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'Truth makes things less entertaining': Stephin Merritt on why tell-all songs are overrated

Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields talks to Laurie Brown about writing and staging his sprawling 50 Song Memoir — one piece of music for each year he's been alive.
CBC Radio ·
Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields talks to Laurie Brown about writing and staging his sprawling 50 Song Memoir — one piece of music for each year he's been alive. (Marcelo Krasilcic)

Known for his dry, sardonic wit, Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields is one of America's most distinctive songwriters. He writes songs about catching fireflies, made-up characters and rabbits getting it on. He even once wrote an epic three-volume anthology called 69 Love Songs, which delivers exactly that.

Now, after nearly three decades in music, Merritt is finally broaching the one topic he's spent years avoiding: himself. On his 50th birthday, Merritt decided to write a 50 Song Memoir — one piece of music for each year he's been alive. It covers five discs and two-and-a-half hours. And now, he's turned it into a two-night show.

Merritt talks to guest host Laurie Brown about writing and staging his sprawling 50 Song Memoir. But as you hear in the conversation, even though he's been sharing his life story on stage, he's still a little guarded about it in interviews. 

Merritt will perform his entire 50 Song Memoir across two nights at Toronto's Luminato Festival on Friday, June 22 and Saturday, June 23.

— Produced by Vanessa Greco​

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