The King of Carrot Flowers, Pts. Two & Three Lyrics

[Verse 4]
Up and over we go
The weight it sits on down and I don't know
I will shout until they know what I mean
I mean the marriage of a dead dog sing
And a synthetic flying machine
Machine
, oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
(Okay)

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Genius Annotation

After Pt. One ends with the portrayal of a distorted home (“And mom would drink until she was no longer speaking/And dad would dream of all the different ways to die”) that dissolves into dreamy, spacey drones, Pt. Two continues to build around the drone sound that is accompanied by a distorted banjo playing a balladesque melody while Magnum’s raw voice confesses his love for Jesus Christ.

“The King of Carrot Flowers, Pt. 3” has a rich history as a Neutral Milk Hotel song, appearing on several demo tapes (Hype City Soundtrack and Invent Yourself a Shortcake), usually with different names – “Up and Over”, “Up and Over We Go”, and “Synthetic Flying Machine” have all served time as the name for this song. These don’t seem particularly important, unless one knows the origin of Neutral Milk Hotel – before the Olivia Tremor Control was an early group featuring Jeff and the members of the Tremor Control as “Synthetic Flying Machine.” Despite apparently not having written the lyrics by the time Jittery Joe’s was recorded in March 1997, the lyrics between each version were unchanged.

Robert Schneider, when asked about any happy accidents in the recording process, he

immediately mentioned this song, and the part where Julian’s amplified fuzz-pedaled banjo comes in, right after the drums, in a woozy effect achieved by bowing the strings. “It really bugged me that it was out of tune. But Julian really liked it and Jeff liked it. And Jeff’s not looking for tuning and stuff like that. But now listening to it, I hear that it has a raw, almost Eastern quality of being out of tune.

(from Kim Cooper, “In the Aeroplane over the Sea”)

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Neutral Milk Hotel say about "The King of Carrot Flowers, Pts. Two & Three"?
Genius Answer

Jeff Mangum clarifies in the lyrics booklet included with the vinyl LP of the album about what he meant by Part Two:

Since this seems to confuse people I’d like to simply say that I mean what I sing although the theme of endless endless on this album is not based on any religion but more in the belief that all things seem to contain a white light within them that I see as eternal."

Part Three used to be an old song entitled “Up and Over we Go”, from the 7" EP The Amazing Phantom Third Channel. In a September 1996 interview, Jeff also clarified about the atmosphere around the song when it was written.

A lot of us were really lost at that point in our lives and we were all pretty scared. So I wrote that song for everybody to sort of say, you know, everything’s going to be alright, don’t be afraid. Most of my songs were recorded for friends, a friend would be depressed or having a hard time and I’d write a pop song for them to make them feel better."

Credits
Produced By
Recorded At
Pet Sounds Studio (Denver, Colorado)
Release Date
February 10, 1998
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