Everyday is Like Sunday, Except for Blue Monday and Ruby Tuesday, and...Well, Friday I'm in Love: Weekly Mixes #52 and #53

Because I missed last week's mix, I'm giving you two today. The first, a Valentine's/Anti-Valentine's Day compilation, would have been more effective last week, but as I generally forget about the day in question (see last year's post), it doesn't really matter. The first half of it takes a positive look at love while the second half does the opposite, although some of the songs lie somewhere in between. The second mix's theme is underdogs/outsiders/rebels in honour of the brand new provincial holiday here in Manitoba: Louis Riel Day. For those who don't know who Riel was, he was a Métis leader who led two major rebellions on the Canadian prairies in the late 19th century - these events bookended his exile in the States - and who negotiated the terms for Manitoba becoming its own province. From what I remember from my Grade 11 Canadian History class, Riel was a controversial figure who was initially seen as a crazy traitor, but who is now regarded somewhat as a hero (I also clearly remember that rather disturbing Heritage Minute video of his hanging). So, in honour of Monsieur Riel, most get a long weekend this weekend. And I've created a compilation of music for those outsider figures, who may rebel, who may be underdogs, who may be considered misfits by regular society. For anyone who said to him/herself, "I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo, I don't belong here." For anyone who feels that he/she is on the outside of society looking in. For anyone who gets the same weird looks he/she did in high school.

This first mix is called Love Me, Leave Me.

Be Mine - 120 Days

Valentine - The Moths

The Lovecats - The Cure

Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations

Casanova's Last Words - The Go-Betweens

Love You So What - Lloyd Cole

The Love Gang - The Raveonettes

Mansun's Only Love Song - Mansun

Fall in Love With Me - Japan

V - The Soda Stream

My Funny Valentine - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Love Games - The Mighty Boosh

Love Turns to Hate - The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster

My Last Girlfriend - Snow Patrol

The State of Your Heart (Shit End of the Deal) - Apoptygma Bezerk

I Wanted Your Heart - Magazine

Kiss You Off - Scissor Sisters

Mass Romantic - The New Pornographers

Here Comes That Feeling - El Perro Del Mar

Anti-Valentine - The Very Sexuals

The Broken Paper-Hearts Club - Princess Niko



This one's called I Hope Jarvis Cocker is Right.

Strange Ones - Supergrass

Casual/Glam - Nicky Wire

Bruise Pristine - Placebo

Mis-Shapes - Pulp

All the English Devils - Luke Haines

Road to Nowhere - Talking Heads

Just For a Second - Orlando

(Here's One For You) Underdog - Bedroom Eyes

The Boy With the Thorn in His Side - The Smiths

Outsider - Chumbawamba

One With the Freaks - The Notwist

Susan's Strange - The Psychedelic Furs

Less Than Human - The Chameleons

Black Sheep - Sneaker Pimps

We Are the Pigs - Suede

You and I Are a Gang of Losers - The Dears

Single - Luxembourg

Spectators of Suicide (Heavenly Version) - Manic Street Preachers

"Heroes" - David Bowie

I Blame Chaucer For Life-Sized Teddy Bears

I tend to forget Valentine's Day until I'm literally confronted with it when I enter a store. The eye-searing pinks and reds in combination with the monstrous stuffed toys that could potentially suffocate you in your sleep usually clue me in. Since I've never been in a relationship when Valentine's Day rolls around, I've remained indifferent to it in much the same way I dismiss St. Patrick's Day. If I'm going to celebrate some saint's day, I may as well celebrate St. David's Day for all that they mean to me. Not to mention the fact the original Valentine's Day honoured several martyrs by the name Valentine and didn't have anything to do with romantic love until Chaucer connected the two in Parlement of Foules. I think I used to rail against Valentine's Day when I was younger, protesting against the pointless commercialism of it, but now I'm just at the point where I ignore it as a necessary point on the retailer's calendar which doesn't concern me.

To be honest, I'm actually glad I haven't been in a relationship with anyone during Valentine's Day (when I was broken up with one week prior to Valentine's Day several years back, I was hugely relieved). I have a feeling that I'd feel really uncomfortable with it much in the same way "romantic" gestures generally make me uncomfortable. Perhaps romance shouldn't lead to mortification, but for me, that's how it is. Add that to the fact that I don't see the point of flowers and/or chocolate (the former just die in a few days and the latter has no happy effect for me at all), and Valentine's Day just becomes a pretty useless ritual.

I'm generally not much for love songs either, and when I do listen to any that may qualify, they tend to be ones about falling out of love, unrequited love, or the love for a friend. This all makes me sound quite miserable, but believe it or not, these songs make me happy. I'm a perverse flower-hating, unsentimental person who gets more endorphins from a Cocteau Twins song than chocolate and who bought a love spoon necklace for herself (I don't rate most jewellery very highly either unless it has a connection to somewhere I travelled to).

Though I've been pretty harsh in the past to those who actually like Valentine's Day, I am not going to rant about it anymore because I recognize that I'm abnormal, and I also recognize that I'm not an emo teenager. So, I've decided to be as impartial as possible in song selection and to be considerate of both views of Valentine's Day by including frothy, appropriately titled songs from The Delays and The Moths; conversely, I've included cynical, politically-motivated tracks from McCarthy and the Manics.

I may fall into the McCarthy and Manics camp on this one, but I won't condemn those who don't. And there very likely is a form of love out there that isn't sappy or uncomfortable...I just haven't ever experienced it.

Valentine - The Delays

Valentine - The Moths

Boy Meets Girl So What - McCarthy

Love's Sweet Exile - Manic Street Preachers