Growing up in the 90’s, making mixtape’s is one of the activities that has brought most pleasure and joy into my life. I remember sitting with my tape recorder listening to radio and getting ready to press ‘Rec’ and ‘Play’ when tunes of the 90’s grunge, brit pop and alternative rock was played. Pure good time (and frustrations when a speaker interrupted the song because of a goal scoring in a football match).
Making a mixtape in todays digital age is far from the analog feeling in my childhood but it still brings tons of joy – and specially the making of this little library mixtape. The lyrics is really something to dig into: apparently it’s a common belief that the library is a good place for romance.
1. Librarian by My Morning Jacket
Simple little bookworm, buried underneath
Is the sexiest librarian
Take off those glasses and let down your hair for me
2. Young Adult Friction by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Between the stacks in the library
Not like anyone stopped to see
We came, they went, our bodies spent
Among the dust and the microfiche
3. Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1965 by John Mayer
And his wife told his kids he was crazy
And his friends said he’d fail if he tried
But with the will to work hard and a library card
He took a homemade, fan blade, one-man submarine ride
4. Marian the Librarian from The Music Man
Marian…Madam Librarian
What can I say, my dear, to catch your ear
I love you madly, madly
Madam Librarian…
5. At The Library by Green Day
Staring across the room
Are you leaving soon?
I just need a little time
6. Wrapped Up In Books by Belle & Sebastian
We didn’t get wet, we didn’t dare
Our aspirations, are wrapped up in books
Our inclinations are hidden in looks
7. Ravens in the Library by S. J. Tucker
One for fiction, two for truth
three for bikes and bathing suits, four for scifi/fantasy
five loves art and ancient skulls
six eats periodicals, seven lives in poetry
8. Lost in your time (at The Library) by Los Bossa Nuevo Biblioteca
We help you find
All the text on your mind
Lost in your time at the library
9. Love in the Library by Jimmy Buffett
Love in the library, quiet and cool
Love in the library, there are no rules
Surrounded by stories surreal and sublime
I fell in love in the library once upon a time
10. Swining London by Of Magnetic Fields
I read your manifestoes and your strange religious tracts
You took me to your library and kissed me in the stacks
11. Sweet Librarian by Railroad Jerk
Swee-eeeet librarian
What good books can you recommend?
Swee-eeeet librarian
Do you think that we could still be friends?
12. The Librarians Are Hiding Something by Swinin’ Utter
Oh the librarians contrarians can’t fly on a wing
Oh the librarians barbarians are liking nothing
Which leads me to believe one thing
The librarians are hiding something
13. Books about UFOs by Hüsker Dü
Walking down a sunny street to the library
Checking out the latest books about outer space
14. Karen by The Go-Betweens
I know this girl
This very special girl
And she works in a library, yeah
Standing there behind the counter
Willing to help
With all the problems that I encounter
15. French Navy by Camera Obscura
Spent a week in a dusty library
Waiting for some words to jump at me
We met by a trick of fate
French navy my sailor mate
16. Librarian by Haunted Love
I want to be a librarian
I want to check out your books
Please give them to me
With the bar code facing up
17. A Girl Like You by Holiday With Maggie
I saw you in the library
Reading modern art
I glanced at you the whole day through
18. Fun Fun Fun by The Beach Boys
Well she got her daddy’s car
And she cruised to the hamburger stand now
Seems she forgot all about the library
Like she told her old man now
19. Faster Pussycat to The Library by Sam Phillips
We’ll go where the action is
Go where the action is
If you don’t know what to do
I’ll look it up for you
20. The Book Lovers by Broadcast
Lines and lines of the spines, colored everyone
Down the aisles, along the titles
Where you run your eyes
Read a few lines, ah
Read more: Broadcast – The Book Lovers Lyrics | MetroLyrics
21. Libraries by Seabear
And I don’t believe you live in a library
That sails the sea
Sleeping with a book-blanket out at sea
Like you told me
22. Librarian by Jonathan Rundman
23. Addy Will Know by SNMNMNM
Not on YouTube but can be downloaded on abbywillknow.pbworks.com
I couldn’t think of that book that I read
The one where the characters all wind up dead
Or maybe it was only just one guy
Who bit the dust in the ending
but when I looked in reference
I couldn’t find the section
I thought that I could find it on my own
Addy will know
24. The Librarian by Hefner
He started to woo her in a most peculiar way
The librarian’s dress was a fawnish shade of gray
The books he was to borrow he would surely never read
They were of an intellectual caliber he hoped that she would see…
25. Ain’t Got Rhythm by Phineas and Ferb
Look, I got a sweet deal going on here
I got all the books that I can read
All these sweet old ladies and this carpet from the 80’s
What more could a librarian need?
Ssssssh
Besides, I ain’t got rhythm
No, I ain’t got rhythm
Said I ain’t got rhythm
I ain’t got rhythm
26. Library Magic by The Head and The Heart
27. Books of Califonia by Comet Gain
28. Library by Julia Brown
29. A Trip to The Library from the Broadway musical She Loves Me
30. The Library Song by Tonks and The Aurors
31. Library Pictures by Arctic Monkeys
32. Books from boxes by Maximo Park
33. Mass Nerder by Descendents
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9F4k8dZf00
We must read
We must read
We must read
We must read
RRRREEEEAAAADDDD!
Somebody get me a book!
34. Judy Blume by Amanda Palmer
35. I am the Sub-Librarian by Piano Magic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY7YU5a3cFc
I am the sub-librarian, come in on the council bus
Chalk Farm to Highgate Woods, sportsbag of borrowed books
A steady diet of Brautigan, ‘Tapestry’ on the walkman
Paranormal ill-health from dusting off the top shelf
I am the sub-librarian, counter girl, tea-maker
I am the sub-librarian, swan feeder, spectacle breaker
I am the sub-librarian
36. Miss Clara/Azusa Sue by Bobbie Gentry (live performance by Chloe Darling)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmkXezHraeQ
Since I saw you at your desk
At the public library
You stamped my book and I took a look
And now your face is all I see
37. Heaven Sent by INXS
Tuesday she works in the library uptown
Some useful knowledge can always be found
Don’t burn the library till you’ve read all the books
Sometimes in life you get a second look
38. Library Girl by Squeeze
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rCfJduLBhY
She was a girl at the library, keeping her book behind the desk
She was a girl who ruled at me, for reading it’s scared to rest
She’s got a new beret, she was a library girl
39. A Design For Life by Manic Street Preachers
Libraries gave us power
Then work came and made us free
What price now for a shallow piece of dignity
40. The Arthur Library Card Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbXz3MXx2DU
Having fun isn’t hard,
When you’ve got a library card.
Having fun isn’t hard,
When you’ve got a library card.
Come on inside,
We’ve got everything you need.
There’s plenty to do,
Or you can just sit and read
41. On The Other Side of the Stacks by Jeremy Morse
Have I missed any awesome library songs on the mixtape?
Cheers
This is obviously more my generation than yours, but Fun, Fun, Fun by the Beach Boys where:
Seems she forgot all about the library
Like she told her old man now
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Excellent! Thanks Dave
Great track and what a fine line
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Sweet Librarian by Railroad Jerk?
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Never heard that one before – it’s fantastic. Thanks!
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Thanks Christian, and here’s my Spotify Play-list on Librarian Music, enjoy! https://open.spotify.com/user/peterals/playlist/6DnyANhpDbnfT6N5j0lYrd
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That’s pure gold, Peter – thanks for sharing!
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Top work! I would always add Karen by The Go Betweens, too.
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Loooove it! It’s added to the mixtape. Thanks, Darren
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Love the list! I would like to add two Norwegian contributions
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Excellent stuff, Marte!
Is the Boyzvoice a serious thing or is it a parody?
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Norways biggest boy band throughout the times! No, they are a mock band from the mockumentary Get ready to be Boyzvoiced https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Ready_to_Be_Boyzvoiced
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Haha thx :)I must see that mockumentary one day
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Libraries by Seabear
“And I don’t believe you live in a library
That sails the sea
Sleeping with a book-blanket out at sea
Like you told me”
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Excellent song and great lyrics! It’s a true pearl on The Library Mixtape
Thanks for contributing
Cheers
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Addy will know
Librarian
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Hefner’s “The Librarian” is my favorite librarian song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbzRMHrIB5g):
He started to woo her in a most peculiar way. / The librarian’s dress was a fawnish shade of gray. /
The books he was to borrow he would surely never read. / They were of an intellectual caliber he hoped that she would see….
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Really lovely song and ace lyrics! Thanks for adding this to The Library Mixtape
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One of my favourite Darkest Of The Hillside Thickets songs, “Some Things Man Was Not Meant To Know,” mentions a library. 🙂
“Don’t clean the mirror.
Don’t be surprised
When your reflection seems like
A pack of lies.
Don’t ask the inmates
What it’s about.
Don’t cry in the library
When you find out.”
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How about Jonathan Rundman?
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Great song! I’ve added a live version to the mixtape.
Thanks for contributing to The Library Mixtape!
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I’m a “grown up” but I love Phoneas and Ferb and if you know Phineas and Ferb at all, then you could not miss this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Oj79WGfQec
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My favorite librray related lyrics to that video of Phineas and Ferb are:
Look, I got a sweet deal going on here
I got all the books that I can read
All these sweet old ladies and this carpet from the 80’s
What more could a librarian need?
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So Many typos!!! Sorry, I guess I got excited. Phineas is misspelled in the first post and library in the second. Fire me!!
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I’m a grown up too but I totally dig this song. Didn’t have a clue it existed – thanks for contributing to The Library Mixtape 🙂
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If the mixtape gets the job done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbhsFINv0dQ
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Check out the 2 albums by Melvil Dewey at http://storyyeller.com/store/
Deweylicious
Paper cuts
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While digitizing the Florida Folklife Collection’s audio recordings at the State Archives of Florida, I ran across a song called “Survivalist Librarian” by Boomslang Swampsinger, performed at the Florida Folk Festival in White Springs. Naturally I had to write a blog about it for the Florida Memory website. If interested, you can listen to the song here:
http://www.floridamemory.com/blog/2013/09/13/survivalist-librarian/
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I think My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors definitely has a place on the list. Not exactly library related but it mentions lots of authors!
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Saw these guys at SXSW a couple years ago… Yellow Ostrich, “libraries”
Libraries burn fast
when they’re in the past
once you leave all your stories will be gone
libraries burn fast
they weren’t built to last
flames of memory burn brighter than the rest
Libraries burn fast
Should we try to save them
should we try to save them
when will they be missing
when will they be missing
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Two songs from the latest B&S LP mention libraries: “The Cat with the Cream” (“I studied you in history / I studied in the library….”) and “Allie” (“Allie, hand on your head / And a prayer from the soon-to-be-closing library….”). There’s a great reference in Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ amazing “There She Goes, My Beautiful World”: “Karl Marx squeezed his carbuncles while writing Das Kapital /And Gaugin, he buggered off, man, and went all tropical / While Philip Larkin stuck it out in a library in Hull / And Dylan Thomas died drunk in St. Vincent’s hospital….” There’s that catchy line from Paul Westerberg’s “Dyslexic Heart”: “Thanks for the book, now my table is ready / Is this a library or bar?” The Decemberists’ “California One / Youth and Beauty Brigade” has a few great lines about a public library (“I figured I had paid my debt to society / By paying my overdue fines at the Multnomah County Library (at the library)….”), as does Cold War Kids’ “Red Wine, Success!”: “Squat public library checking out “The Trial” / Strolls to the pier to gather his thoughts / Squat public library checking out “The Trial” / He’s talking to himself about it….”
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[…] playlists. So I was amused to discover that blogger Christian Lauersen had created his very own “The Library Mixtape,” packed with songs that reference libraries and librarians. What we’ve learned: There are a surprising (or not-so-surprising) number of songs out […]
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[…] pl. oross, dani, Judit, EPM és mások is ajánlanak dalokat, forrásokat, pl. nagyon gazdag Christian Lauersen: The Library Mixtape vagy Philip Sutton: Ten Songs about Libraries and Librarians […]
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Could you make this into a YouTube or Spotify playlist?
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Great idea! I will do that
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[…] while back I made the list of library related hashtags and library themed songs which seemed to be of great joy to people around Library Town so I’ve decided to compile a […]
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