There is not a whole lot I miss about dating. Really, since I am one of the most awkward people alive, dating was an exercise in torture. However, I loved loved LOVED the part of dating where you made each other mix tapes/mix cds. I often wonder what kids these days do now. Do they make youtube playlists? Did sexting replace the mix tape? Ugh. Anyways. I was the lucky recipient of many a mix tape, most of which I still have because I am kind of a hoarganizer. (hoarder with OCD organizing tendencies) My favorites were the ones that came complete with album artwork and track listings. I would listen to them and try to figure out all of the hidden messages imparted in the chosen songs. I also made a few criminally awesome mix tapes for boys, some of which make me cringe with embarrassment when I think of what I put on them. (Sorry, most guys I ever dated…)

I miss the process of putting songs together, listening to them to make sure that everything tracked together and made sense when played together. I miss the effort and love that went into them. In the spirit of that, I made you guys a mix CD of sorts, in this completely impersonal digital age. I went through all the mixes I recieved in the last 12 or so years and picked out some gems for your listening pleasure. I’m not lying when I say that might have been the most fun thing I’ve done all week. It was like listening to time capsules and I could picture every boy and how I felt and where I was at that particular moment of time. It was a musical scrapbook of failed relationships, but in the best possible way. (It’s way less depressing than it sounds. I swear.) I should point out that my husband never made me a mix tape, and I married him anyways. (AHEM, ROSS….)

Without further ado, I made you “The Best Of  Songs That Boys Put On Mix Cds For Me”. The title is a little unwieldy, but I’m a little rusty these days.

1. Jeff Buckley – I Want Someone Badly

– If you are unfamiliar with Jeff Buckley, do yourself a favor and get on the old google box and look up his album Grace. And then everything else he did. Jeff Buckley was a dude who had it baaaaaaad. If you are looking to start a mix CD out strong, this is the way to go. There is so much longing in this song that my underpants literally exploded in flames just thinking about it.

2. William Elliott Whitmore – Sorest of Eyes

Oh, W.E.W., how I adore your crazy old man soul voice and your very attractive in person self. This song is, in Will’s words “the cheesiest song ever”, but it’s adorable.

3. Death Cab For Cutie – I Will Follow You Into The Dark

– This is actually an incredibly romantic song, if you can get over the fact that the first line is “Love of mine, someday you will die”. A little heavy, and probably would have been better suited to a relationship that had lasted longer than a couple of months, but points for acoustic love songs.

4. Good Riddance – Jeannie

– I love this song. It’s totally a high school love song, and it’s unabashedly earnest. Plus, it’s catchy and upbeat.

5. Elliott Smith – Say Yes

– Swoon. Just Swoon. “I’m in love with the world through the eyes of a girl who’s still around the morning after”.

6. 16 Horsepower – Nobody ‘Cept You

I love this song, and I loved it even more when I found out that it is a cover of an old Bob Dylan song that never made it onto the “Planet Waves” album, proving once again that Bob Dylan wrote every song ever.

7. The Replacements – Skyway

– This is the song that started my love affair with the Replacements. It came off the best mix CD I’ve ever received. It’s such a simple little song, but it made such a huge impact on me that it’s impossible to not mention.

8. Cowboy Mouth – Love Of My Life

– This song came off a CD that is like 12 years old. When I put it in to listen to it, my laptop made such terrifying sounds that I was afraid it was eating it. It’s such a fun, weird song though, and even though I never really listened to Cowboy Mouth before or after recieving this, I enjoyed it as much today as I did as a dumb 20 year old.

9. The Queers – Punk Rock Girls

– It pains me that Joe Queer is such a jerk, because this song is pop punk perfection.

10. The Promise Ring – Make Me  A Chevy

– This song came courtesy of a gentleman I never actually met in real life, but carried on a friendship via the internets because technology! He made me like a 6 CD mix, and gave me a track listing of every single song, completely out of order. It drove me nuts trying to figure out what was what. How did we even cope before Shazam?!

11. Dressy Bessy – If You Should Try To Kiss Her

– The only lady-fronted band on the list, sadly. Dudes don’t make mixes with lots of ladies, for some reason.

12. James – Laid

– From a short-lived relationship with a nice guy that ended terribly. It’s fun, and I lobbied hard to cover it when I was in a band, but never got my wish.

Honorable mention, but no spot on the playlist goes to the guy who put The Commodores “Three Times A Lady” as the opening song on a mix. We didn’t date after that debacle.

(If you have Spotify, you can follow this playlist and mock most everything that I listen to.)

What are some of your favorites songs off of mixes from old lovers (DAMN. THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE TITLE!) I need some new sappy ass music to listen to these days.