Artist	Song
The Miracles	You've Really Got a Hold on Me
The Beatles	We Can Work It Out
Grant Hart	You Don't Have to Tell Me Now
The Costello Show	Indoor Fireworks
The Magnetic Fields	All My Little Words
Otis Redding	My Lover's Prayer
Galaxie 500	Sorry
The Go-Betweens	Apology Accepted
The Mountain Goats	Alpha in Tauris
Aztec Camera	We Could Send Letters
Fleetwood Mac	Silver Springs
Neil Young	Birds
Dusty Springfield	I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself
The White Stripes	Forever for Her (Is Over for Me)
Lloyd Cole & the Commotions	2cv
Richard Thompson	Beeswing
Johnny Cash	I Tremble for You
Antony & the Johnsons	Hope There's Someone
George Jones	He Stopped Loving Her Today
Morrissey	Will Never Marry
The Velvet Underground	I'm Set Free
Descendents	Coolidge
The Kinks	Days

Comment:

"R.I.P. Jen G. & Rob C.--9/1/02-6/25/05." I feel uncomfortable exposing this much of myself here, but I'm hoping that it'll be therapeutic. I made this mix eight days ago and have held back the urge to post it, hoping that we really could work through our differences and go on to a happy life together. However, I have a pretty strong feeling that the reality of the situation is quite different. After eight months of premature endings, Jen and I have broken up. It's the closest I've come to a divorce, since we've been living together for all but six months of our relationship. Needless to say, I'm filled with every kind of contradictory emotion, mostly because we're trying to reconcile our decision with ourselves while I'm looking for a new place to live. Sadly enough, when she listened to this last week, all she could say was, "Thanks for trying to make me feel as bad as you do." Some track notes: 1) Our theme song for at least the past eight months, if not the past fourteen months. 2) I originally had Sebadoh's "Soul & Fire" in this slot, but (probably incorrectly) thought that it was too pessimistic. 3) A song about denial, of sorts, in which Grant pleads with his lover to not ruin a tender moment by discussing the bleak emotional undercurrent going on between them. 4) I don't think anyone has ever written a more accurate analysis of a broken relationship. 5) This is one of the songs here that chokes me up, especially because I've played & sung it to her in so many different circumstances. "You said you were in love with me/Both of us know that that's impossible/and I could make you rue the day/but I could never make you stay." 6) The emotional flipside of "We Can Work It Out"--Otis is pleading with her to just "talk it over"; I understand that situation. 7) When I played this song at my last acoustic show, she wept. 8) "I used to say dumb things/I guess I still do...." 9) "We're pictures of decency/when we wave goodbye outside/Yeah I'm the model of composure out there/but you oughta see me shaking later on." 10) When I told Jen that I probably wouldn't be speaking to her much, if at all, if I were forced to move out (only because I don't need to be reminded of how much I still love her), she suggested that we at least send e-mails to keep in touch (despite the fact that I'll most likely be living within three miles of her); I immediately thought of this song. 11) One of the most important songs here: "Don't say that she's pretty/Did you say that she loves you?/Baby, I don't want to know" and "Can you tell me was it worth it?/Baby I don't want to know" will almost certainly be my exact thoughts after I leave. 12) Even the sound of the opening piano chord sends chills down my spine. 13) Jen and I have done almost *everything* together since we became an item and my entire life plan was based upon the premise that she'd be a part of it. It reminds me of the line from the Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" ("I kept [your dreams] with me, babe/I put them with my own/Can't make it all alone/I've built my dreams around you"). 14) I knew there was a reason that this was my favorite song on the new album. 15) "She took her mother's car to get away from me/Heaven knows that I can sympathize." 16) Jen's not self-destructive like RT's heroine, but she's got a willful side to her that's both her most appealing and her most frustrating trait. I'd still take the negative aspects of her willfulness over living without her. 17) Self-explanatory. 18) My deepest fear. 19) In some ways the key song on this mix, as it makes me blubber like a baby every time I hear it. 20) This is from her perspective, although the title summarizes my lot in life, I think. 21) "I'm set free to find a new illusion." 22) A pep-talk song that's helped me through prior break-ups. 23) The obvious, achingly bittersweet conclusion. Please try not to be too hard on me for my mawkishness. Title from R. Thompson.

Feedback: