MySpace Playlist: 2/8/09

Welcome to the Valentine's Day edition of my playlist, and there's a little something for everyone on the playlist. You've got upbeat songs, downbeat songs, happy love songs, not so happy songs, and everything that is in between. I've recycled some of these tracks from my top 10 heartbreak song playlist last year (click here in case you missed it) just because I love those songs. Besides, it can be tough to come up with new songs when you're working exclusively from the field of the local music scene.

1. "Let's Be Poor Together", Johnny Lloyd Rollins
   With the beating that the economy has taken lately, this beautiful ballad could easily be the theme song for many a Valentine's Day couple this year.


2. "I Love You", Spector 45
   Frankie, if you think that just because you posted a comment on my blog earlier this week that I'm going to feature your new song on this week's playlist... well, it looks like it worked. Who says shameless self-promotion doesn't work?


3. "The Night You Never Came to Meet Me", Kristy Kruger
   This is the first of the songs recycled from last year's list. She seems to specialize in dark songs, and this one while not dark per se, is definitely not in the happy love song category.


4. "Shampoo", Winslow Bright
   You remember that song from South Pacific, "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair"? Ms. Bright has taken that same theme and modernized it. This song serves as a reminder that you can take a song of heartbreak and frustration and turn it into one damn catchy tune.


5. "To Love Somebody", Slobberbone
   I've got a pair of cover tunes coming up here. The first is the recently reunited Slobberbone covering the Bee Gees' classic hit...


6. "Wicked Game", Sara Donaldson
   And now Ms. Donaldson is putting her own spin on the Chris Isaak tune.


7. "Posterchild for Tragedy", Sugarbomb
   I would have loved to see this band crank out a few more ballads like this one. Reportedly, lead singer Les Farrington thought his lover might have died one night, and he wrote this song of heartbreak and permanent loss. Fortunately, the lover did not die, and we get this song out of the band. It's a win-win situation.


8. "Salome", Old 97's
   I could easily do a playlist of just Old 97's heartbreak tunes. In this song, Rhett sounds not just heartbroken, but broken in every which way possible. This is easily one of the most depressing songs that the 97's have ever put out.


9. "Lies", Fishing For Comets
   Sometimes writing great lyrics is not about clever wordplay or vivid imagery, but a simple line that is so honest that it can't help but grab your attention. "Lies" features such a line: "Got lost on the drive home/It's useless I suppose to hold on to something that's just not there." And when delivered by Camille, it feels like hearing your best friend acknowledge your pain, yet comforting you in such a way that you feel everything will be okay.


10. "You've Got Your Heart", The O's
    I had to wrap this playlist up with The O's, because this week belongs to that band. More on that later.