50 Song Memoir

Studio album by The Magnetic Fields

Released

March 10, 2017

Genre

Indie pop

Length

2:30:15

Label

Nonesuch

Producer

Stephin Merritt
Thomas Bartlett
Charles Newman

The Magnetic Fields chronology

Love at the Bottom of the Sea
(2012)

50 Song Memoir
(2017)

50 Song Memoir is the eleventh studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields, released on March 10, 2017. 50 Song Memoir is an autobiographical concept album that chronicles the first 50 years of songwriter Stephin Merritt's life, with one song for each year that he has lived.^[1]

Recording

Stephin Merritt began recording on his 50th birthday on February 9, 2015. The album was produced by Merritt with additional production by Thomas Bartlett and Charles Newman. Merritt sings on all fifty tracks and plays more than one hundred instruments throughout.

Tour

The fully staged live shows in support of 50 Song Memoir are directed by José Zayas.^[2] The Magnetic Fields have been expanded to include an additional three musicians for the tour, with each of the seven playing seven different instruments. On the tour the band play the entirety of 50 Song Memoir in two halves across two nights at each venue.^[3]

Release

50 Song Memoir is available in five-LP and five-CD editions that include an interview by Daniel Handler and facsimile handwritten lyrics by Stephin Merritt, and as a bound book.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	86/100^[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[5]
The A.V. Club	A−^[6]
The Guardian	^[7]
The Independent	^[8]
Mojo	^[9]
The Observer	^[10]
Pitchfork	7.4/10^[11]
Q	^[12]
Uncut	9/10^[13]
Vice	A−^[14]

Upon release, the album received near universal acclaim, with the average critical score being a 86 out of 100 according to review aggregator website Metacritic.^[4]

Track listing

All tracks written by Stephin Merritt.

Disc one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"'66 Wonder Where I'm From"	2:44
2.	"'67 Come Back as a Cockroach"	2:34
3.	"'68 A Cat Called Dionysus"	2:46
4.	"'69 Judy Garland"	3:17
5.	"'70 They're Killing Children Over There"	2:36
6.	"'71 I Think I'll Make Another World"	2:57
7.	"'72 Eye Contact"	2:55
8.	"'73 It Could Have Been Paradise"	3:07
9.	"'74 No"	2:57
10.	"'75 My Mama Ain't"	3:01
Total length:		28:54

Disc two
No.	Title	Length
11.	"'76 Hustle 76"	3:16
12.	"'77 Life Ain't All Bad"	4:16
13.	"'78 The Blizzard of ’78"	3:15
14.	"'79 Rock'n'Roll Will Ruin Your Life"	2:58
15.	"'80 London by Jetpack"	2:58
16.	"'81 How to Play the Synthesizer"	3:06
17.	"'82 Happy Beeping"	3:10
18.	"'83 Foxx and I"	2:43
19.	"'84 Danceteria!"	3:09
20.	"'85 Why I Am Not a Teenager"	3:07
Total length:		31:48

Disc three
No.	Title	Length
21.	"'86 How I Failed Ethics"	2:58
22.	"'87 At the Pyramid"	3:10
23.	"'88 Ethan Frome"	2:24
24.	"'89 The 1989 Musical Marching Zoo"	3:06
25.	"'90 Dreaming in Tetris"	3:21
26.	"'91 The Day I Finally..."	2:20
27.	"'92 Weird Diseases"	3:10
28.	"'93 Me and Fred and Dave and Ted"	3:08
29.	"'94 Haven't Got a Penny"	2:53
30.	"'95 A Serious Mistake"	3:13
Total length:		29:43

Disc four
No.	Title	Length
31.	"'96 I'm Sad!"	2:12
32.	"'97 Eurodisco Trio"	3:15
33.	"'98 Lovers' Lies"	3:06
34.	"'99 Fathers in the Clouds"	2:52
35.	"'00 Ghosts of the Marathon Dancers"	3:05
36.	"'01 Have You Seen It in the Snow?"	2:51
37.	"'02 Be True to Your Bar"	3:34
38.	"'03 The Ex and I"	2:59
39.	"'04 Cold-Blooded Man"	3:06
40.	"'05 Never Again"	3:19
Total length:		30:19

Disc five
No.	Title	Length
41.	"'06 "Quotes""	2:17
42.	"'07 In the Snow White Cottages"	2:52
43.	"'08 Surfin'"	2:47
44.	"'09 Till You Come Back to Me"	2:29
45.	"'10 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"	3:03
46.	"'11 Stupid Tears"	2:45
47.	"'12 You Can Never Go Back to New York"	3:12
48.	"'13 Big Enough for Both of Us"	3:04
49.	"'14 I Wish I Had Pictures"	3:07
50.	"'15 Somebody's Fetish"	3:45
Total length:		29:21

Personnel

The Magnetic Fields

Stephin Merritt – lead vocals, ukulele, keyboards, piano, synthesizers, guitar, dulcimer, autoharp, xylophone, glockenspiel, percussion
Claudia Gonson – background vocals, piano
Sam Davol – cello, musical saw
John Woo – guitar
Shirley Simms – background vocals

Additional personnel

Thomas Bartlett – mellotron, clavinet, omnichord, rhodes, piano, Moog synthesizer, optigan
Christopher Ewen – synthesizers, kazoo, angklung, stylophone, omnichord
Pinky Weitzman – viola, Stroh violin, musical saw
Daniel Handler – background vocals, accordion, vibraphone, piano, Hammond organ, celeste
Johny Blood – tuba, flugelhorn, mouthpiece
Brad Gordon – trombone, pocket trumpet
Randy Walker – background vocals
Anthony Kacsynski – background vocals
Otto Handler – spoken word

Charts

Chart (2017)	Peak position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[15]	155
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[16]	77
Portuguese Albums (AFP)^[17]	29
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[18]	96

References

↑ "The Magnetic Fields 50 Song Memoir". Nonesuch. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
↑ "Magnetic Fields Roll Out 2017 US Tour Schedule for 50 Song Memoir". The House of Tomorrow. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
↑ Yoo, Noah (20 October 2016). "The Magnetic Fields Announce Tour". Pitchfork. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
1 2 "Reviews for 50 Song Memoir by Magnetic Fields". Metacritic. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
↑ Deming, Mark. "50 Song Memoir – Magnetic Fields". AllMusic. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
↑ Colburn, Randall (March 3, 2017). "Stephin Merritt is his charming, morose self on The Magnetic Fields’ sprawling, autobiographical 50 Song Memoir". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
↑ Simpson, Dave (March 9, 2017). "The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir review – Stephin Merritt's richly observed life". The Guardian. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
↑ Gill, Andy (March 8, 2017). "Album reviews: The Shins – Heartworms, The Magnetic Fields – 50 Song Memoir, Valerie June – The Order of Time and more". The Independent. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
↑ Farber, Jim (April 2017). "Fifty shades darker". Mojo (281): 94.
↑ Empire, Kitty (March 12, 2017). "The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir review – the joys are many". The Observer. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
↑ Sodomsky, Sam (March 6, 2017). "The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
↑ Harrison, Ian (April 2017). "The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir". Q (370): 115.
↑ Anderson, Jason (April 2017). "The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir". Uncut (239): 32.
↑ Christgau, Robert (March 24, 2017). "Stephin Merritt's Exceptional Life and Janet Weiss's Genius: Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Vice. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
↑ "Ultratop.be – The Magnetic Fields – 50 Song Memoir" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Magnetic Fields – 50 Song Memoir" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
↑ "Portuguesecharts.com – The Magnetic Fields – 50 Song Memoir". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 18, 2017.

The Magnetic Fields
Stephin Merritt Claudia Gonson Sam Davol John Woo Shirley Simms
Studio albums	Distant Plastic Trees (1991) The Wayward Bus (1992) The Charm of the Highway Strip (1994) Holiday (1994) Get Lost (1995) 69 Love Songs (1999) i (2004) Distortion (2008) Realism (2010) Love at the Bottom of the Sea (2012) 50 Song Memoir (2017)
EPs	The House of Tomorrow (1992)
Songs	"100,000 Fireflies" "The Book of Love" "Andrew in Drag"
Related	Discography

Stephin Merritt
The Magnetic Fields	Distant Plastic Trees The Wayward Bus The House of Tomorrow The Charm of the Highway Strip Holiday Get Lost 69 Love Songs i Distortion Realism Love at the Bottom of the Sea 50 Song Memoir
The Gothic Archies	Looming in the Gloom The New Despair The Tragic Treasury
The 6ths	Wasps' Nests Hyacinths and Thistles
Future Bible Heroes	Memories of Love Eternal Youth Partygoing
Soundtracks	Eban and Charley Pieces of April Showtunes
Related articles	Discography Obscurities

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