The Magnetic Fields' rules of attraction

by Jake Cline

Where to begin when introducing someone to 69 Love Songs, the nearly three-hour, three-volume concept album created by New York-based songwriter Stephin Merritt and recorded with his band The Magnetic Fields? One could start with some statistics, as late band member LD Beghtol did in his playful book about the album for the 33 1/3 series. 

“The total word count for 69LS—excluding song titles and repetitions of choruses or refrains—is 8,104, of which 1,557 are unique,” Beghtol writes. “The 20 most frequently used words are: you (342 iterations), the (285), I (279), and (252), a (176), to (153), me (131), in (118), my (114), of (107), it (104), but (98), love (96), your (73), is (72), all (69), for (64), be (62), it's (62) and like (61).”

As Beghtol notes, at least one word on the album—the magnificent, spellcheck-baiting prowesslessnesslessness—is a Merritt coinage. On one song, an homage to 18th century poet Robert Burns, lyrics are delivered in a Scottish dialect. Several lyrics would be unprintable here without the use of asterisks.

A brave Magnetic Fields fan could attempt to initiate a newcomer into the 69 Love Songs cult by sharing a breakup story or a tale of seduction linked to the album. Beghtol collected several of these during interviews for the oral history section of his book. Musician Michael Baltzer recalls how his obsession with the album led to his losing interest in the girlfriend who had given it to him as a Valentine’s Day present. Writer Veronica X admits to having emailed one of the album’s song titles to a prospective lover for 69 days straight. Novelist Emma Straub attempted to get an office crush to notice her by keeping the album visible on her desk. “Did we fall in love?” she said. “No. After all, most of Stephin’s love songs don’t end happily.”

A showoff (Magsplainer?) could name the seemingly endless musical and literary references Merritt and his collaborators employ throughout the album: W.H. Auden, Stephen Sondheim, Kraftwerk, Paul Simon, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Partridge Family, Homer, The Velvet Underground, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Don Ho, Blondie, Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra, the aforementioned Burns. For some people, the fact that Merritt titled a song “Busby Berkeley Dreams” will be all the information they need.

Of course, the easiest route toward convincing someone that 69 Love Songs is worth celebrating as much today as it was upon its release in 1999 is to leave them alone with the album, preferably on vinyl, and return three hours later. “[The] beauty of 69LS is this,” Beghtol writes, “Just when the listener thinks she’s found a song’s essential truth … the light shifts, the stage whirls again and yet another outrageously beautiful spectre appears—to seduce then abandon, provoke and inspire, confound and delight. Perilous indeed, such promiscuous delving; but infinitely rewarding.”

The Magnetic Fields will celebrate the 25th anniversary of 69 Love Songs by performing the album in its entirety over two nights, November 1-2, at the Knight Concert Hall. Tickets are available here. 

Where else to begin with 69 Love Songs? An old Stephin Merritt fan site used to ask listeners for their Top 10 songs from the album and monitored how the list evolved over the years. The ongoing 25th anniversary celebration has given music critics a fresh excuse for ranking their favorite songs—as they did for the album’s 20th. For today at least, here is my Top 10.

“No One Will Ever Love You”

“Papa Was a Rodeo”

“Sweet-Lovin’ Man”

“I Don’t Want To Get Over You”

“Washington, D.C.”

“When My Boy Walks Down the Street” “

All My Little Words”

“(Crazy for You But) Not That Crazy”

“How To Say Goodbye”

“I Don’t Believe in the Sun”