The Magnetic Fields//Too Drunk To Dream

Last night, Krand and I went to see The Magnetic Fields and Shugo Tokumaru at Jersey Lowes. It was amazing. That venue is gorgeous…and this might officially mark the end of me seeing music in the city. The show wasn’t empty, but it wasn’t full either and, as a result, we ended up with amazing seats, which got me even closer than ever to my one and only true love, Claudia Gonson.

If I’ve been a little light and California here lately, let this be my step back into the cold, sardonic New York reality. The mildly depressive, if off-the-cuff funny, Magnetic Fields are definitely a New York band, singing about the beaten down feelings of love, the absurdity of the world and cool (and sometimes, not-so-cool) West Village gay bars. They even have a song called “I Hate California Girls.” ‘Nuff said.

Choosing just one Magnetic Fields song to put here is very, very difficult, because there are so many flawless ones. I have a particular affinity for Get Lost, since that was the first album I got. After hearing about them in high school, from Maria’s cooler older cousin (whose friend was the web guy from Matador and took us up to the office to load us up with promos one night), it was the first record I picked up at Underground Sounds (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?). I got back to East Quad, put it on and freaked out. It was so good. I rounded up all my friends and turned the volume all the way up on "You and Me and the Moon." Everyone was blown away. It was like the gay electro-y 80s coming back in the 90s with more sardonic sneers and snark. That said, I’ve yet to find an album I dislike. The spanning 69 Love Songs collection (actually, hilariously referenced in a Beulah song: “I heard he wrote you a song. So what? Some guy wrote 69 and one just ain’t enough”) is a compendium of wonderful songs. Albums oscillate between themey (I, where each song starts with “I”; Distortion, where soundscape is unified by, well, distortion) to just solidly good collections of songs. Merritt might be the greatest songwriter of our time, with his knack for the combo of depressed sarcasm, word play, self-deprecation, eloquence and sadness.

Anyway, I selected this song off of their latest album, Distortion, because it probably speaks best to my situation at the moment. Have I mentioned I’ve been out at the bar a bit more than usual? I’m sure you can understand.



Too Drunk To Dream.mp3

Magnetic Fields are currently on a US Tour. Their shows are totally incredible--definitely well worth the sometimes steep ticket prices. See where you can catch them next here.

I gotta get too drunk to dream
Because I only dream of you
I gotta get too pissed to miss you
or I'll never get to sleep
I gotta drink wine after pint for you
and god knows that ain't cheap