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‘Peter Gabriel’s cover of The Book of Love bought me a house’: the Magnetic Fields on 69 Love Songs
‘The album expressed a position on heteronormativity. I’d sing a male part or lesbian part. It’s normal now, but 25 years ago it felt electrifying’
I initially conceived the album as a poster, to get myself out of obscurity: I pictured glitzy gold-leaf calligraphy reading “Come and hear 100 songs”. The first review I read of 69 Love Songs said I should be given “the Laureus award for ugly, miserable, homosexual, alcoholic, dwarf, genius lyricists”. For The Things We Did and Didn’t Do, everyone had two or three notes we had to play every 32 measures, which broke my brain, but that song is like a Brian Eno masterpiece.
Or read this on The Guardian
