“Seiren” by Mouse on the Keys

“Reynardine” by Isobell Campbell

One evenin’ as I rambled
Among the spring in time
I overheard a young woman
Converse with Reynardine

Her hair was black and her eyes were blue
Her lips as red as wine
And he smiled to gaze upon her
Did that sly, bold Reynardine

He said, “If by chance you should look for me
Perhaps you’ll not me find
For I’ll be in my castle
Inquire for Reynardine?

Sun and dark, she followed him
His eyes did brightly shine
And he led her over the mountain
Did that sly, bold Reynardine

“Is It Wicked not to Care?” by Belle and Sebastian

Is it wicked not to care when they say that you’re mistaken
Thinking hopes and lots of dreams that aren’t there?
Is it wicked not to care when you’ve wasted many hours
Talking endlessly to anyone that’s there?
I know the truth awaits me
But still I hesitate because of fear

Skipping tickets making rhymes
Is that all that you believe in?
Wearing rags to make you pretty by design
Rusting armor for effect
It’s not fun to watch the rust grow
For it will all be over when you’re dead

Counting acts and clutching thoughts
By the river where the moss grows
Over rocks the water running all the time
Is it wicked when you smile Even though you feel like crying
Even though you could be sick at any time?

But if there was a sequel
Would you love me as an equal?
Would you love me till I’m dead

Or is there someone else instead?

“Piazza, New York Catcher” by Belle and Sebastian

Elope with me Miss Private and we’ll sail around the world

I will be your Ferdinand and you my wayward girl

How many nights of talking in hotel rooms can you take?

How many nights of limping round on pagan holidays?

Oh elope with me in private and we’ll set something ablaze
[…]
Life outside the diamond is a wrench

From the comments:

The song is about when Stuart Murdoch was dating his future wife, Marisa Privitera (they married in 2007). At the time they were both baseball fans and would meet at the ballpark. This would have been around 2002 when rumors were spread about Piazza being gay. There’s a Rolling Stone article from earlier this year explaining it.

• – –

I’ll always remembering ruining this song for a Northern Irish girl I was friends with by telling her that it was partially about baseball, which is something I geek out about. She shared it with me and mentioned that she listened to it on repeat on a long bus ride home. I immediately said “Hey, this song is about baseball!” and tried to explain all the baseball imagery to her. She was completely uninterested. That fanaticism was a part of me that she hated. She thought the song was referring to a “catcher” catching a train at 3:18, a time rather than Piazza’s batting average. She missed the Willie Mays pun entirely!

Browser Privacy

It’s only about 80% done. Thought I might as well put it up.

WordPress has terrible formatting, so here’s the org file (aka plain text file written in org-mode syntax):

https://0x0.st/i5ys.org

Use this online org-mode viewer to avoid pain:
http://mooz.github.io/org-js/
(or better, just use emacs)

“Flightless Bird, American Mouth” by Iron and Wine

“As long as I have you” by Alpaca Sports

“Emily Kane” by Art Brut

So much about you I miss
Everytime I see a couple kiss
I hope this song finds you fame
I want school kids on buses singing your name

I don’t even know where she lives
I’ve not seen her in ten years
Nine months, three weeks, four days
Six hours, thirteen minutes, five seconds

From the comments:

> He actually tracked her down, and met up with her about 5 years after this was released. She wasn’t interested
> Talked about it at a gig

“Keeping Track of Time” by Club 8

From their eponymous album.

A very upbeat end to the album.

“I wasn’t much of a fight” by Club 8

From the album “Strangely Beautiful”

This album is probably one of their best. You might need to be depressed to really enjoy it. The album “The boy who couldn’t stop dreaming” is probably a happier analogue.

Club 8 is one of the most popular Swedish indie / twee pop bands. Johan Angergård alone is reponsible for the majority of great modern (post-95?) twee pop.