This post was submitted by Jean

Since the earliest days of home recording and sharing music (which is, in my lifetime, marked by laying belly down on the floor of my room, big, plastic Sally Jesse glasses pressed against a tiny plastic boombox, waiting for B96 to play the hit song of the moment so that I could hit record) the art of the Mixtape has been studied and practiced.

The art has relaxed a little since we no longer have to sit in front of our boomboxes. We carry around thousands of songs everyday, make playlists, and burn music to hard drives – but those advances don’t mean the Mixtape (a term used out of generational and sentimental affection) is dead. Making someone a short collect of songs has a different role than handing over the 24,000 songs on your PC. The Mixtape symbolizes careful consideration, the sharing of ideas, solidifying of friendships and often serves as the cornerstone of the beginning, the peak, or the fast-approaching end to a relationship. Unfortunately, I’ve never been that good at making them. I think partially I’m afraid of being judged by someone so important in my life by my awkward or eclectic taste in music. I think I’m also so used to creating my own words to communicate emotions that I feel uncomfortable copping a feel on words that have already been written.

But I remain fascinated by the Mixtape because I love new music, I love connecting music to memories and because I have received a remarkable amount of good ones in my life – my first in 7th grade from my best pal who included songs we both loved like Sublime’s “Santeria” and “Wrong Way.” I have received “You Are Moving Away So Remember Me with This Mixtape” mixtapes, as well as “We Just Met But I Think we Might Become Best Friends So Here is Some New Music I Assembled For You” mixtapes. I have also received an I’m “In Super Serious Love With You Forever and Always” Mixtape filled with proclamations of faithfulness and weepy love songs like Chris Thile’s “On Ice.”

Mixtapes sculpt your musical library, open you up to the musical tastes of an important person in your life, attach songs to memories of that person (with glue that sometimes can never be removed) and also can communicate important messages between the Giver of Mixtape and the Receiver of Mixtape.

After a bit of reflection, I’ve created four different categories of most important Mixtapes Genres and surveyed friends for songs that they feel belong on each list. The results are below. Please add your additions in the comments.

Just Friends/Songs We Both Enjoy

“Santeria” – Sublime
“I Gotta Feeling” – Black Eyes Peas
“Brown Eyed Girl” – Van Morrison
“Come Together” – The Beatles
“Do you Realize?” – Flaming Lips
“Two Pina Coladas” – Garth Brooks
“With a Little Help From My Friends” – Joe Cocker
“The Joker” – Steve Miller Band
“Sitting on the Dock of the Bay” – Sam and Dave Cover
“Rich Girl” – Hall and Oates
“Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” – Stevie Wonder
“Renegade” – Styx
“Party in the USA” – Miley Cyrus
“All Night long” – Lionel Richie
“Black Betty” – Ram Jam
“Don’t Stop Believing” – Journey
“Groove is in the heart” – Dee Lite
“I Wanna Dance With Somebody” – Whitney
“Just What I Needed” – the cars
“Let my Love Open the Door” – Pete Townsend
“Suspicious Minds” – Elvis
“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” – Cyndi Lauper

Just Friends But I Want Something More

“Is This Love?” – Bob Marley
“All I Want Is You” – Barry Louis Polisar
“Be Be Your Love” – Racheal Yamagata
“Hotel Song” – Regina Spektor
“You Remind Me” – R. Kelly
“Use Me” – Bill Withers
“Raspberry Beret” – Prince
“Don’t You Want Me” – Human League
“Baby one More Time” – Britney Spears
“Push It” – Salt-n-Pepa
“In Your Eyes” Peter Gabriel
“I Saw the Light” – Rundgren
“Iris” – Goo Goo Dolls
“Dear Prudence” – Beatles
“Thin Line” – Jurassic 5
“I Want Something Else” – third eye blind
“Say Yes” – Elliot Smith
“Have A Baby By Me Baby Be A Millionaire” – 50 cent
“Like Woah” – Black Rob
“Secret” – Maroon 5
“Be With You” – Mr. Big
“Don’t Speak” – No Doubt
“Can’t Fight this Feeling Anymore”-REO Speedwagon
“If it Kills Me” – Jason Mraz
“Poison” – Alice Cooper

I’m in Super Serious Love With You, Forever and Always

“Johnny & June” – Heidi Newfield
“Beloved Wife” – Natalie Merchant
“You Are the Best Thing” – Ray LaMontage
Anything by Frank Sinatra
Anything by Al Green
“The Pina Colada Song” – Rupert Holmes
“Always” – Erasure
“The First, The Last, My Everything” – Barry White
“Diamonds and Pearls” – Prince
“Something” – The Beatles
“Kissing You” – Romeo and Juliet Soundtrack
“I Will Always Love You” – Whitney Huston
“Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” – Lauryn Hill
“I’ll Be” – Edwin McCain
“I Will Follow You Into the Dark” – Death Cab For Cutie
“Hold You in My Arms” – Ray Lamontagne
“I Belong to You” – Lenny Kravitz
“Stand By My Woman” – Lenny Kravitz
“Somebody loved” – The Weepies
“Everything” – Michael Buble
“By your side” – sade
“Lucky” – Jason Mraz
“When the Sun Comes Up”- John Legend

I Think We Should Break Up And I’m Trying To Be Subtle By Saying It Though A Mix Tape

“Almost Lover” – A Fine Frenzy
“Apologize” – One Republic
“50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” – Paul Simon
“Already Gone” – Kelly Clarkson
“Bye Bye Bye” – NSync
“Don’t Come Around here No More” – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
“Never There” – Cake
“She’s Gone” – Bob Marley
“You don’t treat me no good” – Sonia Dada
“Baby I’m Gonna Leave You” – Led Zepplin
“Swallowed” – Bush
“Hit the Road Jack” – Ray Charles
“Macarena” – Los del Rio
“All Out of Love” – Air Supply
“Cold Day in July” – Dixie Chicks
“Nothing Lasts Forever” – Maroon 5
“Purple Rain” – Prince

I hope you feel inspired to make someone a Mixtape. Stop worrying that you’ll be judged for really liking Edwin McCain or REO Speedwagon or No Doubt. Making a Mixtape is a bold thing to do. If the person you are thinking of doesn’t read TNG, I recommend copying these lists identically because they really are awesome.

Side note to anyone who dates me: don’t be afraid that I’ll rip off one of these Mixtapes in its entirety, but if you are ever gifted a CD that contains “Purple Rain” I’d suggest beating me to the punch, and punching me in the face.

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