Post #692: Neutral Milk Hotel - "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

So this song has been appearing quite frequently on one of my Pandora stations, and it's a catchy little tune that sticks with me throughout most of the day. I was quite curious to figure out who the "Anna" was in the lyrics, so I took a minute to hop on over to Wikipedia and discovered it was the last "Anna" that I would have probably ever guessed:

"And I was walking around wondering, would everything make more sense to me if I knew the history of the world, or would I just lose my mind? I came to the conclusion I'd probably just lose my mind. Next day I walked into a bookstore, and there was The Diary of Anne Frank. I'd never given it any thought before. Then I spent two days reading it and completely flipped out... spent about three days crying... it stuck with me for a long, long time... A lot of the songs on this record are about Anne Frank... While I was reading the book, she was completely alive to me. I pretty much knew what was going to happen. But that's the thing: you love people because you know their story. You have sympathy for people even when they do stupid things because you know where they're coming from, you understand where they're at in their head. So here I am as deep as you can go in someone's head, in some ways deeper than you can go with someone you know in the flesh. And then at the end, she gets disposed of like a piece of trash. I would go to bed every night and have dreams about having a time machine, having the ability to move through time and space freely, and save Anne Frank. Do you think that's embarrassing?"

I know I've mentioned this a time or two already in other posts, but I taught junior high literature for nine (9) years before becoming a paralegal.  One of the pieces that I taught to my 7th graders was The Diary of Anne Frank.  It was so interesting to me to see how much the students connected with Anne, even the boys, and how heartbreaking it was for them to learn of her ultimate fate.

Sometimes my heart tells me that I should return to teaching.  It was such hard work with such crummy pay, but the rewards came in the form of watching their young minds and views grow and develop as a result of being introduced to pivotal figures like Anne.  I know I've hit a rough patch in my current career, so I'm most likely allowing my mind to create these fantastically positive memories of teaching that falsely outweigh all of the negatives.  However, I am also not going to discount the idea that the Universe might be gently nudging me back in that direction.  I will keep an open mind and heart.

Before I leave you today, I just want to share with you the one of the most moving quotes from sweet, little Anne... one that makes me admire her strength and character like no other:

I found a video on YouTube that has today's song over a backdrop of photos of Anne and her family... hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!

Until next time...

XOXOXO

Anastasia

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 keeping 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

Oh 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 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