| 69 Love Songs |
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''69 Love Songs'' is a three-volume Concept Album by The Magnetic Fields . As its title suggests, the album is composed of 69 love songs, all written by Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin Merritt . The album was released in 1999 in the United States (as a box set with Merritt interview booklet, and as three separate individual volumes), and in 2000 in Europe and Australia (box set without booklet). CONCEPTION The album was originally conceived as a grandiose musical revue. Stephin Merritt was sitting in a gay piano bar in Manhattan, listening to the pianist's interpretations of '', 1 September 1999 GENRES AND THEMES The variety of ''69 Love Songs'' also derives from the many song genres that Merritt raids and filters through his own gay miserablist sensibility. Merritt has said "''69 Love Songs'' is not remotely an album about love. It's an album about love songs, which are very far away from anything to do with love.". Interview in '' ("Zebra"), Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark ("Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits"), The Jesus And Mary Chain ("When My Boy Walks Down the Street"), Billie Holiday ("My Only Friend"), and Irving Berlin ("A Pretty Girl is Like..."). Another way of understanding ''69 Love Songs'' is through Merritt's praise of an artist ( Laurie Anderson ) who "write {Link without Title} heartbreaking melodies with words that make fun of heartbreaking melodies."Liner notes to 69 Love Songs Consider "Yeah! Oh, Yeah!" where Stephin and Claudia, playing jilted lovers modeled closely on Sonny & Cher , sing their complaints to one another, overplaying and overstating their grievances such that their words become garish declarations of woe ("what a dark and dreary life / are you reaching for a knife?") to which the other character isn't really capable of responding but must still follow in tone ("yeah, oh yeah"). The lack of a firm distinction between content (what is sung) and form (the way it is sung) implies that this couple lives and dies by virtue of how persuasively they can sing to one another, and illustrates the persistent Magnetic Fields songwriting device of trapping a character within the conventions or formalities of a genre. Several of the songs bend genders as well as genres. For example: a male vocal sings "He's going to be my wife" ("When My Boy Walks Down the Street") and "the princess there is me" (Long-Forgotten Fairytale"); female vocals sing "bring me back my girl" ("Acoustic Guitar"). Other common themes include place names (e.g. Washington, DC ; Lower East Side ; North Carolina ; Paris ; Venice ), animals (e.g. Bear , Goldfish , Jellyfish , Rabbit , Bat , Dog , Boa Constrictor , Cockroach ), as well as themes common throughout Merritt's work (e.g. the moon, dancing, rain, and eyes). TRACK LISTING All songs written by Stephin Merritt. All lead vocals by Stephin Merritt except as noted. Volume 1 #"Absolutely Cuckoo" – 1:34 #"I Don't Believe in the Sun" – 4:16 #"All My Little Words" – 2:46 (vocal by LD Beghtol ) #"A Chicken with Its Head Cut Off" – 2:41 #"Reno Dakota" – 1:05 (vocal by Claudia Gonson ) #"I Don't Want to Get Over You" – 2:22 #"Come Back from San Francisco" – 2:48 (vocal by Shirley Simms ) #"The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side" – 3:43 (vocal by Dudley Klute , violin by Ida Pearle ) #"Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits" – 2:25 #"The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be" – 1:11 #"I Think I Need a New Heart" – 2:32 #"The Book of Love" – 2:42 #"Fido, Your Leash is Too Long" – 2:33 #"How Fucking Romantic" – 0:58 (vocal by Klute) #"The One You Really Love" – 2:53 #"Punk Love" – 0:58 #"Parades Go By" – 2:56 #"Boa Constrictor" – 0:58 (vocal by Simms) #"A Pretty Girl is Like..." – 1:50 #"My Sentimental Melody" – 3:07 (vocal by Beghtol) #"Nothing Matters When We're Dancing" – 2:27 #"Sweet-Lovin' Man" – 4:59 (vocal by Gonson) #"The Things We Did and Didn't Do" – 2:11 Volume 2 #"Roses" – 0:27 (vocal by Beghtol) #"Love is Like Jazz" – 2:56 #"When My Boy Walks Down the Street" – 2:38 #"Time Enough for Rocking When We're Old" – 2:03 #"Very Funny" – 1:26 (vocal by Klute, arrangement by Gonson) #"Grand Canyon" – 2:28 #"No One Will Ever Love You" – 3:14 (vocal by Simms) #"If You Don't Cry" – 3:06 (vocal by Gonson) #"You're My Only Home" – 2:17 #"(Crazy for You But) Not That Crazy" – 2:18 #"My Only Friend" – 2:01 #"Promises of Eternity" – 3:46 (arrangement and instruments by Chris Ewen ) #"World Love" – 3:07 (arrangement by Gonson) #"Washington, D.C." – 1:53 (vocal by Gonson) #"Long-Forgotten Fairytale" – 3:37 (vocal by Klute) #"Kiss Me Like You Mean It" – 2:00 (vocal by Simms) #"Papa Was a Rodeo" – 5:01 (vocal by Stephin Merritt and Simms) #"Epitaph for My Heart" – 2:50 #"Asleep and Dreaming" – 1:53 (arrangement and keyboards by Daniel Handler ) #"The Sun Goes Down and the World Goes Dancing" – 2:46 #"The Way You Say Good-Night" – 2:44 (vocal by Beghtol) #"Abigail, Belle of Kilronan" – 2:00 #"I Shatter" – 3:09 Volume 3 #"Underwear" – 2:49 #"It's a Crime" – 3:54 (vocal by Klute, arr. and all instruments by Ewen) #"Busby Berkeley Dreams" – 3:36 (arr. by Gonson) #"I'm Sorry I Love You" – 3:06 (vocal by Simms) #"Acoustic Guitar" – 2:37 (vocal by Gonson) #"The Death of Ferdinand De Saussure " – 3:10 #"Love in the Shadows" – 2:54 #"Bitter Tears" – 2:51 (vocal by Beghtol) #"Wi' Nae Wee Bairn Ye'll Me Beget" – 1:55 #"Yeah! Oh, Yeah!" – 2:19 (vocal by Gonson/Merritt, guitar by Gonson) #"Experimental Music Love" – 0:29 #"Meaningless" – 2:08 #"Love is Like a Bottle of Gin" – 1:46 #"Queen of the Savages" – 2:12 #"Blue You" – 3:03 (vocal by Klute, whilsting by Gonson, Theremin by Ewen) #"I Can't Touch You Anymore" – 3:05 #"Two Kinds of People" – 1:10 #"How to Say Goodbye" – 2:48 #"The Night You Can't Remember" – 2:17 #"For We Are the King of the Boudoir" – 1:14 (vocal by Beghtol) #"Strange Eyes" – 2:01 (vocal by Simms) #"Xylophone Track" – 2:47 (harmonium by Beghtol) #"Zebra" – 2:15 (vocal by Gonson) PERSONNEL Performance The Magnetic Fields: :Performed by Stephin Merritt with:
Additional musicians:
Vocalists: :Vocals by Merritt with: Production Produced by Stephin Merritt. Recorded at Polar West, Mother West, Polar Mother and Sonics. Engineering by Stephin Merritt with additional engineering by Charles Newman, Chris Ewen, Claudia Gonson, Eric Masunaga, and Jon Berman. Management by Claudia Gonson. Mastered by Jeff Lipton. Instruments Stephin Merritt played:
LIVE PERFORMANCES On seven occasions (five in the U.S. , and two in London over four consecutive nights) The Magnetic Fields performed all 69 love songs, in order, over two nights. Several of the lavish orchestrations are more simply arranged when performed live, due to limited performers and/or equipment. FURTHER INFORMATION Visit the ''69 Love Songs'' wiki site , which provides information and references for each song, plus links and details to relevant interviews, quotes, reviews and influences. '' 69 Love Songs, A Field Guide '' by LD Beghtol](a guest vocalist on the album) was released by Continuum as part of their popular 33⅓ series on December 15, 2006. The book features unpublished images by official photographress Gail O’Hara (of Chickfactor fame), band friend Miss Gretchen and New York photographer Robin Holland . APPEARANCE OF SONGS IN MEDIA
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