Track Listing

1. Absolutely Cuckoo
2. I Don't Believe in the Sun
3. All My Little Words
4. Chicken with Its Head Cut Off
5. Reno Dakota
6. I Don't Want to Get Over You
7. Come Back from San Francisco
8. Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side
9. Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits
10. Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be
11. I Think I Need a New Heart
12. Book of Love
13. Fido, Your Leash Is Too Long
14. How Fucking Romantic
15. One You Really Love
16. Punk Love
17. Parades Go By
18. Boa Constrictor
19. Pretty Girl Is Like...
20. My Sentimental Melody
21. Nothing Matters When We're Dancing
22. Sweet-Lovin' Man
23. Things We Did and Didn't Do

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #71107 in Music
• Brand: MAGNETIC FIELDS
• Released on: 1999-09-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Album Description
1999 and first new material in four years by Stephin Merrit 's main band (his side projects include Future Bible Heroes, Gothic Archies and The 6ths). Disc one of a three CD set featuring more wonderful, yet cynically skewed, pop songs as only Merritt (and a midi) can do 'em! 23 tracks.

Amazon.com
From Stephin Merrit's Gay and Loud publishing comes the first volume of the Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs, a misleadingly quiet epic of a thing. From the layered feedback of "Don't Fall in Love with Me," followed by the plinky strum of his uke through to a Merrittian 23rd psalm, "The Things We Did," this volume, more than the others, hearkens back to the gloriously distorted acoustic agitation visited on The Charm of the Highway Strip. Ever the sad sack, Merritt's characters "don't believe in the sun" and drolly proclaim themselves "ugly" and the stars so "fucking romantic." Dishing up clichés like ice cream cones at a Baskin-Robbins, Merritt's lyrics take on self-involved weightiness in the context of his over-the-top conventions. Marrying electronic elements with banjo, cello, mandolin, piano, accordian, and percussion, these little numbers--sung by a revolving cast of Merritt and cohorts--riff on everything from punk rock to madrigals to Jim Reeves and Johnny Cash-style balladry, coming across as preposterously vaudevillian and Brechtian, rather than vacuous. --Paige La Grone

Customer Reviews

I usually hate "songwriters"
But this is great stuff. The lyrics are clear, funny and poignant. The melodies are smart and beautiful. You can't help but get a kick out of it, which is surprising for something so stark, minimalist, dark, and sad underneath. Your kids would probably love it, if you don't mind the occasional bleep word. I keep this one in the cd player in my kitchen so I can sing along while chopping up potatoes.

A Starting Point for the 69 Love Songs.
Stephin Merrit is a poet, and the 69 Love Songs are a testament to his skill. In them he wades through the viscissitudes of love from many vantages. I can't decide between volume 1 and volume 3 as my favorite. Volume 1 of course is a logical starting point and contains simple, majestic tunes like #2 "I Don't Believe in the Sun," #6 "I Don't Want to Get Over You," #8 "The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side," and #12 "The Book of Love" (I like the lyrics here a lot). The album contains not only marvelous lyricism but also appropriate instrumentation and ornamentation. The occasional electronic flourishes are reminiscent of the great Magnetic Fields release Holiday and provide just the right touch at times. Volume 1 of the 69 Love Songs is a recommended album for those who are new to the Magnetic Fields as well as long-time fans who haven't gotten into the box set yet.

23 down, 46 to go....
i bought "vol.1" on a whim, not really knowing what to expect and, well, let me put it this way: I'M BUYING VOLUMES 2 AND 3 FIRST THING TOMORROW. this is excellent stuff -- sort of sounds like a cross between leonard cohen and belle & sebastian, or maybe cole porter as produced by tom waits. i don't know. all i do know is that this is songwriting of a very high order with a keen sense of humor running throughout. i'm simply fascinated by this mysterious enigma. check it out!