Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLII--The Magnetic Fields--Nothing Matters When We're Dancing

Truth be told, my love affair with this week's tune began the first time I heard the chorus, when the word "dancing" was rhymed with the city of "Lansing."  Whether this was because I live in Michigan, or because it's incredibly clever, only the Gods of Pop Music know for sure....

The Magnetic Fields are the brainchild of one Stephin Merritt, and were formed in 1989.  Merritt is an offbeat songwriter, and the band helps to showcase his lyrical talents.  Near as I can tell, the band has had zero in the way of what would be considered mainstream musical success--no hit singles, no million selling albums, no Grammy nominations let alone awards, and no record breaking world tours.  Nevertheless, they've released eleven albums over the course of their twenty-eight year career, the latest being released just this year.  Their album 69 Songs (which oddly enough, features 69 songs spread over three CDs, including this week's tune) is considered their best album and was released to extreme critical acclaim in 1999, including finishing second in the hipster's newspaper of choice, The Village Voice, year end Pazz and Jop poll.  The three CD box set sold a whopping 83,000 copies (still 83,000 more CDs than I've ever sold).  Sadly, they are another in a long line of bands that had their been world enough and time, I may have become a huge fan of, but I'll settle for having heard their delightful 69 Songs album, and the joy it brought me for months on end.

"Nothing Matters When We're Dancing" was never released as a single, though if it could have been transported back to the 40's or 50's and been given to Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett or Nat King Cole it probably would have rocketed up the charts.  Featuring a deliciously strummed ukulele (another of those not oft used instruments that in the right place can take a song to another plane), Merritt's distinctive baritone, and some oh so perfect harmonies in the chorus, the song tells the tale of two old lovers lost amongst each other as they dance to the last song of the night in some old dilapidated dance hall.  I'd be the first to admit it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea--a balls out rocker it ain't--but every time I hear it it adds a little sunshine to my day and I'll be singing it over and over for days on end.  Sometimes a pretty song is just a pretty song....

Lyric Sheet:  "And nothing matters when we're dancing/In tat or tatters you're entrancing/Be we in Paris or in Lansing/Nothing matters when we're dancing..."

Enjoy:

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emaycee