69 Love Songs
The Magnetic Fields
1999
Album Summary
69 Love Songs is the sixth studio album by American indie pop band the Magnetic Fields, released on September 7, 1999 by Merge Records. As its title indicates, 69 Love Songs is a three-volume concept album composed of 69 love songs, all written by Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin Merritt. 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." He also found inspiration in Charles Ives' 114 Songs, about which he had read earlier in the day: "songs of all kinds, and what a monument it was, and I thought, well, I could do something like that." Band member Claudia Gonson has claimed that Merritt wrote most of the songs hanging around in bars in New York City. 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.
WikipediaThis might take the cake for most self indulgent album of the cd era. I find the sheer length simply unbearable. I don't hear anything in the music/concept to justify its insane demand on the listener. Most of it is so half baked that I find it almost insulting. I don't get it. Both the singing voices and lyrics are irritating to me. In trying to march onward and listen to this there are some okay tunes buried in there but as an album its unrefined/unfiltered stance is utterly preposterous. If someone put this on, I wouldn't be sticking around.
i ain’t listening to all that i’m happy for u tho or sorry that happened
I had a ton of trepidation going into this 3 hour listen. There's some filler, and not every song is a winner, but the bottom line is that this ambitious project worked. Stephin Merrit subverts expectations, both lyrically and musically, at every turn. It feels like the musical version of the play in Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York, a sprawling epic that grows and grows until it eats itself. I mean that in the best way. It's easy to get lost in the massive sea of songs, and I think that's the intent. Best track: The Book of Love
Obviously this album is hella long - no album should be 3 hours long - but I can't help but admire it despite that - even because of it. The humor, humanness of the songs is addictive. It wasn't completely exhausting, because it felt more like hanging out with friends. The spare musicality, and the variety of instruments used, different vocalists, all help the cause.
Started out quite enjoying it but there is only so much annoying shit that i can take. Ended up wanting to kill myself by the end.
Kinda wanted to hate this but I have to give respect where it's due. Inevitably there is some filler and I thought the end was weak but it deserves its place as an Indie classic.
Was so disappointed when I clicked and saw that it was literally 69 songs that I was going to give it a 1. But after listening its actually great, really funny, witty, cleverly done, makes you smile. Recognised 'The a Book Of Love', maybe from a film.
Could have been a decent album if not for the ridiculous length and many filler songs
Where to begin? So much of this is just flat, boilerplate indie. The guy doing Great Value Johnny Cash vocals isn't terrible but isn't very charismatic either. The other vocalists are just there, much like the majority of the songs themselves. A lot of the songs are kind of annoying too especially when they throw in electronics that don't work. I feel like some of these songs are just supposed to be quirky/fun/whatever but they are not. At all. Overall this album would've been slightly better if they cut out about 55 of these freaking songs or released them across separate albums. I feel like an album should be sat down and listened to in its entirety. It's virtually impossible to do that with this album. Screw them for being so pretentious as to think this was a good idea. A total endurance test with very few positives. This deserves a 1 just on principle and that's exactly what it will get.
one of the best albums. beautiful lyrics, catchy tunes, and 69 units of wit
An amazing album, every track had a standout moment. Funny, touching and beautiful, I was disappointed when it concluded. Genius.
Wonderful album! Did not expect to enjoy this as much as i did when i saw the three hour run time, but the different styles of music, the different singers and the many different creative takes on the love song kept me interested all the way through. This record definitely just feels like a massive love letter to pop music, to the love song as a medium, while also clearly having a sense of humor. Loved it on first listen and will very likely return to it!
Thought this was going to be painful given it's 3 hours long but I absolutely adored every moment of it. Amazing.
Hands down a favourite of mine, five stars all the way. One of those albums where your favourite track changes with every listen and you discover something new or you missed from previous listens. This collection celebrates love and the feelings that come with it in often acerbic style. As a songwriter, Merritt's wit shines and whilst often popping the pretensions of love, there he also is failing to hide his secret sincerity for romantic love. Soppy at times. And there he goes, trying a jazz song, punk song, country song, calypso, dance music, all loose and never too serious. A handful of songs from the album were played during the register signing at our wedding with The Book of Love filled the room so always special to hear this again. Other highlights - the dazzilingly silly Absolutely Cuckoo; the dour I Don't Believe in the Sun; I Don't Want to Get Over You; The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side; No One Will Ever Love You (a near perfect pop song); the brilliantly funny and moving Papa Was a Rodeo; the glorious Busby Berkeley Dreams; and the frighteningly hilarious Yeah! Oh, Yeah! which was my favourite for a long time. And I was fortunate to hear the entire song cycle live over two nights at the Lyric Hammersmith. The Magnetic Fields were near shambolic but charming and all the guest artists from the record made an appearance. A memorable event. Poor Stephin suffers from a condition which makes any sound heard louder than normal begins to feedback in his left ear at every increasing volumes - when the audience applauded loudly and freely at the end of the night, he covered his ear, which to the audience seemed a bashful gesture, so they cheered and applauded all the more - poor guy, the adulation just made it more painful.
Freaking genius. You gotta be a little mad to write this. So weird and so good…this is a treasure. 69 songs and There are only a few that fall flat. I’ll be coming back to this often.
Better than any 69-song long album deserves to be. The duds in it weren't even bad, just kinda boring, and the highs were definitely very high. But still... its just so loooooooooooooooooooong.
Listened to half of this. None of these were particularly special in any way.
I've tried listening to this album twice, I want to like it. This time after listening to 9 songs it killed my good mood, I couldn't imagine listening to another 60 so I put on some Fats Domino again to cheer me up. It almost worked.
Oh god it's literally 69 love songs It's 3 volumes It's 3 hours I suffered through one hour and I can't take any more. Please kill me
So awful. Even skipping part-way through songs, I couldn't further than 8-9 songs.
3 hours? 3 HOURS. and then i read that wikipedia states this about the singer Stephin Merritt: "He is known for his distinctive and untrained bass voice" this is gonna be really really hard. really hard. ..... ...and when he doesn't sound like a terrible version of Leonard Cohen he sounds like Morrissey. 2 singers I can't abide by. These lyrics are terrible - trying to be clever, it's actually distracting. Look - it's clear a lot of effort went into this and as a musician I can completely appreciate that. AND YET! And yet I'm not writing these reviews for the general public - it's how much I do or do NOT connect with the music or the project. And I'm so gd disconnected right now and i'm only 12 songs in. I can't do this. Wait i did. Song 14 "How F****g Romantic" is the worst yet and i'm how far from finishing this? "Sweet Lovin' Man" (track 22 dear lord) isn't so bad mostly because we've got a new vocalist, although it could really drop right into 1983 as an unspectacular late night MTV video. holy crap i'm only 1/3 through this - i ..... "Love Is Like Jazz" was my final straw. only the second of >250 albums i could not finish no nope no no nyet nah pass 2/10 1 star.
Every song is the exact mix of sadness and love and beauty and truth and fiction that makes my heart pump. They aren’t all hits, but they are all good.
This album in it's entirety is more than Will The Circle Be Unbroken. Jesus what am in for? I am going to break this into two days of listening, because I am currently playing catchup so 2 albums a day isn't too bad. First 23 are filled with quirky and wonderful little songs like Reno Dakota, Chicken With Its Head Cut Off, etc. Come Back From San Fransico. Very TMBG vibes. Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side slaps. First 23 songs is good, though kind of tapers off the last third. 2nd album starts with Roses and Love Is Like Jazz, puts this on a darker and weirder footing. album 2 is super dark, Noone Will Ever Love You, If You Don't Cry and others. Long Forgotten Fairy Tale is G R O O V E. Papa Was A Rodeo is beautiful. I Shatter is a great way to end the 2nd album. Third album puts the album into an electronica space, very spacey and etherial. More groove in this one than album 2. Album 3 is just all over the place, like flying over the concept of love from 30,000ft away. Love Is Like A Bottle Of Gin perfect example. Zebra is a fantastic, weird, shambolic, perfect way to end this towering weird monument to love songs.
Three hours is a daunting commitment for a day. Happily, this was worth it, and I just wish I had had the time to savor it more. I know I missed wonderful bits. Bits I did love: "A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off" is catchy while being such a horrid but hilarious metaphor. "The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be" is another perfect weird metaphor in an old folk style. "Love is Like Jazz" makes a delightful simile, which had me laughing out loud, but again is more perfect than silly. "Washington, D.C." is probably my new favorite city song. "Acoustic Guitar" brought Steve Earle, Charo, and GWAR together. "Love is Like Gin" again makes such a wonderful simile. "For We Are the Kings of the Boudoir" is sexy harpsichord perfection. And that's just a small percentage... I love the mixture of styles and genres and clichés. Something sounds Renaissancy and then veers into modern slang. All the glorious figures of speech and plays on words. What an amazing achievement this is.
4.2 + Bought this box set when it first came out and it sat like a brick in my bedroom, and various college dorms. Before this weekend, I may have listened to it all the way through maybe once, if that. On initial listen, the songs felt dashed off, the arrangements sketchy, the vocal performances distracting. Knowing what to expect, I was able to give a more objective listen this time around and I'm left awed by the quality and quantity here. To be sure, there are a handful of annoying old-time ditties as well as a few beat-off tracks ("Love is Like Jazz", "Washington, DC"). But there's a light and casual feel to the album overall that lends humanity to the endeavor and I was consistently charmed throughout. Most of the songs I like best avoid satirizing love song clichés, and instead blend melody with interesting soundscapes. Each song presents interesting ideas, and examines genuine emotions and love song tropes. Despite its warts, it's hard to deny how much Stephin Merritt put into this project and I'd say overall it's extremely successful. I'm glad I finally invested the time, and hope to return someday.
Jesus, this album is jam packed with songs, I highly recommend not listening to it in one sitting, rather spreading the listening experience out a bit. But when you do listen to it, you'll find it's a great album filled with heaps upon heaps of variety.
Good tunes, lyrics, and melodies. I get why it's an indie rock classic. Could have used some editing, definitely doesn't need to be so long. Merritt's voice is definitely a love it/hate it instrument. But, if nothing else, you have to admire the album's sprawl, and there are good songs throughout.
Some gems on this - really lovely songs - but overall just too damn long. Yes, I get the point.
Saved Prior: I Think I Need a New Heart Saved Off Rip: A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off Cutting Edge: a couple I have to go back through and pick Overall Notes: Very very long, didn't really have time to go through and truly listen to all of the songs as I am currently quite busy. An album I will be returning to in the summer when I have more time (hopefully). Placeholder grade of 2.
I can hear the demonstrable talent and skill in their music, and some of the tracks are musically interesting, but the vocals in both presentation and content feel too gimmicky for my personal taste.
No surprise that Love Is Like Jazz, an improvisational jazz tune, is my least favorite song. Although there is definitely worse singing on many other tracks, which also displease me. I was going to write about how insane one would have to be to think a 69 song, 2 hour 53 minute album is a good idea. But then I remembered that many people are involved in creating an album. So there had to have been several insane people involved here. I shouldn’t write insane people, that would be capricious name calling, but rather collective insane thought. SeLF EDiT PeOPLe!!!! For the love of all that is sacred, self edit. There are plenty of tracks I really like here, at least an album’s worth. It’s too damn exhausting to go back through this album and figure out which ones so I can convey them to you. As it turns out, this was originally 100 songs!!!!f*$k!!!! To their credit, they decided that 100 was too many and cut it down to 69 songs. Way to miss the mark. The range of song writing is commendable. Their are a wide variety of styles and voicings, which isn’t easy to pull off. As it stands, I’m turning this album off if it’s on. Maybe not right away, but eventually I’d hear more than one grating song in a row. Power button. With pROpeR self editing, this has 4, and maybe even 5, star potential if the best 30-35 minutes were chosen. 5 stars would likely be too generous, and if I were a dedicated reviewer, I would pick apart this album until I identified those top 10-12 songs to be sure. However, that would require enduring a plethora of exhaustion that I am not willing to suffer.
Sometimes a songwriter hits such an inspired patch, the only showcase for their talents lies in a double-album (George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” & Smashing Pumpkins’ “Mellon Colie…” spring to mind). By that logic, this 3 hour long behemoth from Magnetic Fields might suggest a frenzied spell of prodigious creativity unheard of in music. Alas, this is album is about 60 songs too long. It represents the sort of mechanical approach to songwriting directly anathema to the spontaneous creativity which defines all great art. Stephen Merritt’s process consisted of blurting out some random phrase and proceeding to force a chorus out of it. It’s an extremely rudimentary style of songwriting, and utterly pretentious for the first hour or so of utterly expendable cornball indie-pop tunes. I generally found it easy to tune out of this record, only occasionally jarred into some sort of irate state by the odd plagal cadence (a serious bugbear of mine, but a favourite among jerkoff professional music eccentrics). Like I say, the gargantuan length is not a problem per se, but it can’t be filled by such pretentious claptrap. With so much shit thrown at the wall here, some of it naturally sticks. Dare I say, there is actually the makings of a decent album here (or, on second thoughts, maybe an EP). The female vocalist on this album tends to take the lead on the majority of decent cuts. But on the whole this is a pretty loathsome attempt at dragging pop music behind a fortified wall of music snobs. So I’ll sum it up in a word: pish. Favourite tracks: “I’m Sorry I Love You”; “Crazy for You”; “If You Don’t Cry”
Wow this album actually has 69 songs on it, this is going to be a long one. "The book of love is long and boring" yeah no kidding so is this album. They really just wrote down the first idea they had and wrote a song on it, just very shallow and the effort was just to reach the number and not actually produce good music. Song 25 Update: I'm losing my mind, how is there still over 40 left? This is just torture. Song 45: I don't know if this is a joke or not, what's real? Am I sleeping, is this a nightmare from which I will never awaken? Song 68: Holy shit, it's almost over. I almost have my life back. There is hope in this world, everything ends. And it's over! I did it, I survived, life can continue! I did like "Fido, Your Leash is too long" for what it's worth.
AGHHH NOOO what is this oh my no his voice made me cry his lyrics made me sob the length made me DIE. not anything good came out of this.
If you have enough time to write, record, mix, and release 69 love songs, you have too much time on your hands. Get a job ya hippy
I already adored All My Little Words so I may be biased, but I loved this. So whimsical and witty and folksy and great. It was good hearing more of the Magnetic Fields.
Part 1 is absolutely flawless. Maybe a top 5 all time album for me. Would put this above probably any album we've heard so far.
I really like the songwriting and variety on this album. It is a beast, but a solid 9/10, and leans more to a 5 for me.
Soy fan desde hace siglos de Magnetic Fields pero nunca había escuchado completo este disco. Se me hacía un poco apabullante. Pero resulta que no, que a pesar de que sí son 69 canciones, todo vuela y fluye ligero. Este disco es bello, nutritivo como respirar profundamente o comerte una buena fruta. Sabe a guayaba. Pone de buen humor. Tiene una paleta de sonidos determinada que se aprehende pronto pero las posibilidades melódicas parece que son sin fin. Si te gusta el pop, el pop entendido como canciones de la vida cotidiana, tarareables, bonitas y pegajosas, tienes que escuchar este disco al menos una vez en tu vida. Creo que me obesioné. Insisto, son un vergo de canciones pero quieres más y más, no quieres que termine. Es un milagro este pedo.
60. Tenho de te dizer, meu, foi um prazer ouvir-te. MotA: Absolutely Cuckoo "Don't fall in love with me yet We only recently met True I'm in love with you but You might decide I'm a nut"
I haven't cared for other Magnetic Fields stuff before and I don't normally listen to a lot of love songs or slow music but this was great.
Guay. Le voy a poner un 5 porque me gustaría tenerlo en vinilo, aunque no me ha encantado del todo como para un 5. Pero, en general, lo querría tener.
I have heard The Magnetic Fields in the past, but can’t remember any of the songs. I guess I’m not a romantic because when I saw this was going to be 3 HOURS of love songs I was filled with dread. Seemed like this was an awfully long assignment that was sure to become grating… This morning when I started listening I was most pleasantly surprised. It was quirky and not what I was dreading (the quote attributed to Merritt in the Wikipedia article makes so much sense : “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.”). Each song is unique and delightful. There are some truly crazy lyrics with wonderfully offbeat analogies and observations. Amazing to find so many creative ways to write a love song. The styles of songs are all over the place. And the music is varied and great! This is an incredible accomplishment and wildly entertaining! I’m very glad that this assignment pressed me to invest time in such a long album. This was a ton of fun and something I will enjoy listening to again and again!
Wow. There are a lot of songs here. But there's a lot of variety in style and instrumentation so I never really got bored or tired, just overwhelmed by the assignment. Thematically, yeah, they're all love songs of a sort. Some are silly, some are sweet, some are poignant, some heart-breaking. Lyrics are worth paying attention to for sure. So much to love.
Hmmmm…I guess to wanted to dislike this album as soon as I saw the~3hr love song theme. But once I started listening, it was mostly a warm reception from me. I like a lot, but does that push it to a 5? I struggle,,,
Ote vanhasta taideteoksestani: One morning in 2004, I was woken up by the sound of a package being delivered to my door. In it I found the suggestively titled 69 Love Songs by indie pop band the Magnetic Fields. It was sent to me by my long-distance lover, who at the time claimed never-ending love for me. His love wasn’t, of course, never-ending, and after the (from my perspective) devastating break-up, I found, somewhat ironically, comfort in that very same album. ”I could dress in black and read Camus, smoke clove cigarettes and drink Vermouth, like I was 17, that would be a scream, but I don't want to get over you.” Do listen to the whole album, though, if you haven’t. So many little stories about love or the lack of.
Almost defies critique. I’ve docked other albums for sprawling of Lodi g focus, but it works here. It exists entirely within its own set of rules, so if isn’t fair to impose a set of rules onto it in order to review it. I’m going to default to five stars.
I've owned this digitally for ages, but that means it's one loooong list of tracks rather than 3 discrete discs, so obviously I've heard disc 1 WAY more than the others. If I was rating disc 1 alone it would be an automatic 5, but I wasn't sure the quality held up over the other discs. I carved out enough time to give the whole thing 2 play throughs, and I reckon discs 2 and 3 hold up well! Love the exploration of styles and genres. Don't like this song? Wait 3 mins and you'll hear something totally different! Fave track - "Absolutely Cuckoo" is an all time fave, "Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits" likewise, but this playthrough "I Shatter" takes the crown!
I listened to the entire album spread over several days and really enjoyed it! A cool project and I like the variety of tunes and voices.
Wow, what an album. Clearly inspiration for so many genres and artists to come after it.
It was a really long album but there were some pretty good songs. It's too long tho, 69... I like the number, but not for how many songs in an album.
69 is too many right? So many of these are wonderful and I think. 'The book of love' is one of those songs that is perfect and too short- just like 'Please, please, please let me get what I want'.
Quedé perplejo al ver que el título, al menos en la cifra, es literal. Otra banda de la cual ni siquiera había oído y diré que sí oiría más de ellos, con todo y que las 69 Love Songs hayan durado casi tres horas. Me dio muchas vibras tipo Belle & Sebastian, pero líricamente despojados de la cursilería o hasta a veces mojigatería de los escoceses (que tampoco es defecto para mí, los amo). No obstante el "love" de las love songs muchas veces es algo más parecido al desamor, a la melancolía y la decepción amorosa, hay varios momentos humorísticos y también de repente sonidos que descuadran del conjunto. En fin, compuesto de tres discos, si tuviera que hacer un setlist para un álbum con una duración más racional (jaja), escogería las siguientes canciones: Absolutely Cuckoo, All My Little Words, A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off, Come Back from San Francisco, Fido Your Leash is Too Long, Nothing Matters When We're Dancing, Very Funny, Washington D. C., Long-Forgotten Fairytale, Yeah! Oh, Yeah!, I Can't Touch You Anymore y How To Say Goodbye. En este listado se incluyen vibras de soundtrack de cine teen indie (Juno, por ejemplo), fantasías cibernéticas, baladitas sencillas de triste pop o canciones melancólicas con melodía sintética. En fin, el disco es un lindo esfuerzo pop, sobre todo para hacer 69 canciones. 8.5/10
fun and inventive songs that put a smile on my face. A band I knew in name only. Will relisten again, 69 songs is a lot to take in.
No creo que vaya a tener la paciencia de acabar hoy el disco, pero no necesariamente me estaba disgustando, sí lo voy a acabar entre mañana y pasado. En general son chistosas las letras de las canciones y creo que justo eso es su fuerte. Por ratos sin sentido, por ratos irónicas, por ratos sad con un toque despreocupado. La voz soñolienta del vocalista me agradó también, ese estilo de canto con hueva a la Valentin Elizalde meets Brendan Perry del un rock/pop indie cualquiera. Mood: haciendo memes chistosos pero muerto por dentro.
Heel veel verschillende soorten liefdesliedjes. zoals de titel al zegt. Bijzonder project en er zit wel wat leuks bij
A triple album that does exactly what it says on the tin. There's a range of styles here and though there is obviously going to be filler with a triple album there are some truly great songs on each disc. This is an album to dip in and out of. BT: I Don't Want To Get Over You, Papa Was a Rodeo, Busby Berkeley Dreams
Despite its length and its reliance on a joke, these are some of the most beautiful love songs I've ever heard. At least on Disc One. I don't care much for the second disc. The third disc didn't bring any new ideas to the table either. The abridged version of this album is to just listen to disc one, you'll get all the best songs anyways (with that in mind, my rating is based on disc one. As a whole, the album is a 1 or 2). Highlights: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 26, 33, 34, 40, 41, 47, and 57.
Wow, didn't expect this to be so consistent and entertaining. Definitely some forgettable tracks but with 69 there's an amazing amount of variety and creativity here. Plus the rhymes are hilarious. Definitely no writer's block for this guy.
You couldn't really grasp an album like this on the first listen, which says something with how well I still liked it
Voice is ace VU vibes Loads of good stuff on here It's funny So much good
Tres long.. mais la variete de style et de chanson sont tres bon. Et l’auteurn a vraiment effectue un tour de force. J’aime bien le 1er disque et je retournerai pour les 2 autres. 4.25
Cool listen. So many songs feels like a Spotify playlist! Enjoyed much of the music and lyrics. Will rotate in here and there. Nothing really stood out, so 4
Can't decide whether I love or hate the fact this is literally 69 songs but I have to respect it. It's fun, goofy, a bit dark sometimes and too long.
Was gonna swerve it managed to get through it all. Fucking superb effort for nearly 3 hours 👏
Varsinkin tekstien puolella paljon helmiä! Käsittämätön biisikimara ja hieno konsepti. Totta kai mukana turhaa, mutta keskimäärin hyvä. Reno Dakota on todella hauskasti sanoitettu, samoin säepari "No one will ever love you honestly / No one will ever love your honesty" oli omia suosikkeja. Hyvää tasapainottelua huumorin ja vakavuuden rajamailla. 4/5
Had not listened to this album for years - quite a bit of hype at the time so makes sense to have it on the list. 69 songs ..some of them sketchy and not going anywhere, other ones still work very well, although one has to be in the right mood to appreciate the performance instead of getting annoyed by it. I hesitate between 3 or 4 stars but go with my appreciation for it 20+ years ago ..so 4 stars.
oh man this is a long long album. +1 for book of love. -1 for bad songs.
This was a long album. A lot of filler but also a lot of memorably enjoyable songs. Some of it is a little experimental and that might not be everyone's cup of tea. I liked it but I'll probably not be listening to all of it in one go again.