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Avg: 4.5 (232 ratings)
- Date Released: September 7, 1999
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: Merge Records
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We Say...
The Magnetic Fields’ magnum opus really is 69 love songs. As if this challenge was perhaps too easy, Magnetic Fields songwriter and lead singer Stephin Merritt upped the ante by writing the songs in almost as many genres: the tracks jump from Tin Pan Alley to country, from indie rock to techno-pop, from Celtic lullaby to Brill Building anthem. Lyrically, you’d be hard-pressed to find a nimbler pen among today’s songwriters—Merritt’s is a wit inspired by debonair ‘30s New Yorker magazine humor rather than The Daily Show. While the sheer heft of this collection is overwhelming at first, it’s also remarkable in its sustained quality: few bands can come up with even a handful of brilliant tunes; Merritt came up with 69.
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They Say...
As the sprawling magnitude of its cheeky title suggests, 69 Love Songs is Stephin Merritt's most ambitious as well as most fully realized work to date, a three-disc epic of classically chiseled pop songs that explore both the promise and pitfalls of modern romance through the jaundiced eye of an irredeemable misanthrope. A true A-to-Z catalog of touchingly bittersweet love songs that runs the gamut from tender ballads to pithy folk tunes to bluesy vamps, the sheer scope of the record allows all of Merritt's musical personas to converge -- the regular use of guest vocalists recalls his work as the 6ths, the romantic fatalism suggests the Gothic Archies project, and the stately melodies evoke the Future Bible Heroes. The whole is much greater than the sum of its parts, however -- for all of Merritt's scathing wit and icy detachment, there's a depth and sensitivity to these songs largely absent from his past work, and each one of these 69 tracks approaches l'amour from refreshing angles, galvanizing the love song form with rare sophistication and elegance. Naturally, given a project of this size there's the occasional bit of filler, but all in all, 69 Love Songs maintains a remarkable consistency throughout, and the highlights ("I Don't Believe in the Sun," "All My Little Words," "Asleep and Dreaming," "Busby Berkeley Dreams," and "Acoustic Guitar," to name just a few) are jaw-droppingly superb. Also available as three individual releases, 69 Love Songs was nevertheless conceived as a whole and is best absorbed as such, with all of its twists and turns taken in stride; despite its three-hour length, the music boasts the craftsmanship and economy that remain the hallmarks of classic American pop songwriting, a tradition Merritt upholds even as he subverts the formula in new and brilliant ways.
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| 01. |  |
Absolutely Cuckoo |
1:35 |
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| 02. | |
I Don't Believe in the Sun |
4:17 |
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| 03. | |
All My Little Words |
2:46 |
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| 04. | |
A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off |
2:42 |
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| 05. | |
Reno Dakota |
1:05 |
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| 06. | |
I Don't Want to Get Over You |
2:23 |
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| 07. | |
Come Back from San Francisco |
2:48 |
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| 08. | |
Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side |
3:43 |
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| 09. | |
Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits |
2:25 |
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| 10. | |
The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be |
1:11 |
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| 11. | |
I Think I Need a New Heart |
2:33 |
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| 12. | |
The Book Of Love |
2:42 |
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| 13. | |
Fido, Your Leash Is Too Long |
2:34 |
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| 14. | |
How Fucking Romantic |
0:59 |
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| 15. | |
The One You Really Love |
2:53 |
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| 16. | |
Punk Love |
0:58 |
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| 17. | |
Parades Go By |
2:57 |
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| 18. | |
Boa Constrictor |
0:59 |
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| 19. | |
A Pretty Girl Is Like |
1:51 |
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| 20. | |
My Sentimental Melody |
3:08 |
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| 21. | |
Nothing Matters When We're Dancing |
2:27 |
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| 22. | |
Sweet-Lovin' Man |
4:59 |
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| 23. | |
Things We Did and Didn't Do |
2:11 |
|
23 Total Tracks, 56:06 Total Length
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
We'll give you 69 additional free credits to download this album and start your paid subscription.
Get 69 bonus credits on us if you download this album. Sweet!
| 01. |
Roses |
0:28 |
|
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| 02. | |
Love Is Like Jazz |
2:57 |
|
| 03. | |
When My Boy Walks Down the Street |
2:38 |
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| 04. | |
Time Enough for Rocking When We're Old |
2:04 |
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| 05. | |
Very Funny |
1:26 |
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| 06. | |
Grand Canyon |
2:29 |
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| 07. | |
No One Will Ever Love You |
3:15 |
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| 08. | |
If You Don't Cry |
3:07 |
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| 09. | |
You're My Only Home |
2:18 |
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| 10. | |
(Crazy For You But) Not That Crazy |
2:19 |
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| 11. | |
My Only Friend |
2:01 |
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| 12. | |
Promises of Eternity |
3:46 |
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| 13. | |
World Love |
3:07 |
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| 14. | |
Washington, D.C. |
1:53 |
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| 15. | |
Long-Forgotten Fairytale |
3:37 |
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| 16. | |
Kiss Me Like You Mean It |
2:01 |
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| 17. | |
Papa Was a Rodeo |
5:02 |
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| 18. | |
Epitaph for My Heart |
2:50 |
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| 19. | |
Asleep and Dreaming |
1:53 |
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| 20. | |
Sun Goes Down and the World Goes Dancing |
2:46 |
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| 21. | |
The Way You Say Good-Night |
2:45 |
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| 22. | |
Abigail, Belle of Kilronan |
2:01 |
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| 23. | |
I Shatter |
3:09 |
|
23 Total Tracks, 59:52 Total Length
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
We'll give you 69 additional free credits to download this album and start your paid subscription.
Get 69 bonus credits on us if you download this album. Sweet!
| 01. | |
Underwear |
2:50 |
|
| 02. | |
It's a Crime |
3:55 |
|
| 03. | |
Busby Berkeley Dreams |
3:37 |
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| 04. | |
I'm Sorry I Love You |
3:06 |
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| 05. | |
Acoustic Guitar |
2:38 |
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| 06. | |
Death of Ferdinand de Saussure |
3:11 |
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| 07. | |
Love in the Shadows |
2:54 |
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| 08. | |
Bitter Tears |
2:51 |
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| 09. | |
Wi' Nae Wee Bairn Ye'll Me Beget |
1:56 |
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| 10. | |
Yeah! Oh, Yeah! |
2:20 |
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| 11. |
Experimental Music Love |
0:30 |
|
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| 12. | |
Meaningless |
2:08 |
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| 13. | |
Love Is Like a Bottle of Gin |
1:46 |
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| 14. | |
Queen of the Savages |
2:13 |
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| 15. | |
Blue You |
3:03 |
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| 16. | |
I Can't Touch You Anymore |
3:06 |
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| 17. | |
Two Kinds of People |
1:10 |
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| 18. | |
How to Say Goodbye |
2:48 |
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| 19. | |
The Night You Can't Remember |
2:18 |
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| 20. | |
For We Are the King of the Boudoir |
1:15 |
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| 21. | |
Strange Eyes |
2:02 |
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| 22. | |
Xylophone Track |
2:47 |
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| 23. | |
Zebra |
2:16 |
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23 Total Tracks, 56:40 Total Length
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Credits
- Michael English - Logo // Magnetic Fields - Main Performer // Eric Masunaga - Engineer // John Woo - Banjo // John Woo - Flute // John Woo - Guitar // John Woo - Mandolin // John Woo - Accordion // John Woo - Cello // Claudia Gonson - Percussion // Claudia Gonson - Piano // Claudia Gonson - Arranger // Claudia Gonson - Drums // Claudia Gonson - Vocals // Claudia Gonson - Engineer // Daniel Handler - Text // Dudley Klute - Vocals // Jeff Lipton - Engineer // Charles Newman - Engineer // Shirley Simms - Vocals
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