Note: “Tainted Love” not included in this mix.
For this month, I decided to create a mix of love songs for Valentine’s Day, except these are about it in its unrequited form or when affection curdles into something foul. Everything is fine in my relationship, but I just thought those whose isn’t on such solid footing could use some tracks they might be able to identify with.
After all, finding songs about true love is the easiest thing in the world. It is a bit harder to find ones concerning when it goes wrong. For a change, I’m not putting my notes on the tracks. Instead, I have selected choice lines from the lyrics of each.
Just as with previous mixes, the total length is that of a music CD. And, as always, the links to these tracks on YouTube mean many (most? all?) of these will likely be dead at some point in the future. In the meantime, I just hope somebody will discover a track they like which they weren’t aware of previously.
“My Big Mouth” by The Posies
“You caught me coming late framed by the door/onto a floor that’s freshly waxed/It hides my tracks and raises/some important questions”
“I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better” by The Byrds
“I have to let you go, babe/and run away/After what you did/I can’t stay on/and I’ll probably feel a whole lot better/when you’re gone”
“Sucker” by The Wedding Present
“I fell for all of that love crap/How could I resist it?”
“You’re No Good” by ESG
The title speaks for itself. Actually, it is almost the entirely of the lyrics.
“Maybe You’re Right” by Cat Stevens
“So maybe you’re right/and maybe you’re wrong/But I ain’t gonna argue with you no more/I’ve done it for too long”
“Jonathan David” by Belle & Sebastian
“I know you like her/Well I like her too/I know she likes you/It’s not as if I ‘m being sent off to war/There are worse things in the world”
“Even If You Don’t” by Ween
“I love you/even if you don’t/You’ve got your knife up to my throat/Why do you want to see me bleed?”
“In My Loneliness” by Trader Horne
“You used to sit and talk of freedom/The words you spoke were so sincere/But I was just a fool who wanted even more/than you could give/Leave me alone with my loneliness”
“Beat Of Love” by Voice Of The Beehive
“You take my mind and you cheat it/You take my body and heat it/then you take my heart and you beat it/and the beat of love goes on”
“Stupid Marriage” by The Specials
“If that’s a happy marriage/I’d prefer to be/unhappy”
“You Can Have Him” by Dionne Warwick
“You can have him/I don’t want him/He didn’t love me, anyway/He only wanted someone to play with/But all I wanted was a love to stay”
“Never You Mind” by Semisonic
“I believe I got you down/You react like anybody else around/Are you sorry that we wasted our time?/Never you mind”
“Waterproof” by Sparks
“The rain just falls off of me/The tears just fall off of me/Cause I’m waterproof/I’m waterproof/The pressure you’re exerting is irrelevant to me”
“I’m All Right” by Madeleine Peyroux
“He got drunk/He fell down/He threw a few of my things around/But I’m alright/I’m alright/I’ve been lonely before”
“Narrow Your Eyes” by They Might Be Giants
“I get on the bus/Ride past our stop/and though I’m late/I can’t get off/I just can’t bear to tell you some lies/and narrow your eyes”
“She” by The Monkees
“She laughed while I was crying/It was such a joke to see the way it hurt”
“Break Up With Your Boyfriend” by The Dambuilders
“Yeah, you can trust me/As much as a thief to never steal”
“The Poisoned Well” by Quasi
“You only hurt the ones you love/That may be true/But better said/you only hurt/the ones who love you”
“Popular Mechanics For Lovers” by Beulah
“I heard he wrote you a song/So what/Some guy wrote 69”
“Making Like A Rug” by Eleventh Dream Day
“Love is a one-way ride/No, you can’t buy a ticket out”
“You’re No Good” by Dee Dee Warwick
“Feeling better/now that we’re through/Feeling better/cause I’m over you”
“Song For The Dumped” by Ben Folds Five
“So you wanted/to take a break/Slow it down some and/have some space/Well fuck you too”
“When Our Love Passed Out On The Couch” by X
“I hate it/I love you/I hate that I need to/know what you do/when our love passed out on the couch”
“Gimme One Good Reason” by Clefs Of Lavender Hill
“You and me/We won’t last forever/Here we stand/but not together”
“Caroline, No” by The Beach Boys
“Who took that look away?/I remember how you used to say/you’d never lose that happy glow/Oh, Caroline, no”