one that I love" "And she was born in a bottle rocket, 1929" (Anne Frank was born in 1929 and died in 1945, just a couple of months before the allied forces invaded the beaches at Normandy i.e. only weeks before the guns all came and rained on everyone.)

(Also from Ghost) "With all that was left within me Until we tore in two Now wings and rings and there's so many Waiting here for you."

Until we tore in two could refer to their seperation talked about in two-headed boy.)

To be honest, this is just one possible theme in album with many themes. I haven't been able to really crack (yet) Oh Comely and Two Headed Boy part 2. I have a feeling that a lot of the answers to the mystery that is this album lie within those two songs.

Any thought? Do you agree there is a conjoined twins theme? Reincarnation? Is it meant to be taken literally or just symbolic? Share what you think. This is the most complex, layered album I have ever listened to, and I love that no matter how many times I've heard it, I discover something new with each listen.