Lyrics In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

The song is from the album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel, released in 1998. Jeff Mangum, the lead vocalist, was inspired to write the album after reading Anne Franks diary, and the song contains themes of love, loss, and a desire to preserve beauty in a world full of tragedies.

What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
that is circling all 'round the sun
What a beautiful dream
that could flash on the screen
in a blink of an eye and be gone from me
soft and sweet
Let me hold it close and keep it here with me

And one day we will die
and our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea
but for now we are young
Let us lay in the sun
and count every beautiful thing we can see
Love to be
in the arms of all I'm keepin' here with me


What a curious life we have found here tonight
There is music that sounds from the street
There are lights in the clouds
*Anna's ghost all around
Hear her voice as it's rolling and ringing through me
soft and sweet
How the notes all bend and reach above the trees

Now how I remember you
How I would push my fingers through
your mouth to make those muscles move
that made your voice so smooth and sweet
But now we keep where we don't know
All secrets sleep in winter clothes
with the one you loved so long ago
Now he don't even know his name


What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
that is circling all 'round the sun
And when we meet on a cloud
I'll be laughing out loud
I'll be laughing with everyone I see
Can't believe
how strange it is to be anything at all