The Elderly :: Haga Nygata

I smile, pretend I'm happy
but I know it's just a lie
and the girls keeps passing by















The Eldery, "Haga Nygata"

Freaking-a I love this song. I love this song better than I love cupcakes. But I'm unsure about much of the lyrics. The band is Swedish, I believe and I can't find much more on them. But they clearly aren't singing in their native language, note the "girls keeps passing by" sentence. Haga Nygata is, I believe, a quarter or district in Goteborg, Sweden. And I think it's supposed to be a very romantic and artsy part of the town. And I'm imagining that this boy is sitting here in this poetic place, all alone, maybe even heartsick, intensely people watching. Now is this a break-up song? Maybe not. It's definitely melancholy and sad and a bit pitiful. And simply beautiful. Isn't it comforting to hear boys, whom I imagine are beautiful and blonde, sing with such doleful anguish?

I found this on Swedes Please, a Swedish music blog. This is not the same band, also called The Eldery, from the US, who play a sort of college-jam-rock that I dislike so. I have found no other song or info on this Swedish Elderly, sadly. That's quite poetic in itself, ain't it?

Mancrush.com

Here is a fun way to waste a half hour online. It's a website where you can rank your man crushes. Jon Stewart has led for awhile now, but Stephen Colbert and Jim Halpert are on his tail (I'd like to think I had a little something to do with JH climbing the ranks...) I'd like to think this is a place where smart boys can rule because it's smart girls making the calls, or clicks as it were. Me? I put in my two cents for JS, SC and JH as well as Jeff Tweedy (580), John Cusack (41), Colin Firth (48), Jim Henson (163), Seu Jorge (264) and MacGyver (365). Oh and I docked points from Bruce Willis, Keanu, Jude Law, and that NY baseball player who has dated half of Hollywood.

Stars: Your Ex-Lover Is Dead

There's one thing I want to say,
so I'll be brave
You were what I wanted
I gave what I gave
I'm not sorry I met you
I'm not sorry it's over
I'm not sorry there's nothing to save















Stars, "Your Ex-Lover is Dead"

More Oh Canada fawning. A pretty but potentially stinging song, with vocals from both Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell (who both have performed as part of Broken Social Scene, fyi) and plenty of the lush orchestration they're known for. This is from their 04 Canada / 05 US release, "Set Yourself on Fire".

What's the song about exactly? Could never say it as well as they do (this, from their website, regarding the song): [It's] a call-and-response story of half-regret, of seeing someone you once f&*%ed at a party, knowing they never hurt you the way they could've, and feeling awkward, hateful and oddly wistful about it.

Amy Millan had a solo release last year. I thought it was okay. A new CD is due from the band in 07.

More about Stars :: Full lyrics to this song :: Buy the CD :: Amy Millan's solo

Crappy Valentine's Day

You love her, but she loves him And he loves somebody else
You just can't win And so it goes, till the day you die
This thing called love It's gonna make you cry
I've had the blues, the reds and the pinks
One things for sure Love Stinks!






J. Geils Band, "Love Stinks"

Valentine's Day is for suckers. When you're unattached and downtrodden February 14th pretty much sucks. Celebrate by taking a bunch of the songs from this here blog, downloading them and putting them on to one fine mix CD, entitled "Getting Over the Dork." Pass it out to friends, keep one stashed away for yourself. Remember that this holiday was completely fabricated by people with the last name Hallmark out to make an extra buck ninety-five. And Cupid does rhyme with stupid. And most poetry sucks. And chocolates are bad for you. And champagne gives you a headache. Reclaim the day with an Eve Ensler-inspired party. Or not. But don't fret, this whole thing will be over tomorrow.

Oh and NPR has posted their own list of break-up songs on this day, although no music. Perhaps I will pick a few of their best ones and post those over the next few weeks. And what do you know, Love Stinks is there.

Pop Candy has also picked a few break-up songs for the holiday and I'm jumping on a few of Whitney's picks in coming weeks. How could I have forgotten Whiskeytown? And Scandal?!

Art Brut : Emily Kane

There's so much about you I miss
The clumsy way we used to kiss
I wish I convinced you, you've made a mistake
If memory serves, we're still on a break













Art Brut, "Emily Kane"

Because boys ache over girls, too. Ten years, nine months, three weeks, four days, six hours later he's still pining. Just a classically simple and ragingly fun single about an old lost love. Course, Emily Kane probably isn't anything like her fifteen year old self anymore and Eddie Argos wouldn't recognize, let alone love her, ten years later, but that is sort of the way of the world now ain't it? We pine over ideas of what was rather than reality. Hey, but it's a fun track and you can dance to it!

Art Brut site :: Art Brut Fan Site

James Mercer of The Shins Talks Love, Romance & Heartache








Check out the new interview with Mercer in The Onion's AV Club. He dissects a few of this songs, talks about the greeting card created holiday that is V-day and speaks of a few relationships gone awry (and why.)

AV Club Interviews James Mercer

Oh, and the new Shins record? Nice, very nice.