The Magnetic Fields

[batchainpuller]

Pop genius. Anyone. Anyone?

[scottme]

"There'll be time enough for sex and drugs in heaven,
When our feramones are turned up to eleven..."

[Maggieo]

Oh, hells YEAH!

Future Bible Heroes frackin' r00l, too!

[zhivago]

I have a mandolin
I play it all night long
It makes me want to kill myself

I also have a dobro
Made in some mountain range
Sounds like a mountain range in love

But when I turn up the tone
On my electric guitar
I'm afraid of the dark without you close to me

I went out to the forest and caught
A hundred thousand fireflies
As they ricochet round the room
They remind me of your starry eyes

Someone else's might not have made me so sad
But this is the worst night I ever had

'cause I'm afraid of the dark without you close to me

You won't be happy with me,
But give me one more chance
You won't be happy anyway

Why do we still live here
In this repulsive town?
All our friends are in New York

Why do we keep shrieking,
when we mean soft things?
We should be whispering all the time...


this song's made me cry a few times.... 

[lalalandstudios]

The original is great, but check out Kelly Hogans version too.....

I like your twisted point of view, Mike 
I like your questioning eyebrows
You've made it pretty clear what you like
It's only fair to tell you now 

that I leave early in the morning
and I won't be back till next year 
I see that kiss-me pucker forming 
but maybe you should plug it with a beer, cause

Papa was a rodeo - Mama was a rock'n'roll band 
I could play guitar and rope a steer before I learned to stand 
Home was anywhere with diesel gas - Love was a trucker's hand 
Never stuck around long enough for a one night stand
Before you kiss me you should know
Papa was a rodeo

The light reflecting off the mirror ball
looks like a thousand swirling eyes
They make me think I shouldn't be here at all
You know, every minute someone dies

What are we doing in this dive bar
How can you live in a place like this
Why don't you just get into my car
and I'll take you away I'll take that kiss now, but

(boy) Papa was a rodeo...

And now it's 55 years later
We've had the romance of the century
After all these years wrestling gators
I still feel like crying when I think of what you said to me

Papa was a rodeo...

Before you kiss me you should know - Papa was a rodeo 
What a coincidence, your Papa was a rodeo too

[dc]

yes! saw 'em at what was then the Seattle Opera House (now refurbished and renamed after some fat-ass corporate donor) when they were touring for "69 Love Songs" five or six years ago. the show was revelation; Merritt was achingly sincere, the band was ace, and the crowd sat in absolute rapt silence during every song. one of the best shows i've ever seen.

oh yeah, "69 Love Songs" is pretty darn great. obviously, any collection of songs that expansive is going to have some flat spots, but there's loads of insanely clever songwriting in there.

[chrisjedijane]

I only have "the charm of the highway" but I've been listening to it a lot in work, it's really enjoyable.

[jetset]

Merrit is one of those humbling songwriters - everything he does seems so simple and effortless and completely contrived and sincere at the same time.  I love "69 Love Songs" - the absurd rhymes in "The Death of Ferdinand De Saussure", the creaky blues of "Xylophone" and "Busby Berkely Dreams" - just brilliant.

Holliday is also stellar: "under more stars than there are prostitutes in Thailand.."

-J