The Magnetic Fields - Its Only Time

Album: i (Nonsuch,2004) Chart pos: N/A



Stephin Merritt is one of America’s best kept secret; imagine a less sexually ambiguous Morrissey being raised in New York rather than Manchester and living on a diet of Steven Sondheim rather than Sandie Shaw then you probably have something close to Stephin Merritt. He is a songwriter who is adept at writing songs about romantic disappointment with a dry, mordant Cole Porter-esque wit. Its only time from The Magnetic Fields 2004 album i is possibly one of the finest song in his vast inventory of material. The song itself starts of as a straightforward piano ballad where Merritt sing his eternal devotion towards a lover which is saved from mawkishness by Merritt’s dry wit and droll delivery as he exclaims ‘Why would I stop loving you a hundred years from now?/ It's only time, It's only time. The song ends off on a repeated refrain of ‘marry me’ with the sound of guitar feedback in the background. All in all this is the perfect soundtrack to a wedding ..ahem civil partnership.
This has been a bit of a belated post as I’ve had quite a busy day packing.