By happenstance I happened across a post in the Random Thoughts and Questions thread on Broken Forum where someone mentioned a song they had been listening to called “Papa Was a Rodeo”. They had linked the YouTube video (as I have below) and at first I gave it little thought. Most people on BF don’t post about music in the random thoughts thread because there is another dedicated to posting all about your favorite bands I’ve never heard of and will never listen to.
Papa Was a Rodeo is a song from a band that falls into this category, an indie group called The Magnetic Fields.
I returned back to the post because the name of the song did kind of intrigue me and I found the name of the band interesting.
The first thirty seconds of the song I was struck by how tuneless the singer’s voice seemed. Something kept me listening, though, and I realized the slow, stately rhythm of the song had hooked me. (I later found the frontman of the group Stephin Merritt has an untrained voice.)
One catchy song does not a great band make yet I still found myself buying the box set featuring “Papa Was a Rodeo”, a sprawling three disc album called 69 Love Songs. The nice thing about buying your music digitally is I don’t have to worry about losing any of the discs or misplacing the box.
I kind of miss having the box, actually.
The album covers a wide range of musical styles and features multiple vocalists, though Merritt dominates. The lyrics are dry, sardonic, bitter and even occasionally tender. This is a perfect example of having a hunch, taking a chance and having it pay off. I haven’t even gotten to the third disc yet and love this giant mess of songs about love (which is different than love songs, as Merritt would remind you). Definitely recommended.
