In 1999, Stephin Merritt’s Magnetic Fields released their bone-classic triple album 69 Love Songs on Merge Records, the label founded and run by Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance. Back then, the Magnetic Fields and Superchunk were intertwined in all sorts of ways. The Mag Fields had already released a couple of albums on Merge, starting with 1994’s The Charm Of The Highway Strip. Even before that, Superchunk covered the Mag Fields’ “100,000 Fireflies” on their 1993 EP The Question Is How Fast.
69 Love Songs is obviously jammed with eternal songs that people are still covering. One of those songs is the ecstatically bummed-out lament “I Don’t Want To Get Over You.” I’m pretty sure I once saw Mary Lou Lord cover that song when she was busking in a Boston train station. Now, Stephin Merritt’s former label bosses and their band Superchunk have released their own spin on “I Don’t Want To Get Over You.”
Superchunk released their new album Songs In The Key Of Yikes in August, and they just finished touring it. During that tour, they sold a 7″ with covers of “I Don’t Want To Get Over You” and New Zealand band Look Blue Go Purple’s 1985 song “I Don’t Want You Anyway.” Now, they’re selling the vinyl single to the general public, and the Magnetic Fields cover is up on streaming.
As you’d expect, Superchunk turn “I Don’t Want To Get Over You” into a cathartic punk basher, just as they did with “100,000 Fireflies” decades ago. As you’d expect, it rules. In a press release, Mac McCaughan says, “Stephin’s songs remind me of the Ramones in their classic pop simplicity, and we play this one that way. We came home with a handful of the tour 7″ (featuring amazing sleeve art by Glen Baldridge), and the B-side is by another one of our favorite artists, NZ’s Look Blue Go Purple.” Below, check out the Superchunk cover and the Magnetic Fields original.
Superchunk’s “I Don’t Want To Get Over You” b/w “I Don’t Want You Anyway” single is out now on Merge. Order it here.
