50 Song Memoir

50 Song Memoir is the eleventh studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields, released on March 10, 2017. 50 Song Memoir is an autobiographical concept album that chronicles the first 50 years of lyricist Stephin Merritt's life, with one song for each year that he has lived.[1]

50 Song Memoir
Studio album by The Magnetic Fields
Released	March 10, 2017
Genre	Indie pop
Length	150:51
Label	Nonesuch
Producer	Stephin Merritt Thomas Bartlett Charles Newman
The Magnetic Fields chronology
Love at the Bottom of the Sea (2012) 50 Song Memoir (2017) Quickies (2020)

Recording

Stephin Merritt began recording on his fiftieth birthday on February 9, 2015. The album was produced by Merritt with additional production by Thomas Bartlett and Charles Newman. Merritt sings on all fifty tracks.

Tour

The fully staged live shows in support of 50 Song Memoir are directed by José Zayas.[2] The Magnetic Fields have been expanded to include an additional three musicians for the tour, with each of the seven playing seven different instruments. On the tour the band play the entirety of 50 Song Memoir in two halves across two nights at each venue.[3]

Release

50 Song Memoir is available in five-L.P. and five-C.D. editions that include an interview by Daniel Handler and facsimile handwritten lyrics by Stephin Merritt, and as a bound book.

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.2/10[4]
Metacritic	86/100[5]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
The A.V. Club	A−[7]
The Guardian	[8]
The Independent	[9]
Mojo	[10]
The Observer	[11]
Pitchfork	7.4/10[12]
Q	[13]
Uncut	9/10[14]
Vice	A−[15]

Upon release, the album received near universal acclaim, with the average critical score being an 86 out of 100 according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[5]

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Year	Rank	Ref.
Uncut	Albums of the Year	2017	67	[16]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Stephin Merritt.

Disc one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Wonder Where I'm From"	2:45
2.	"Come Back as a Cockroach"	2:35
3.	"A Cat Called Dionysus"	2:48
4.	"Judy Garland"	3:18
5.	"They're Killing Children Over There"	2:38
6.	"I Think I'll Make Another World"	2:57
7.	"Eye Contact"	2:56
8.	"It Could Have Been Paradise"	3:08
9.	"No"	2:56
10.	"My Mama Ain't"	3:01
Total length:		29:12

Disc two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Hustle '76"	3:17
2.	"Life Ain't All Bad"	4:17
3.	"The Blizzard of ’78"	3:17
4.	"Rock'n'Roll Will Ruin Your Life"	2:59
5.	"London by Jetpack"	2:59
6.	"How to Play the Synthesizer"	3:07
7.	"Happy Beeping"	3:12
8.	"Foxx and I"	2:44
9.	"Danceteria!"	3:09
10.	"Why I Am Not a Teenager"	3:07
Total length:		31:58

Disc three

No.	Title	Length
1.	"How I Failed Ethics"	2:58
2.	"At the Pyramid"	3:09
3.	"Ethan Frome"	2:24
4.	"The 1989 Musical Marching Zoo"	3:07
5.	"Dreaming in Tetris"	3:21
6.	"The Day I Finally..."	2:21
7.	"Weird Diseases"	3:10
8.	"Me and Fred and Dave and Ted"	3:09
9.	"Haven't Got a Penny"	2:54
10.	"A Serious Mistake"	3:13
Total length:		29:46

Disc four

No.	Title	Length
1.	"I'm Sad!"	2:13
2.	"Eurodisco Trio"	3:16
3.	"Lovers' Lies"	3:07
4.	"Fathers in the Clouds"	2:52
5.	"Ghosts of the Marathon Dancers"	3:06
6.	"Have You Seen It in the Snow?"	2:53
7.	"Be True to Your Bar"	3:36
8.	"The Ex and I"	2:59
9.	"Cold-Blooded Man"	3:06
10.	"Never Again"	3:19
Total length:		30:27

Disc five

No.	Title	Length
1.	""Quotes""	2:18
2.	"In the Snow White Cottages"	2:52
3.	"Surfin'"	2:48
4.	"Till You Come Back to Me"	2:30
5.	"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"	3:04
6.	"Stupid Tears"	2:43
7.	"You Can Never Go Back to New York"	3:16
8.	"Big Enough for Both of Us"	3:05
9.	"I Wish I Had Pictures"	3:08
10.	"Somebody's Fetish"	3:45
Total length:		29:28

Personnel

The Magnetic Fields

• Stephin Merritt – lead vocals, ukulele, keyboards, piano, synthesizers, guitar, dulcimer, autoharp, xylophone, glockenspiel, percussion
• Claudia Gonson – background vocals, piano
• Sam Davol – cello, musical saw
• John Woo – guitar
• Shirley Simms – background vocals

Additional personnel

• Thomas Bartlett – mellotron, clavinet, omnichord, rhodes, piano, Moog synthesizer, optigan
• Christopher Ewen – synthesizers, kazoo, angklung, stylophone, omnichord
• Pinky Weitzman – viola, Stroh violin, musical saw
• Daniel Handler – background vocals, accordion, vibraphone, piano, Hammond organ, celeste
• Johny Blood – tuba, flugelhorn, mouthpiece
• Brad Gordon – trombone, pocket trumpet
• Randy Walker – background vocals
• Anthony Kaczynski – background vocals
• Otto Handler – spoken word

Charts

Chart (2017)	Peak position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[17]	155
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18]	77
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[19]	29
Scottish Albums (OCC)[20]	96

References

1. "The Magnetic Fields 50 Song Memoir". Nonesuch. November 17, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
2. "Magnetic Fields Roll Out 2017 US Tour Schedule for 50 Song Memoir". The House of Tomorrow. October 18, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
3. Yoo, Noah (October 20, 2016). "The Magnetic Fields Announce Tour". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
4. "50 Song Memoir by The Magnetic Fields reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
5. "Reviews and Tracks for 50 Song Memoir by Magnetic Fields". Metacritic. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
6. Deming, Mark. "50 Song Memoir – Magnetic Fields". AllMusic. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
7. Colburn, Randall (March 3, 2017). "Stephin Merritt is his charming, morose self on The Magnetic Fields' sprawling, autobiographical 50 Song Memoir". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
8. Simpson, Dave (March 9, 2017). "The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir review – Stephin Merritt's richly observed life". The Guardian. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
9. Gill, Andy (March 8, 2017). "Album reviews: The Shins – Heartworms, The Magnetic Fields – 50 Song Memoir, Valerie June – The Order of Time and more". The Independent. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
10. Farber, Jim (April 2017). "Fifty shades darker". Mojo (281): 94.
11. Empire, Kitty (March 12, 2017). "The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir review – the joys are many". The Observer. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
12. Sodomsky, Sam (March 6, 2017). "The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
13. Harrison, Ian (April 2017). "The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir". Q (370): 115.
14. Anderson, Jason (April 2017). "The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir". Uncut (239): 32.
15. Christgau, Robert (March 24, 2017). "Stephin Merritt's Exceptional Life and Janet Weiss's Genius: Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Vice. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
16. "Uncut's 75 Best Albums of 2017". Uncut. November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
17. "Ultratop.be – The Magnetic Fields – 50 Song Memoir" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
18. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Magnetic Fields – 50 Song Memoir" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
19. "Portuguesecharts.com – The Magnetic Fields – 50 Song Memoir". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
20. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 18, 2017.