All his little words1
A lexicon of the Magnetic Fieldsâ 69 Love Songs
... the behaviour of civilized man really has nothing to do with nature, ...all is artifice and art more or less perfected.
â Nancy Mitford
THE PURSUIT OF LOVE (1945)
To paraphrase Saint Oscar2 (writing of his own day, and uncannily of life a century later), the dislike of romanticismâas embodied in Stephin Merrittâs rejection of homespun, singer-songwriter egoism and spurious naturalism for appropriation, multiplicity and a consciously Warholian distanceâis the rage of a rock journalist not seeing her own face in the glass; Wildeâs paradoxical take on that other dreaded R-word, realism, holds true here, too. For the amusement of such exclusive minds there exist whole galaxies of earnest, comfortingly prosaic music that, happily, are not the domain of this book.
Created out of disparateâalmost randomâparts, with a virtuosity that in retrospect seems half cunning and half pragmatism, 69 Love Songs is a sprawling, self-referential contemporary epic that comes with its own handy CliffsNotesâa Bayeux tapestry with a catchy soundtrack, a sonic parable that plays as well on âshuffleâ as it does in the (almost) arbitrary sequence the songwriter gave it. Some listeners blithely sing along with these engaging tunes, taking all at face value. Others, despite another well-known Wildean admonition, peer into the shimmering depths, doing so âat their peril.â For these the following self-guided tour was written.
Stephinâs mirror of art is by turns mod Max Factor compact, fun-house looking-glass, mythic reflecting pool and interrogation room two-way glazing. The surface is deceptiveâuneven and unreliable, by design. But the beauty of 69LS is this: Just when the listener thinks sheâs found a songâs essential truth (those elusive âshadows of echoes of memoriesâ from [2.3]), the light shifts, the stage whirls again and yet another outrageously beautiful spectre appearsâto seduce then abandon, provoke and inspire, confound and delight. Perilous indeed, such promiscuous delving; but infinitely rewarding.
The total word count for 69LSâexcluding song titles and repetitions of choruses or refrainsâis 8,104, of which 1,557 are unique. 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), itâs (62), and like (61). Of the almost 1,600 unique words, nearly 900 appear just once, of which the present authorâs favorite is prowesslessnesslessness (assorted words, phrases and numbers set in bold are defined elsewhere in the text). Those who delight in such things should visit Brad DerManouelianâs 691ovesearch. com for the albumâs complete vocabulary, a searchable database, and other texty diversions.
NB: Numbers in brackets, i.e. [1.23], refer to the âIndispensable 69 Love Songs Index,â as given on the tray card of Disc Three. Also, Magnetic Fields bandmembers and guest singers/performers are identified throughout by their first names.
7, 8½, 9, 10 Numerical sequence that concludes âPromises of Eternityâ [2.12]:
a. Se7en by David Fincher (1995). A cinematic thriller starring Kevin Spacey as a serial killer obsessed with the Christian deadly sins: superbia (pride), avaritia (greed), luxuria (extravagance, later lust), invidia (envy), gula (gluttony), ira (wrath), and acedia (sloth). Notable for its strategic use of rain in nearly every scene except the sunlit finale, in which retributive chaos ensues.
b. 8½ by Federico Fellini (1963). A semi-autobiographical romantic drama starring Marcello Mastroianni as Fellini. Artistic and romantic chaos ensue.
c. 9 by Arthur Kopit and Maury Yeston (1982). Musical adaptation of Felliniâs film (above). Professional jealousy ensued: 9 won the Tony for Best Musical over Dreamgirls and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
d. 10 by Blake Edwards. This âtemptingly tasteful comedy for adults who can countâ stars Dudley Moore as an aging sexist in search of his female âperfect 10.â Instead he discovers Bo Derek and her extraordinary hair on a Mexican beach. Numerical chaos ensues...
The incomparable Internet Movie Data Base (imdb.com) also lists titles for all integers from zero to tenâsome with multiple entriesâthough the only other fractions are Martin van der Gaasâ 4Âź and Matthew Buzzellâs 6½. Decadent French poet-critic Charles Baudelaire (1821â67) said, âEcstasy is a number,â but thatâs not so for Stephinâs saloon singer, for whom mere numbers lack mystery (see Old Joe).
11 (adj) One more than 10; informally, the max [2.4]. As Nigel3 says: âItâs one louder, isnât it?â See heaven.
17 (adj) To some, age 17 marks the burgeoning of sexual awareness (the Beatlesâ âI Saw Her Standing Thereâ) that follows Chuck Berryâs âsweet 16;â for others, itâs the Age of Ambivalence (Eurythmicsâ â17 Againâ). On 69LS âI Donât Want To Get Over Youâ [1.6], 17 is neither quite Beatle Paulâs lusty frug nor Annie Lennoxâs Proustian stroll down memory lane. Rather, like the heroine of Janis Ianâs tearjerker âAt 17,â Stephinâs sad-sack protagonist has âlearned the truthâ about loveâthe hard way. Heâs haunted by a conflation of Emily Dickinsonâs elusive âthing with feathers,â aka hope, and Stevie Nicksâ foundering one-winged dove (from her hit âEdge of 17â) that plagues him like an albatrossâor a certain intractable raven (see birds). He has all the props for an undergrad existentialist comedy (see Prozac, Camus, clove cigarettes, vermouth) but heâs lost his motivationâand his co-star. His scream is a stagy cri de coeur.
Seventeen is also: a New York City street featured in âIf You Donât Cry It Isnât Loveâ [2.8]; the seventh prime number; the number of syllables in a haiku; chlorineâs atomic number; a twee tween lifestyle mag; the movie Stalag 17, starring William Holden, which inspired Nazi TV comedy Hoganâs Heroes; the Greek Marxist group, 17 November; a July day sacred to the cult of the Yellow Pig; an interstate in Arizona; the state highway that runs between Virginia and Florida; baseball great Dizzy Deanâs jersey number; and the age of Abbaâs young, sweet âDancing Queen.â
Aa
Abbots, Babbitts, and Cabots are the arbiters of sexual restraint challenged in âLetâs Pretend Weâre Bunny Rabbitsâ [1.19]. In the Catholic monastic system an abbot (from the Hebrew word for âfatherâ) is the leader of a group of monks, whose job is to help them maintain their challenging vows of poverty, obedience and chastity. âBabbittsâ are smug middle-class folk of conventional morality named for Sinclair Lewisâ bestselling 1922 satirical novel, Babbitt. The exclusive Cabots of Boston,4 observed Dr. Samuel G Bushnell in his familiar poem âOn the Aristocracy of Harvard,â âspeak only to Lowells/And the Lowells speak only to God.â
David Jennings (691ovesongs.info) notes that this trinity is also âa kind of reflexive in-joke about rhyming dictionaries,â citing Merriam-Websterâs, which lists the rhymes for abit as: abbot, babitt, Babbitt and Cabot, etc., as proof. True enough. Anyhow, the folks in question are definitely not comedian Bud Abbott (wrong spelling), experimental composer Milton Babbitt (b-o-r-i-n-g despite the Sondheim connection) and burly actor/bear icon Sebastian Cabotâbest known for his role as Uncle Billâs âgentlemanâs gentlemanâ on the unctuous television series Family Affair (1966â1971).
Abigail, Belle of Kilronan [2.22] is a pretty wench from County Galway, located in the province of Connacht along Irelandâs west coast. The tiny island village of Kilronan (Irish: Cill RĂłnĂĄin) is accessible via ferries from Counties Clare and Galway. Abigailâs name in Hebrew means âmy fatherâs joyâ or âfountain of joy.â Abigail was the third of Biblical polygamist.5 King Davidâs eight wives; she is considered by some scholars to be an important early pacifist, and by others merely a very politically savvy hostess. In Stephinâs semi-strophic ballad, the love-besotted soldier/narrator begs young Abigail to forget him, since he might well not return from the unspecified, likely bloody battle.
Acoustic guitar (n) A canonical folk and blues musical instrument whose six strings are designed to be plucked or strummed, as in [3.5]. Often used to accompany cloying, confessional songs of questionable worth in which âsincerityâ and ârealness,â aka authenticity, are valued more than beauty, craft, or clarity of thought and expression.
Andy, John, Tom, Harry, Chris, Lou & Professor Blumen areâalong with an unsightly automobile ownerâthe suitors of the love-object of âThe Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Sideâ [1.8]. Gender is problematic here, since half the charactersâ names can denote either sex, and both the songâs protagonist and his/her favorite passenger are unnamed (and thus, unsexed). Further, itâs not made explicit how Prof Blumen makes his/her protĂŠgĂŠ âfeel like a woman.â And just what are those tantalizing secrets shared with Lou?
Art (n) Like its kissing cousin Artifice, a form of industry practiced by craftsmen adept at creating mood, atmosphere, novel points of view and other forms of deception as an antidote to mere reportage and diaristic narrative. According to [3.4] the human heart is best studied not as itself, but rather objectifiedâwhich is precisely what Stephin does on his master work. Part manifesto, part publicity stunt, part limited-edition objet (at least in its miniscule initial pressing), 69LS is also a canny, if idiosyncratic, survey of pop culture, high and low. And though it may be seen primarily as an extended essay in genre exploration/subversion, its genius encompasses far more than music: Stephin makes historical and topical references both obvious and obscure to design, fashion and art; movies, books, and television; and a libraryâs worth of scientific and critical theoryâall as witty lyrics and ravishing melodies. In pop music he is almost without peer or precedent, though Sondheim and Tom Lehrer are certainly his artistic progenitors in the related fields of musical theatre and cabaret. Taking Wildeâs âNothing succeeds like excessâ one step (or several) too far, 69LS embodies Mae Westâs knowing view: âToo much of a good thing can be wonderful.â
As David McCarthy defines it in Pop Art (Cambridge University Press, 2000): âPop eschewed the rigid, either/or strictures in some manifestations of modernism in favor of an art that was both visual and verbal, figurative and abstract, created and appropriated, hand-crafted and mass-produced, ironic and sincere.â McCarthy refers specifically to the brightly populist, often provocative visual works produced after World War II by Paolozzi, Warhol, Blake, Marisol, Lichtenstein and others; substitute 69 Love Songs for the word âPopâ and hey prestoâwhat emerges is a precise prĂŠcis of Stephinâs most accessible, enduring work to date.
Perhaps Boston-based NECCO (the New England Confectionery Company), maker since 1902 of those sloganeering, pastel-tinted ...