The Magnetic Fields' "69 Love Songs," In Order
69. Love is Like Jazz
68. Experimental Music Love
67. Xylophone Track
66. Two Kinds of People
65. Zebra
64. How Fucking Romantic
63. Strange Eyes
62. For We Are the King of the Boudoir
61. Roses
60. Punk Love
59. Fido, Your Leash is Too Long
58. Love in the Shadows
57. Meaningless
56. Abigail, Belle of Kilronan
55. Queen of the Savages
54. Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits
53. World Love
52. Love is Like a Bottle of Gin
51. Long-Forgotten Fairytale
50. Epitaph for My Heart
49. Blue You
48. I Can't Touch You Anymore
47. The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be
46. My Sentimental Melody
45. Very Funny
44. It's a Crime
43. No One Will Ever Love You
42. The Sun Goes Down and the World Goes Dancing
41. Underwear
40. The One You Really Love
40. Wi' Nae Wee Bairn Ye'll Me Beget
39. The Night You Can't Remember
38. My Only Friend
37. Boa Constrictor
36. A Pretty Girl is Like…
35. Bitter Tears
34. The Way You Say Good-Night
33. Yeah. Oh, Yeah
32. Nothing Matters When We're Dancing
31. Asleep and Dreaming
30. The Death of Ferdinand de Saussure
29. Parades Go By
28. Acoustic Guitar
27. How to Say Goodbye
26. Reno Dakota
25. I'm Sorry I Love You
24. Time Enough for Rocking When We're Old
23. I Don't Want to Get Over You
22. If You Don't Cry
21. Kiss Me Like You Mean It
20. I Don't Believe in the Sun
19. All My Little Words
17. I Shatter
16. A Chicken with Its Head Cut Off
15. Promises of Eternity
14. Washington, D.C.
13. The Things We Did and Didn't Do
12. Come Back from San Francisco
11. When My Boy Walks Down the Street
10. Busby Berkeley Dreams
9. Grand Canyon
8. (Crazy for You But) Not That Crazy
7. I Think I Need a New Heart
6. Papa Was a Rodeo
5. Sweet-Lovin' Man
4. The Book of Love
3. Absolutely Cuckoo
2. The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side
1. You're My Only Home
I hate "Love is like Jazz." Largely because I hate honking and quacking, and, well, jazz.
here let me waterboard that sentiment for you
WHY AREN'T WE TALKING ABOUT THE JOHN LURIE PROFILE INSTEAD
@BadUncle He could have left "Love is like Jazz" on a B-side and still called the album 69 Love Songs because any one of those top 10 can easily count as two tracks.
@Art Yucko I've always liked owning that album, and never liked playing it. In the same way, I like the concept of James Chance's paramour Lydia Lunch more than I actually like Lydia Lunch.
@BadUncle :D Well Played.
@BadUncle It might not be among the most radio-friendly of the 69, but compared to, let's be honest, quite a bitt of forgettable filler in The Albums it's one of the most interesting, lyric-wise.
Merrit obviously thought it was worthy. Look at where he placed it, right up front like a thesis statement: 'love is like jazz, you make it up as you go along.'
It's essentially '69 Love Songs' 'Kicker of Elves.'
"Epitaph for My Heart" not in the top 10 or even 20 alksdjfalskfjsa
YES this asdfhjklsdgfhjkl;
Also wtf I Can't Touch You Anymore is #48??????
Gotta go with The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side as number 1. Otherwise, great list Balk
@RobertLanham ENDORSE.
YES! I wish I knew someone named Lou and a Professor Newman.
@RobertLanham gotta concur, "Luckiest Guy" is the best
Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits at #54?? BOLD move, sir.
Bold, and perhaps ill-considered.
2. Busby Berkeley Dreams
1. Yeah, Oh Yeah!
Of course you have some "opinion."
opinions, like downloads, are free if you know where to look.
"Long-Forgotten Fairytale" seems to be in the wrong place, unless #51 means "best place."
Hey awl, are we 100% sure that Alex Balk and Stephin Merritt aren't the same person?
4. Papa was a Rodeo 3. Nothing Matters When We're Dancing 2. All my Little Words 1. Busby Berkeley Dreams
The Beatles are available on iTunes.
but what about the not-iBook download of Bard Norton’s new life-affirming opus “My Sweet Gold and Brown A.D.I.D.A.S. : Bortvity of the Sole” ? When is that gonna be available on iTunes?
The best track on 69 Love Songs is "I am a Racist"
YOUR WELCOME
LAST.
Bort
"Negasonic Teenage Warhead" should be no. 1.
What, no "From A Sinking Boat"?
#30 is #1
I can't believe you did that to the Queen of the Savages.
Never understood why "My Only Friend" existed– was so different from the rest of the 68. Always thought he should've put that Gargoyle song in, instead.
Thank you, though… I've been waiting for this list since I was in college.
Is this an old guy convention?
It is a day ending in y, so, yes.
I lost these in the divorce. (Air quotes around lost.)
Actually I have very little problem with this list. Except I'm with Kois about #30. If there's a better song about a seminal twentieth-century linguist, I surely haven't heard it. What reason is there to put it at any other place than #1?
13. Tiny, King of the Jews
12. Ergot
11. Pavement Saw
10. Kitty Empire
9. Bombastic Intro
8. Precious Thing
7. The Model
6. Kasmir S. Pulaski Day
5. Fish Fry
4. Colombian Necktie
3. L Dopa
2. Bad Penny
1. The Power of Independent Trucking
"It's very small and made of glass" is a gorgeous lyric, though
Busby and Savages need to be closer to the top. Luckiest will always be the best of the 69.