The Magnetic Fields (named after the André Breton novel Les Champs Magnétiques)[1] is an American indie pop group founded and led by Stephin Merritt. He is the group's primary songwriter, producer and vocalist, as well as frequent multi-instrumentalist. The Magnetic Fields is essentially a vehicle for Merritt's songwriting, along with various side-projects, such as The 6ths, Future Bible Heroes and The Gothic Archies. While the particular musical style of the band is usually as malleable as Merritt's songwriting, its songs are commonly attributed to pop genres and subgenres: synthpop, indie pop, and noise pop. The band is often also cited as being recognizable by Merritt's lyrics, often about love and often with irregular or neutral gender roles, that are by turns ironic, tongue-in-cheek, bitter, and humorous.
The band released their debut and best known single "100,000 Fireflies" in 1991, which was typical of the band's earlier career characterized by synthesized instrumentation by Merritt with lead vocals provided by Susan Anway (and then by Stephin Merrit himself from The House of Tomorrow EP onwards). A more traditional band later materialized, currently composed of Merritt, Claudia Gonson, Sam Davol, and John Woo, with occasional guest vocals by Shirley Simms. Their best-known work is the 1999 three-volume concept album 69 Love Songs. It was followed in the succeeding years by a "no-synth" trilogy: i (2004), Distortion (2008),[2] and Realism (2010). The band's most recent album, Love at the Bottom of the Sea, was released in 2012.
The band began as Merritt's studio project, under the name Buffalo Rome,[3]. With the help of friend Claudia Gonson, who had played in Merritt's band The Zinnias during high school, a live band was assembled in Boston, where Merritt and Gonson lived, to play Merritt's compositions. The band's first live performance was at T.T. the Bear's Place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1991 where they played to a sparse audience that was expecting to see Galaxie 500 spin-off Magnetophone.
continued: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magnetic_Fields
Heartache certainly feels like the end of the world. Who can't relate? Only the very lucky or the very cynical & callous.
If I live through the night
I could be alright
It could make a good song or something
I've been trying to give myself reasons to live
But I really can't think of one thing
I drive around
I walk around in circles
'Cause I've got no sense of direction
I guess I've got no sense at all
All the umbrellas in London couldn't stop this rain
And all the dope in New York couldn't kill this pain
And all the money in Tokyo couldn't make me stay
All the umbrellas in London couldn't stop this rain
I don't cry anymore
I walk out of the door
And I usually keep on walking
I may sit in a bar
Where the cocktails are
But I really don't feel like talking
I ride around
And let the darkness fall
'Cause I've got a sense of perfection
And nothing makes much sense at all
All the umbrellas in London couldn't stop this rain
And all the dope in New York couldn't kill this pain
And all the money in Tokyo couldn't make me stay
All the umbrellas in London couldn't stop this rain
