69 Love Songs

69 Love Songs
Studio album box set by The Magnetic Fields
Released	September 7, 1999
Recorded	April 1999 at Polar West, Mother West, Polar Mother, and Sonics
Genre	Indie pop, Baroque pop
Length	172:35
Language	English
Label	Merge
Producer	Stephin Merritt
Professional reviews
Allmusic link The A.V. Club (favourable) link Robert Christgau (A+) link Entertainment Weekly (A) link The Guardian 2000 The Independent (favourable) 2000 NME (8.0/10.0) link Pitchfork Media (9.0/10.0) link Rolling Stone link The Village Voice (A+) link
The Magnetic Fields chronology
Get Lost (1995) 69 Love Songs (1999) i (2004)
Booklet
Front cover of the 73-page booklet, featuring John Woo playing banjo.
Complete box set

69 Love Songs is a three-volume concept album by The Magnetic Fields released in 1999. As its title indicates, the album is composed of 69 love songs, all written by Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin Merritt.

Conception and live performance

The album was originally conceived as a music revue. Stephin Merritt was sitting in a gay piano bar in Manhattan, listening to the pianist's interpretations of Stephen Sondheim songs, when he decided he ought to get into theatre music because he felt he had an aptitude for it. "I decided I'd write one hundred love songs as a way of introducing myself to the world. Then I realized how long that would be. So I settled on sixty-nine. I'd have a theatrical revue with four drag queens. And whoever the audience liked best at the end of the night would get paid."^[1]

On seven occasions (five in the United States 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.

Genres and themes

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The variety of 69 Love Songs also derives from the many song genres that Merritt raids and filters through his own 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".^[2] Some of the genres are obvious, as in the songs "Punk Love", "Love Is Like Jazz", "World Love" and "Wi' Nae Wee Bairn Ye'll Me Beget". Other songs indirectly reference some of Merritt's favorite artists, including Fleetwood Mac ("No One Will Ever Love You") [1], Cole Porter ("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...").^{[citation needed]}

Another way of understanding 69 Love Songs is through Merritt's praise of an artist (Laurie Anderson) who "write[s] heartbreaking melodies with words that make fun of heartbreaking melodies."^[3] 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 man sings "He's going to be my wife" ("When My Boy Walks Down the Street") and "the princess there is me" (Long-Forgotten Fairytale"). 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 one

1. "Absolutely Cuckoo" – 1:34
2. "I Don't Believe in the Sun" – 4:16
3. "All My Little Words" – 2:46 (vocals by LD Beghtol)
4. "A Chicken with Its Head Cut Off" – 2:41
5. "Reno Dakota" – 1:05 (vocals by Claudia Gonson)
6. "I Don't Want to Get Over You" – 2:22
7. "Come Back from San Francisco" – 2:48 (vocals by Shirley Simms)
8. "The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side" – 3:43 (vocals by Dudley Klute)
9. "Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits" – 2:25
10. "The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be" – 1:11
11. "I Think I Need a New Heart" – 2:32
12. "The Book of Love" – 2:42
13. "Fido, Your Leash Is Too Long" – 2:33
14. "How Fucking Romantic" – 0:58 (vocals by Klute)
15. "The One You Really Love" – 2:53
16. "Punk Love" – 0:58
17. "Parades Go By" – 2:56
18. "Boa Constrictor" – 0:58 (vocals by Simms)
19. "A Pretty Girl Is Like..."  – 1:50
20. "My Sentimental Melody" – 3:07 (vocals by Beghtol)
21. "Nothing Matters When We're Dancing" – 2:27
22. "Sweet-Lovin' Man" – 4:59 (vocals by Gonson)
23. "The Things We Did and Didn't Do" – 2:11

Volume two

1. "Roses" – 0:27 (vocals by Beghtol)
2. "Love Is Like Jazz" – 2:56
3. "When My Boy Walks Down the Street" – 2:38
4. "Time Enough for Rocking When We're Old" – 2:03
5. "Very Funny" – 1:26 (vocals by Klute)
6. "Grand Canyon" – 2:28
7. "No One Will Ever Love You" – 3:14 (vocals by Simms)
8. "If You Don't Cry" – 3:06 (vocals by Gonson)
9. "You're My Only Home" – 2:17
10. "(Crazy for You But) Not That Crazy" – 2:18
11. "My Only Friend" – 2:01
12. "Promises of Eternity" – 3:46
13. "World Love" – 3:07
14. "Washington, D.C." – 1:53 (vocals by Gonson)
15. "Long-Forgotten Fairytale" – 3:37 (vocals by Klute)
16. "Kiss Me Like You Mean It" – 2:00 (vocals by Simms)
17. "Papa Was a Rodeo" – 5:01 (duet with Merritt and Simms)
18. "Epitaph for My Heart" – 2:50
19. "Asleep and Dreaming" – 1:53
20. "The Sun Goes Down and the World Goes Dancing" – 2:46
21. "The Way You Say Good-Night" – 2:44 (vocals by Beghtol)
22. "Abigail, Belle of Kilronan" – 2:00
23. "I Shatter" – 3:09

Volume three

1. "Underwear" – 2:49
2. "It's a Crime" – 3:54 (vocals by Klute)
3. "Busby Berkeley Dreams" – 3:36
4. "I'm Sorry I Love You" – 3:06 (vocals by Simms)
5. "Acoustic Guitar" – 2:37 (vocals by Gonson)
6. "The Death of Ferdinand de Saussure" – 3:10
7. "Love in the Shadows" – 2:54
8. "Bitter Tears" – 2:51 (vocals by Beghtol)
9. "Wi' Nae Wee Bairn Ye'll Me Beget" – 1:55
10. "Yeah! Oh, Yeah!" – 2:19 (duet with Merritt and Gonson)
11. "Experimental Music Love" – 0:29
12. "Meaningless" – 2:08
13. "Love Is Like a Bottle of Gin" – 1:46
14. "Queen of the Savages" – 2:12
15. "Blue You" – 3:03 (vocals by Klute)
16. "I Can't Touch You Anymore" – 3:05
17. "Two Kinds of People" – 1:10
18. "How to Say Goodbye" – 2:48
19. "The Night You Can't Remember" – 2:17
20. "For We Are the King of the Boudoir" – 1:14 (vocals by Beghtol)
21. "Strange Eyes" – 2:01 (vocals by Simms)
22. "Xylophone Track" – 2:47
23. "Zebra" – 2:15 (vocals by Gonson)

Personnel

The Magnetic Fields

• Stephin Merritt – vocals, Digitech vocalist, Roland harmonizer, vocoder, ukulele, baritone ukelele, Kaholas ukelele, Admira classical, acoustic-electric 12-string guitar, lap steel, fado guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, autoharp, Marxophone, ukelin, tremeloa, violin-uke, sitar, zither, violin, musical saw, keyboards, synclavier, Moog Satellite, piano, harmonium, Wurlitzer electronic piano, organ, rhythm units, recorder, ocarina, pennywhistle, Maestro wind synthesizer, Hohner melodica, Paul Revere jug, rumba box, xylophone, kalimbas, Radio Shack 75-in-One Project Kit, drum kit, cymbals, rain stick, chimera, maracas, conga, bongos, triangle, bells, tambourine, washboard, steel drum, Chicken Shakers, finger cymbals, springs and Slinky guitar, pipes, bamboo harp, spirit chaser, sleighbell, fingersnaps, thunder sheet, cabasas, cowbells, gong
• Sam Davol – cello, flute
• Claudia Gonson – piano; drums; percussion; vocals on "Reno Dakota", "Sweet-Lovin' Man", "If You Don't Cry", "Washington, D.C.", "Acoustic Guitar", and "Zebra"; duet with Merritt and guitar on "Yeah! Oh, Yeah!"; arrangement on "Very Funny", "World Love", and "Busby Berkeley Dreams"; whistling on "Blue You"
• John Woo – banjo, lead guitar, mandolin

Additional musicians

• LD Beghtol – harmonium on "Xylophone Track", vocals on "All My Little Words", "My Sentimental Melody", "Roses", "The Way You Say Good-Night", "Bitter Tears", and "For We Are the King of the Boudoir"
• Chris Ewen – backing tracks and arrangement on "Promises of Eternity" and "It's a Crime", theremin on "Blue You"
• Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) – accordion, keyboards, and arrangement on "Asleep and Dreaming"
• Dudley Klute – vocals on "The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side", "How Fucking Romantic", "Very Funny", "Long-Forgotten Fairytale", "It's a Crime", and "Blue You"
• Ida Pearle – violin on "The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side"
• Shirley Simms – duet with Merritt on "Papa Was a Rodeo", vocals on "Come Back from San Francisco", "Boa Constrictor", "No One Will Ever Love You", "Kiss Me Like You Mean It", "I'm Sorry I Love You", and "Strange Eyes"

Production

• Jon Berman – engineering
• Chris Ewen – engineering
• Claudia Gonson – engineering
• Jeff Lipton – mastering
• Eric Masunaga – engineering
• Stephin Merritt – production, engineering
• Charles Newman – engineering

Release history

The album was initially released in the United States by Merge on September 7, 1999, as a box set with Merritt interview booklet, and as three separate individual volumes—catalogue numbers MRG166 (Vol. 1), MRG167 (Vol. 2), MRG168 (Vol. 3), and MRG169 (box set). On May 29, 2000, the album was released by Circus (CIR CD003) in Europe and Australia without the booklet insert. It was reissued in the United Kingdom through Domino as REWIGCD18.

69 Love Songs, A Field Guide

LD Beghtol's review of 69 Love Songs (ISBN 0826419259) was released on December 15, 2006 by Continuum International Publishing Group as part of their 33⅓ series of books on influential pop/rock albums.

The book includes studio anecdotes, an extensive annotated lexicon of words and phrases culled from the album's lyrics, performance notes from the performers and friends of the band, full-album shows in New York, Boston, and London, rare and unpublished images, and other items such as a crossword puzzle The Magnetic Fields associate Jon DeRosa and a list of academic cant words not otherwise used in Beghtol's book.

Also featured is a candid interview with the songwriter, styled as a surrealist radio play, in which Stephin Merritt answers questions about his Chihuahua Irving Berlin Merritt, his sex life, studio practices, and other esoterica.

Appearance of songs in media

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• The song "When My Boy Walks Down the Street" appeared in an episode of the Showtime Series Queer as Folk in 2002
• The song "I Think I Need a New Heart" appears in the 2003 film Pieces of April. It also appears, sans vocals, in a Cesar dog food commercial that aired originally in the summer of 2006, and in The Neil Gaiman Audio Collection.
• A modified version of "Boa Constrictor", using la-la-la's instead of original lyrics, can be heard in an Ivory Soap commercial that also aired in the summer of 2006.
• The song "Chicken With Its Head Cut Off" is featured in a commercial for the television network mtvU in which a girl rummages through a box of love notes.
• "All My Little Words" appears on The Shield episode "Cupid & Psycho." This was the eighth episode of the first season.
• An abbreviated "Kiss Me Like You Mean It" punctuated a commercial for Helzberg Diamonds in the early 2000s.
• Both "Underwear" and "The One You Really Love" have been featured on the e4 drama Skins.
• "I Don't Want to Get Over You" appears in the 2003 film Intermission. Also appears in episode 339 ("Break-Up") of the radio program This American Life.
• The album is referenced in experimental pop band Dub Moon's 2009 song, 'It's Oh So Fuckin' Romantic'
• Peter Gabriel's cover of "The Book of Love" appears in the 2004 film Shall We Dance?, and on the ABC series Scrubs in the season 8 finale entitled My Finale.
• Kelly Hogan & the Pine Valley Cosmonauts covered "Papa Was A Rodeo" on their 2000 album, "Beneath the Country Underdog".
• "All My Little Words" was covered by Greek pop group Kore. Ydro. on their 2003 album, If All Eνer Ended Here, with Greek lyrics and different arrangement. In 2006 a new version of the song appeared, which became very popular in Kore. Ydro.'s live set.
• The song "Popular Mechanics for Lovers" by indie band Beulah references 69 Love Songs.
• The song "Absolutely Cuckoo" appears in the 2001 film Someone Like You.

References

External links

• 69 Love Songs Vol. 1 (discs 2 & 3) at MusicBrainz
• 69 Love Songs unofficial companion wiki
• 69 Love Songs at Metacritic