Okay, so, I've been subscribed to this group for ages and nothing
much has come of it. So, in an effort to get things rolling, and
because I'm mucking about in the deeper reaches of my Yahoo account,
I'm going to spend some time babbling semi-coherently about how
great I think Stephin Merrit and all his projects are, and also
talking about myself, which is one of the things I do best.

I first heard of the Magnetic Fields through being a huge, dorky fan
of Neil Gaiman, who was reputed to like them. I didn't actually buy
any of their stuff, though, in part because I think "Neil Likes It"
is a silly reason to buy music.

Then, years later, a friend of mine gave me a mixed tape of songs
from 69 Love Songs...he didn't make it for me, someone else had made
it for him and he was ready to pass it on. It's a very tricky
business, I've decided, giving a tape like that to someone that
you're not actually in love with. It can lead to a lot of
misunderstandings and wrong assumptions and generally mess with
one's emotional state. At any rate, that's what happened to me.

But I did love the songs. And then I realized that actually I
already had some Stephin Merritt music, because I had one of the
Lemony Snicket audiobooks that I had gotten as a gift, and knowing
that the genius behind the Magnetic Fields was the same genius
behind "Scream and Run Away" only sold me more completely on the
whole idea.

So I went and bought the 69 Love Songs CD's, and then began
searching out the other Magnetc Fields albums, and then got into the
Future Bible Heroes, and found Hyacinths and Thistles, and I saw FBH
live in San Francisco, which was a huge kick and I loved it. The
solo uke version of "I'm Lonely and I Love It" was one of the finest
things I have ever witnessed.

I gave a mixed CD to two friends of mine, too, and they love it, and
they told me that "When My Boy Walks Down the Street" is in an
episode of Queer as Folk, which makes me unreasonably happy and they
promised to show it to me and I can't wait.

I had an idea for a while that I was going to write a story for each
song on 69 Love Songs, but I soon realized that most of the songs
are complete stories already and don't need any embellishment.
That's one thing that I love about Stephin's lyrics--every song is
practically a novel. I did, however, start writing a story
initially inspired by "When My Boy Walks Down the Street", and if I
ever finish it I will make it available somewhere.

So...anybody want to say what their favorite song is, and why? I
think you can guess what my favorite one on 69 Love Songs is,
although "Long-Forgotten Fairytale" is a close second. Right now I
am really into "Love is Lighter Than Air", and by the Future Bible
Heroes I am crazy about "She-Devils of the Deep", and, even
moreso, "Blonde Adonis," although Memories of Love, as my most
recent acquisition, is getting a lot of play in general and most of
the lyrics are simply stunning.

Okay, I've done my bit. Your turn.

--Jenny Jo