Tag: bemine mixtape

I can’t quit listening to Cake! “Love You Madly” is awesome, and the Husband will dig the horns, being a former horn player himself and having an appreciation for them. The whole song just makes me want to turn on the oven, get out mixing bowls and flour and sugar, and tap big wooden spoons rhythmically on the countertop. I can so dig it. My favorite lyric is “When I kiss your lips / I want to sink down to the bottom / Of the sea.” I hope he likes it, too, cause it’s most definitely IN. The motorcycle at the end reminds me of Meatloaf. Maybe I’ll close with it.

“Magic in the Air” by Badly Drawn Boy, is at the top of my nice-piano-feel and great lyrics list. How about that opener: “We laughed so much that we cried all night / And you left your shoes in the tree with me / I’ll wear them to your house tonight / Magic in the air tonight” Man, that SO makes me wanna tell the story of the night he came over to my parent’s house for dinner on my 17th birthday… Yep, that just might be the opener for the list, even though he doesn’t already know the song.

I could follow it with Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird.” I don’t think he’ll know the song, but he will know the group and that plus the piano may rope him right in. The lyrics are standard love song, but I like it.

Actually, since I’m thinking chronologically through our relationship now, I better go with James Morrison’s “You Give Me Something.” It’s the new-relationship-taking-the-next-step song. Melodic with a tempered voice I could listen to a lot. I’ve already spent WAY too much time on the website, watching this guy work his magic. I likes! Yeah.

Ok, now we can do a young guy/gal experiencing a few bruises. So let’s get Elliot Smith in there, or Art Garfunkel. Even though Smith has a pretty sad story, I think I’ll go with “Say Yes.” Hey, Kurt Kobain’s dead but I still like some of his music, too.

It’s too much to go from “Say Yes” to “All I Know,” so I’ll need to separate them. Robinella could easily be the cure with her flight of fancy “I Fall in Love as Much as I Can.”

I’ll put the Star’s On Peak Hill in toward the top. They remind me a little of the Shins, and that is a somewhat familiar sound for him. It’s a bit angsty, but still has the small-town-boy feeling.

Ok, gotta deal with Art Garfunkel’s “All I Know.” It’s quickly identifiable by the Husband, but the lyrics are bittersweet so it needs a down-list position.

Ryan Adams‘s “Oh My Sweet Carolina” is in there just for feeling. It has that ramblin-man-just-tryin’-ta-find-home thing going on. It’s quiet, folky, and contemplative. Does it go in the Luv mix here? Sure. I would put Billy Joel’s “Your My Home” in and it would fit better, but the Husband has that song and knows it and could sing it in his sleep, and… Hm. Maybe I should just put that one in. Keep considering this.

Jackson Browne’s “Love Needs a Heart” is out. It’s just not Valentine’s Day material. I’ll save it for a breakup list.

OK. Here’s a revised list. Now I just gotta listen to it through a few times then I will know.

Magic in the Air, Badly Drawn Boy
You Give me Something, James Morrison
Songbird, Fleetwood Mac
On Peak Hill, Stars
Say Yes, Elliot Smith
I Fall In Love As Much As I Can, Robinella
Make It With You, Bread
Oh My Sweet Carolina, Ryan Adams
All I Know, Art Garfunkel
More Than Love, Los Lonely Boys
Love You Madly, Cake

And Queen’s “Love of My Life” is out. I’m saving it for a list I’m gonna call supercamp. Besides, it starts with a break-up.

The Husband just read my blog and will now helpfully assist me in the making of his surprise mixtape. Ok, who told him I had a blog?

As soon as he saw I was considering (I was only considering) Mariah Carey’s cover of “I’ll Be There,” he let me in on a little-known but scientifically proven fact: A person’s favorite version of any given song will be the one they first heard. For example, if you heard the Beach Boys version of “California Girls” first, that’s the one you love and you have no use for the David Lee Roth version. He says this is “not set in stone” but he was very animated. Gesturing, even. Don’t trespass on his Michael Jackson, okay? Just don’t. He didn’t say any cuss words, but he thought them.

It’s that time of year again, time to make a new mixtape! I know, I know, nobody makes mixTAPES anymore, they make iMixes or playlists, but I grew up in the 80’s and the tape thing is how it was done in the OLD days. So, like I was saying. Time to make a mixtape for your sweetie. Or maybe just an excuse to waste time downloading and obsessing over tunes. I love this time of year!

Now for the difficulty: the Husband doesn’t particularly WANT a mixtape; this is a man who feels like he hasn’t quite got all the good out of the great music of the 70’s and 80’s yet, and therefore he’s not quite ready to move on to the 90’s and above. I, on the other hand, am ready to listen to whatever was recorded yesterday, and can’t wait to hear what’s going to be recorded tomorrow. I love new music.

So, the process of making a mixtape for the Husband is a particular challenge, with many guidelines.

1. Mix 80’s pop/rock and new
First, it has to include songs or artists he’s already familiar with (Boston, Journey, George Michael, Yes, Chicago) mixed in with new artists and songs. That way he might “accidentally” hear some of the new music before he hits the auto forward key on the iPod.

2. Intro reminiscent of familiar music
The old/new mix works best if I can get a nice pop piano intro on a new song – he’ll think it might be a Billy Joel song and listen to a measure or so before realizing it’s new.

3. Skill over innovation
The Husband is highly musically trained, and he sings and plays a variety of instruments. He has great pitch, a great ear, and an ability and appreciation for superior musical skill. In making a mixtape he will listen to, I have to think singer/songwriters (Don McLean, James Taylor, Van Morrison, even Neil Diamond); I have to think David Byrne-style lyrics; I have to think Jackson Browne, Paul Simon. He will listen if I can get something in the mix with high musicality and skill level. He has to respect the artist.

4. Nostalgia, particularly boy-growing-up-in-a-small-town nostalgia
Lots of people like to hear something that reminds them of their youth. Why do you think Prince played Purple Rain at this year’s Superbowl? Because most of the people in the stadium were young adults when that song came out. In the Husband’s case, you should know all the words to Springsteen’s Thunder Road, at the very least. You should be conversant in Marc Cohn, maybe a little John Cougar Mellencamp.

5. Repetition, repetition!
If I can find opportunities to repeatedly PLAY the music I am trying to win him over to, the sheer fact that he’s actually heard it before helps a lot. I don’t ever just GIVE the Husband a mix, I give it to him AND play it for him. Otherwise it would just be irresponsible, like turning on the lights in a room nobody’s using.

SO, I start by gathering up a mid-size pile of music that I like. Then I try to listen to it with the rules in mind. Here’s where I started for this Valentine’s mixtape (no particular order):

Love of My Life, Queen
Love and Some Verses, Iron & Wine
I Fall in Love as Much as I Can, Robinella
Have You Ever Loved a Woman, Derek & The Dominos
Love Needs a Heart, Jackson Browne
Say Yes, Elliot Smith
On Peak Hill, Stars
You You You You You, The 6ths and Katherine Whalen
Make it With You, Bread
Songbird, Fleetwood Mac
I’ll Be There, Mariah Carey & Trey Lorenz
Diamonds and Pearls, Prince
You Give Me Something, James Morrison
Oh My Sweet Carolina, Ryan Adams
More Than Love, Los Lonely Boys
Magic in the Air, Badly Drawn Boy
Love You Madly, Cake

My next post on this subject will deal with my evaluation of these songs, and the next grouping. I know you can’t wait to see who gets voted off the island. Only five more mixing days till I-Heart-You day: stay tuned!