Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

Amid all the heartbreak and unrequited love (with lovelessness and death still to come) we are looking at this month, we need a respite from the gloomy tears and instead frolic in the calm waters of true love reciprocated “” which in itself, as some of the lyrics here suggest, is a source of anxiety and uncertainty. And, well, perhaps some lucky person might need a decent mix for Valentine”s Day which does not include the unlovely horrors perpetrated by Chris DeBurgh, Jennifer Rush, Peabo Bryson, Céline Dion, Engelbert Humperdinck, Stevie Wonder and, of course, Michael Bublé ““ and who prefer to do without “edgy” comps featuring the love musings of Coldplay, U2, Avril Lavigne and James Blunt. As always, the mix is timed to fit on a CD-R. It might be a good alternative to an overpriced VD card (and if anybody tries that, please let me know if it was a good idea).

.

1. Donny Hathaway – A Song For You (1971)
You taught me precious secrets of the truth withholding nothing, you came out in front and I was hiding. But now I’m so much better and if my words don”t come together, listen to the melody, “cause my love is in there hiding.

2. Carpenters – I Won”t Last A Day Without You (1972)
When there”s no gettin” over that rainbow, when my smallest of dreams won”t come true, I can take all the madness the world has to give, but I won”t last a day without you.

3. Ben Kweller – Sundress (2006)
I don”t need a smile from a mannequin, I just want to hold you in my hands. I do everything you want me to”¦for you.

4. The Weepies – Happiness (2004)
Friday 13, lights go red, green, in a coffee shop. I”m giving you the look while someone else is fingering your wallet in my pocketbook. It”s a mean town, but I don”t care. Try and steal this! Can”t steal happiness.

5. Mindy Smith ““ Falling (2004)
When I”ve almost had enough, something about you draws me back again. When I”ve almost given up, something about you pulls me in. And we”re falling”¦

6. John Prine with Iris Dement – In Spite Of Ourselves (1999)
She thinks all my jokes are corny, convict movies make her horny. She likes ketchup on her scrambled eggs, swears like a sailor when shaves her legs. She takes a lickin” and keeps on tickin”. I”m never gonna let her go.

7. Moldy Peaches – Anyone Else But You (2001)
Here is the church and here is the steeple, we sure are cute for two ugly people, I don”t see what anyone can see in anyone else but you.

8. Simone White – The Beep Beep Song (2007)
(Yeah, the one from the Audi commercial) Despite all the warnings I landed like a fallen star in your arms.

9. Curtis Mayfield – So In Love (1975)
This love affair is bigger than we two. Lose our faith and it will swallow you. Loving you is what I”ll always feel, never ever doing things against our will. Loving means, never require any kind of test “¦ Ya got me so in love.

10. Aretha Franklin – Baby I Love You (1967)
If you want my lovin”, if you really do, don”t be afraid, baby. Just ask me, you know I”m gonna give it to you. Oh, and I do declare: I want to see you with it. Stretch out your arms, little boy, you”re gonna get it ““ “cause I love you.

11. Ron Sexsmith ““ Never Give Up On You (2006)
I”d never give up on you because I know you”d do the same for me. Never give up on you because you take me as I am, how I”ll always be.

12. Mary Chapin Carpenter – Grow Old With Me (1999)
Grow old along with me. Two branches of one tree face the setting sun when the day is done. God bless our love. (Beautifully sung by Carpenter, the real poignancy of this song derives from its authorship: written and demoed by John Lennon shortly before his murder in December 1980, it first appeared on his posthumous Milk And Honey album)

13. Tom Waits – Falling Down (1988)
For she loves you for all that you are not “¦You forget all the roses, don”t come around on Sunday. She”s not gonna choose you for standing so tall; go on and take a swig of that poison and like it.

14. Alexi Murdoch – Love You More (2006)
Love you more than anyone. Love you more than anyone. Love you more in time to come. Love you more. (That”s the complete lyric”¦)

15. Finley Quaye ““ Dice (2003)
I was crying over you. I am smiling, I think of you. Misty morning and water falls, breathe in the air if you care, you compare, don”t say farewell. Nothing can compare to when you roll the dice and swear your love”s for me.

16. Dexys Midnight Runners – This Is What She”s Like (1985)
“Well how did all this happen?” “Just all at once really. The Italians have a word for it.” “What word what is it?” “A thunderbolt or something.” “What, you mean the Italian word for thunderbolt?” “Yeah, something like that. I don”t speak Italian myself you understand?” “No.” “But I knew a man who did. Well, that”s my story. The strongest thing I”ve ever seen.” (Single version)

17. The Cure ““ Lovesong (1989)
Whenever I”m alone with you, you make me feel like I am home again. Whenever I”m alone with you , you make me feel like I am whole again. Whenever I”m alone with you, you make me feel like I am young again. Whenever I”m alone with you, you make me feel like I am fun again.

18. Jens Lekman – I Saw Her In The Anti-War Demonstration (2004)
And the skies were clear blue skies, and her eyes were clear blue eyes, and her thighs were about the same size as mine, and we were walking in the anti-war demonstration; it was a sweet sensation of love.

19. Kacy Crowley ““ Kind Of Perfect (2004)
The last few years have been much harder than we ever thought they”d be. I know you hate it when I say I”m sorry, but I”m sorry. There was never a point in our love that I didn”t love you; not a point in our love. I always did, I always will, I always do, love you still, I always would, how could I not? Just look at us baby, we”re kind of perfect.

20. Joshua Radin – The Fear You Won”t Fall (2007)
I know you”re scared that I”ll soon be over it. That”s part of it all, part of the beauty of falling in love with you is the fear you won”t fall.

21. Nina Kinert – Through Your Eyes (2004)
All the time I stood here holding dandylions and chocolate for you. Tumbleweeds and fireworks go by. It”s hard to keep them still for you to see, nut you know that I try. I want to see you watching what I see, now that you”re mine, through your eyes.

22. Sarah Bettens ““ Grey (2005)
Will you be my everything? Maybe just this time we can really think that I am yours and you are mine; I am yours and you are mine…

DOWNLOAD

More songs about love

To end off the month, here the five random tracks my iPod threw out for your pleasure. Actually, I’m cheating, because it listed a couple of tracks I recently posted…

The Band with Neil Diamond – Dry Your Eyes.mp3
From The Last Waltz. Neil Diamond must have retained some of the cool he had rightfully acquired before going all lamé on us (cf. Pissing off the Thought Police with Neil Diamond), else surely Messrs Danko, Robertson, Manuel et al would not have invited the man to jam with them. And the crowd seems happy enough to welcome him on stage. It’s all good. I like pre-lamé Neil, I like The Band, and I like this song. Thank you, iPod Shuffle Function.

Moldy Peaches – Anyone Else But You.mp3
Originally from the Moldy Peaches eponymous 2001 debut — and so far only — album, this is everybody’s favourite song from the quite wonderful Juno soundtrack (lovely film too). The one Ellen Page and Michael Cera sing at the end. Kimya Dawson, the female component of the Moldy Peaches, features very prominently on the soundtrack. Her solo albums are well worth seeking out as well.

John Barrowman & Kevin Kline – Night And Day.mp3
iPod loves soundtracks. First The Last Waltz, then Juno, now DeLovely. I was hoping it would give me chance to post something from Cabaret, actually. I may be committing some sort of credibility suicide here, but this is my favourite version (of those I know, which must be a dozen at least) of Night And Day, in terms of tempo, arrangement and vocals. A great though pretty difficult song to croon along to.

4 Non Blondes – What’s Up (Piano Version).mp3
Sometimes iPod surprises me. I didn’t know that this slowed-down acoustic version of the 1993 hit by Linda Perry and chums was residing on it, and I certainly can’t see why I might have thought it necessary to copy it over. Still, having listened to it again for purposes of this post, I think it’s quite a nice version, and a pretty good song, too.

Lloyd Cole & the Commotions – Rattlesnakes.mp3
To me, this is the sound of 1984. The lines “She looks live Eve Marie Saint in On The Waterfront; she reads Simone de Beauvoir in her American circumstance” (hey presto, and another movie reference) are among my favourites from the ’80s.

And for our listening pleasure, a song which iPod didn’t random shuffle: the original version of the Sesame Street/Muppets classic Mah-na Mah-na, by Italian film score composer Piero Umiliani, from 1969. Of the two muppetised versions, I prefer that of Sesame Street, also made in 1969, with the two female backing singers who communicate bemusement better than many a movie actress, and the singer who looks like heroin addict (video). The Muppets’ version (video) has a stoned hippie and some pink animals. Good, but not as good. By the way, links open in the same window, so click new tab/window, or you’ll lose this page.
Piero Umiliani – Mah-ná-mah-ná.mp3

And an added bonus for my fellow Weepies fans: the title track from their new album, due for release on April 22:
The Weepies – Hideaway.mp3