Comedy Central
So, last night I had this weird dream that after 10 seasons, The Colbert Report ended and instead of a normal last episode, Bill Clinton, HEISENBERG, Jeff Daniels, Michael Stipe, Big Bird, enemy-of-the-state James Franco, and Randy Newman were there, and Stephen went on a sleigh ride with Santa and Alex Trebek, and…wait, what? It was a helluva finale, and it all concluded with Neutral Milk Hotel’s deceptively tragic “Holland, 1945” playing over the end credits. Why that song, and not, say, a recording of Papa Bear grunting “America” while having sex?
For one thing, Colbert’s a huge NMH fan.
As the taping rolls and the commercial breaks interrupt, Colbert keeps his energy level up by listening to, among other things, Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Holland, 1945” — we know this because it plays loudly, throughout the studio. Two girls in the seats in front of me start singing along and — as they start sort of swaying — Colbert spots them and starts pointing rhythmically in their direction, all the while faithfully mouthing the lyrics. (Via)
But there’s a sadder association with the song, as recounted by the New York Times.
He had 10 older siblings. But after his father and the two brothers closest to him in age died in a plane crash when he was 10 and the older kids went off to college, he said, he was “pretty much left to himself, with a lot of books.”
He said he loved the “strange, sad poetry” of a song called “Holland, 1945” by an indie band from Athens, Ga., called Neutral Milk Hotel and sent me the lyrics, which included this heartbreaking bit:
“But now we must pick up every piece
Of the life we used to love
Just to keep ourselves
At least enough to carry on…
And here is the room where your brothers were born
Indentions in the sheets
Where their bodies once moved but don’t move anymore.”
Well, I’m going to curl up into the fetal position and feel sad for the rest of the day. So, pretty much your normal Neutral Milk Hotel listening experience.
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My roommate just bought this on vinyl. Guess I know what I’m doing as soon as I get home.
Masturbating the shower again? No, but seriously, it’s a great record.
Why does everyone do it in the shower? The water works against you and we go through so much Draino.
That album also sounds pretty great on vinyl too, at least the pressing I have that was in the box set does. When you’re done with Aeroplane go buy Avery Island because it’s every bit as good.
That record is an absolute masterpiece. As is Avery Island.
Assholes masturbate in the shower.
And standing up while doing it is quite a bit of effort.
I thought we were masturbating in the shower whilst curled up in the aforementioned fetal position and sobbing under the sound of the running water? That’s how everyone masturbates, right? Right, you guys?!?
I’m not laying down on the shower floor in a puddle of my own urine, thank you very much.
Neutral Milk Hotel is from Ruston, LA. Get your facts straight New York Times.
Well, when In the Aeroplane… was released, they were settled in Athens, so while not “from” exactly, NMH (and much of the rest of Elephant 6) is forever going to be associated with Athens than Ruston. Sorry, bud.
That whole album is a masterpiece.
Any love song to Anne Frank is a Masterpiece.
Also, The Stephen Colbert character essentially went off like Frodo did, albeit with a stranger group of characters than elves and Gandalf.
Colbert Report was on for 9 years, not 10. He also mentioned it more than a couple of time in the episode.
It was a great finale. But we will see him again soon.
In september.
Youll never see “Stephen Colbert” again though and that just sucks. That ending where him and Jon go in and out of character was masterful
@Solverson I honestly thing we will. He will be a guest on Late Night. I will bet anything.
I have followed him since the second city days. A LOT of the stuff he did in The Colbert Report was taken from past stuff he did, in fact , A LOT of stuff he did in the Colbert Report was stuff that long time fans had already seen.
Just like Chuck Knoblet in Strangers With Candy. He was full of himself and was an egotistic maniac, and that was brought over into the “Stephen Colbert Character”.
Stephen, and his long time writing partners, Amy Sedaris, and Paul Dinello are not through messing with us and making us laugh.
When that SongPop game came out I was absolutely unbeatable in many categories including 90’s alternative. Having said that with my undefeated record I had never heard of Neutral Milk Hotel until they started popping up in that game. I would ask people that I was playing if they had ever heard of them and most people said no. I was convinced at that point that someone in Neutral Milk Hotel had made millions by creating a game called SongPop.
Damn i got emotional hearing that song without the backstory
I was secretly hoping it was because Colbert’s half Canadian (or something) and he loves the fact Canada liberated Netherlands from the Nazi’s.
I started singing along with it during the taping because I. WAS. THERE.
NMH is the weirdest band I’ve ever seen live, too.
I imagined it would be a little weird but it was honestly the best show I’ve ever been to.
Going again this summer.
3 years ago, I flew back east to see Jeff Mangum in concert and saw my dad for the last time. This April, I had tickets to see NMH and the next day I was flying out to see my father who was in a medically induced coma and about to die. It felt like some circle of life thing. A beautiful concert experience.