Six Love Stories as Told Via “69 Love Songs” by the Magnetic Fields

Some of them are just transcendental. Some of them are really dumb.

In 1999, I undid my life.

I was 28-years-old and knew none of my primary pillars — home, relationship, career — were what I wanted them to be. Then at the end of July, the week of my 29th birthday, I broke up with all of it.

Just over a month later, on September 7, the Magnetic Fields released their album 69 Love Songs, a three-record set featuring — unsurprisingly — 69 love songs, spanning musical genre and relationship statuses with equal aplomb. No matter where you were, romantically speaking, this record had something for you.

Well, not all of you. For many, the zeitgeist of mainstream love songs suffice. But for those of us who feel adoration and aches in more offbeat ways, the sardonic, irreverent, strange songs on 69 Love Songs are a singular perfection. Never before had I felt so seen.

And now, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release, the band is touring as they did when it first came out: with a two-night set covering all 69 songs. The media is abuzz about it, with the New York Times writing up their 11 favorites, and Paste Magazine taking it a step further and stack-ranking all 69 songs.