We saw them last week at Town Hall, and they closed with this song. It’s amazing how seamlessly Stephin Merritt can move between incredibly wry sarcasm and wit to morose and earnestness. In retrospect, the recording here doesn’t do the live performance any justice, whatsoever — The solitary strum and natural reverb of the cavernous Town Hall was all the more striking because it was packed to the gills with fans who were all silent. Even though there’s moments where I wanted to snicker, and I would if I was listening at home, it was strikingly different live.

That said, still one of my favorite recordings on 69 Love Songs.

[audio:1-12 The Book Of Love.mp3]

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