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
The Magnetic Fields chronology
Get Lost (1995) 69 Love Songs (1999) i (2004)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
The A.V. Club	(favorable)[2]
Robert Christgau	A+[3]
Entertainment Weekly	A[4]
The Guardian	[5]
The Independent	(favorable)[6]
NME	(8/10)[7]
Pitchfork Media	9.0/10.0[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
The Village Voice	A+[10]
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

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."^[11]

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

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".^[12]

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; lead vocals on "Reno Dakota", "Sweet-Lovin' Man", "If You Don't Cry", "Washington, D.C.", "Acoustic Guitar", and "Zebra"; other backing vocals; 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", lead 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;" duet with Merritt on "The One You Really Love"; other backing vocals; graphic design of box and book
• 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 – lead 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;" duet with Merritt on "Underwear;" other backing vocals
• 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;" other backing vocals

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.

On April 20, 2010 Merge released a limited edition 6x10" vinyl version limited to 1000 copies.^[13]

69 Love Songs, A Field Guide

LD Beghtol's explication of 69 Love Songs (ISBN 0-8264-1925-9) was released on December 15, 2006 by Continuum International Publishing Group as part of their 33⅓ series of books on influential pop/rock albums.^[14]

The book includes studio anecdotes, an extensive annotated lexicon of words and phrases culled from the album's lyrics, performance notes from the band, fans and friends, full-album shows in New York, Boston, and London, rare and unpublished images by chickfactor editor/photographress Gail O'Hara, and other items such as a crossword puzzle created by TMF/Flare associate Jon DeRosa and a scathing 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.

References

1. ^ Ankeny, Jason. 69 Love Songs at Allmusic. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
2. ^ Rabin, Nathan (September 7, 1999). "69 Songs About Love". http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-magnetic-fields-69-songs-about-love,21035/. Retrieved June 30, 2011. 
3. ^ "Robert Christgau: Album: Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs". Robert Christgau. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=2217. Retrieved June 30, 2011. 
4. ^ Hermes, Will (November 19, 1999). "69 Love Songs Review, Music Reviews and News". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,271726,00.html. Retrieved June 30, 2011. 
5. ^ "Let me count the ways | guardian.co.uk". The Guardian. June 2, 2000. http://www.guardian.co.uk/friday_review/story/0,,327040,00.html. Retrieved June 30, 2011. 
6. ^ "This week's album releases - Reviews, Music". The Independent (Independent Print Ltd). June 4, 2000. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/this-weeks-album-releases-715067.html. Retrieved June 30, 2011. 
7. ^ "- 69 Love Songs - Album Reviews". NME. IPC Media. June 9, 2000. http://www.nme.com/reviews/magnetic-fields/2399. Retrieved June 30, 2011. 
8. ^ Mirov, Nick (September 7, 1999). "Pitchfork: Album Reviews: The Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5041-69-love-songs. Retrieved June 30, 2011. 
9. ^ "69 Love Songs Reviews". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/magneticfields/albums/album/181789/review/5946847/69_love_songs. ^{[dead link]}
10. ^ Hannaham, James (September 7, 1999). "Summer of 69". The Village Voice. Village Voice Media. http://www.villagevoice.com/music/9936,hannaham,8130,22.html. Retrieved June 30, 2011. 
11. ^ Interview in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, 1 September 1999
12. ^ Interview in The Independent, 14 April 2000
13. ^ http://pitchfork.com/news/37744-magnetic-fields-i69-love-songsi-released-as-deluxe-vinyl-box-set/
14. ^ abalk2 (2007-01-02). "TODO: '69 Love Songs'". Gawker.com. http://gawker.com/news/todo/todo-69-love-songs-225413.php. Retrieved 2011-08-19. 

External links

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