BOO-HOO

March 2023
TRT: 1h2m24s

Content Note: Brief mentions of war and suicide

This is my sad mix, my waa waa boo hoo mix, my goodbye Mom mix.  It's not anything she would like, just stuff that eased my heart or helpd me wallow in my misery after she died bout 2 years ago. 

1. Dinosaur Jr. “Keeblin'”
   From the “Out There” single (1993)

   Electric & acoustic guitars; the acoustic riffs while the electric squeals away.  J Mascis's creaky, resigned voice and a little piano later on.  That's what there is for arrangement.  I was introduced to this song via an all-acoustic version on the Freakin' Live! bootleg.  It and the “Hickory Wind” cover really hit my melancholy buttons.  I wish I had never got rid of that disc.  I found a download online but the sound quality is so awful.  The version on J's solo acoustic Martin + Me is good but not quite as good.  This here produced version I believe first appeared on the “Out There” single before being included as a bonus track on re-issues of Where You Been.  This band always had a tendency to put their best songs on b-sides…at least the ones I liked best. 



2. Kanye West (now known as Ye, and also now a Nazi) “Say You Will”
   From 808s & Heartbreak (2008)

   Toms, minimal synths, choir vocals, and Ye's autotuned emo singin.  808s is a landmark of emo rap and a go-to albums when I'm down.  As a beatmaker Ye is unassailable.  As a lyricist & emcee he's never been that strong, but he's great at spinning his weaknesses in his own favor.  His artlessness makes him seem direct, honest, unpolished, relatable.  (His misogyny & self-mythologizing are big crowd-pleasers too…the Naziism doesnt seem to be playing as well tho.)  It sometimes gives me a little second-hand embarrassment but I have a theory about how the embarrassing songs are actually the best.  I'll write about that in the future, staring with Queen's “You're My Best Friend”. 



3. Antony* and the Johnsons “One Dove”
   *Now known as ANOHNI
   From The Crying Light (2009)

   Crying Light is an all-time fave go-to album when I'm down.  One Dove is one of its most haunting songs.  ANOHNI's beautiful voice pleads for mercy over delicate piano & plucked strings and plaintive sax. 



4. Mike Doughty “White Lexus”
   From Haughty Melodic (2005)

   Doughty in singer-songwriter mode wants to “feel nothing on demand.”  Yeah….  Death.  Addiction.  Ya know. 



5. Valerie June “The Front Door”
   From The Order Of Time (2017)

   June makes good old NPR style country music.  This one's a weeper.  “How does it feel to know you can't go home anymore?” 



6. Robert Wyatt “Shipbuilding”
   From the “Shipbuilding/ Memories of you” single (1982)

   Something about war bringing prosperity—oh, and death—oops.  Beautiful melody that has stuck with me for years. 



7. Alabama Shakes “On Your Way”

   From Boys & Girls (2012)

   Weepy rocker. 



8. Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway “You've Got A Friend”
   From Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (1972)

   Classic album that sat on my parents' elpee shelf and probably evryone's parents' elpee shelf.  Two great soul artists.  God damn.  Without a doubt the best version of Carole King's hit song.  Another record that makes me cry.  Well, that is my theme. 



9. Lucinda Williams “Lake Charles”
   From Car Wheels On A Gravel Road (1998)

   More of that NPR country.  Remember how big this album was when it was new?  But it turnd out it was actually good.  “Did an angel whisper in your ear/ Hold you close, take away your fear/ In those long, last moments?”  That gets me.  You have to wonder what the last moments are like.  It's silly but I wish that for my mother.  She wasn't religious but she loved angels. 



10. Van Morrison “Cul De Sac”
    From Veedon Fleece (1974)

    Building to the climax.  He's a covid-denying clown now, but in his prime Van Morrison might have been one of the great soul singers.  The famous Delta Doktor introduced me to Veedon Fleece way back when, and I think he said it's his faverit Van Morrison album.  I'm partial to Astral Weeks but it's hard to argue with this choice.  “Cul De Sac” is just, Aaaaaaaahhhh.  So comforting.  The more obvious choice for a boo hoo mixtape might be the song that follows it, “Comfort You”, but that one is just too much.  Toooooo much. 



11. Aretha Franklin “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
    From Aretha's Greatest Hits (1971)

    Classic Atlantic-era Aretha Franklin.  Part of the grand tradition of throwing one or 2 new songs onto a collection of old shit.  Undoubtedly the best version of the Simon & Garfunkel number.  The backup singers.  Just, so good. 



12. The Beach Boys “I Just Wasn't Made For These Times”
    From Pet Sounds (1966)

    Brian Wilson laments his mixed up life before a Wall of Sound. 



13. Sugar “Man In The Moon”
    From Copper Blue (1992)

    That early 90s shiny, fuzzy, dense guitar sound.  No one has a denser guitar sound than Bob Mould.  I lissend to this album a lot when it was new and I was a teenager.  Real loud.  I lissend to this album instead of killing myself.  This wasnt one of my faverit songs.  It always sounded a little out of place to me, but I find it comforting now.  It has stuck with me, as has the Man in the Moon himself.  I saw him once, when I was little, a legit vision, sitting high in a tree (a tree that's not there anymore) above my sandbox, round and serene.  He's a good friend of mine. 



14. The Suburbs “Cig In Backwards”
    From Credit In Heaven (1981)

    Melancholy lyrics & melody over bouncy, upbeat instrumentals is what the Suburbs do best.  This song just immediately came to mind after the Sugar song.  The band is from the same 80s Twin Cities scene as Mould's old band but a very diffrent sound. 



15. Antony* and the Johnsons “Thank You For Your Love”
    *Now known as ANOHNI
    From Swanlights (2010)

    More rocking than the other ANOHNI tune on here.  It even has drums.  Turns into a rave-up by the end.  Shouldnt this be the last word, the summation of all my weeping for my old mom?  Thank you for your love.