'69 Love Songs' not just a 'Whole Lotta Love'
Katie Bennett
Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Merritt's intriguing musical eccentricities compliment his poetic lyrics, in which his favorite topics (other than love) are the moon, dancing, rain, eyes, nature, lust, the dead, youth, old age, cities, marriage and drinking. He tackles these subjects with cartoony seriousness, which sounds like a contradiction because it is. By pairing deceptively light and poppy tunes with serious lyrics, Merritt mocks the typical commercialized love song and creates humor in unexpected yet refreshingly gruesome lyrics that the casual listener may not catch if he or she is simply bobbing his or her head to the beat.
Merritt's undeniable trademark is his unrelenting self-deprecation. Part of this insecurity undoubtedly stems in part from being gay in a homophobic society, yet the majority of his concerns are self-manifested. In the first line of the entire collection he warns: "Don't fall in love with me yet… You might decide I'm a nut." However, Merritt later conveys a deep sense of loneliness and yearning for love, even declaring later, "You're my only home." He needs love because everyone needs love. He is just afraid that lovers will regret him, so he turns himself down first.
Merritt can't help but fall for the wrong guy as he tells him, "I like your twisted point of view." And later when it doesn't work out, he is cruel as he sings, "no one will ever love you." But this cycle of push-and-pull does not belong to Merritt alone. He is not the only one to fall in love with someone who was obviously not right for him. He is not the only one to hurt the one he loves. But he is unique in his ability to capture these mistakes and turn them into something beautiful.
These songs are real, written from real experience. Because we aren't forced to listen to them like the perpetually played Top 40, we feel as if we have discovered the songs ourselves, making them more personal. The bottom line is that these love songs can be enjoyed by anyone who discovers them. I mean, who can't relate: "Let's pretend we're bunny rabbits/ Let's do it all day long."
Lovers come and go, but these songs and emotions are eternal. To echo Camus's famous character, Joseph Grand, "Hats off, gentlemen." Here's a glass of vermouth to eternal youth and freedom."
Merritt's undeniable trademark is his unrelenting self-deprecation. Part of this insecurity undoubtedly stems in part from being gay in a homophobic society, yet the majority of his concerns are self-manifested. In the first line of the entire collection he warns: "Don't fall in love with me yet… You might decide I'm a nut." However, Merritt later conveys a deep sense of loneliness and yearning for love, even declaring later, "You're my only home." He needs love because everyone needs love. He is just afraid that lovers will regret him, so he turns himself down first.
Merritt can't help but fall for the wrong guy as he tells him, "I like your twisted point of view." And later when it doesn't work out, he is cruel as he sings, "no one will ever love you." But this cycle of push-and-pull does not belong to Merritt alone. He is not the only one to fall in love with someone who was obviously not right for him. He is not the only one to hurt the one he loves. But he is unique in his ability to capture these mistakes and turn them into something beautiful.
These songs are real, written from real experience. Because we aren't forced to listen to them like the perpetually played Top 40, we feel as if we have discovered the songs ourselves, making them more personal. The bottom line is that these love songs can be enjoyed by anyone who discovers them. I mean, who can't relate: "Let's pretend we're bunny rabbits/ Let's do it all day long."
Lovers come and go, but these songs and emotions are eternal. To echo Camus's famous character, Joseph Grand, "Hats off, gentlemen." Here's a glass of vermouth to eternal youth and freedom."
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