Radio Sweethearts

Since tomorrow is the last day that the BPP will be broadcasting, I wanted to do something special for the awesome people who make the show.

All week, they’ve had a hilarious, heartbreaking series of their regular feature “Best Song in the World  Today” focused on the five stages of grief (those would be denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance). In honor of that, and in honor of the work of our friends, I give you the BPP Stages of Grief mixtape.

Onward! First up: Denial.

1. Too Drunk To Dream – The Magnetic Fields

It was tough picking out just one Magnetic Fields track, as Stephen Merrit has written several great songs about denial and bitterness. This one was chosen for the BPP, since (judging from their tweets this week, and the on-air mention of hangovers) they’ve been doing some denial-based drinking. I would be, too.

2. Still Fighting It – Ben Folds

I listened to this song a lot my last year in college because it’s about trying to deny that you’re growing up by fighting like hell against being boring. And even though the show’s cancellation is final and all, this makes the tape for everyone who sent cereal boxes, made phone calls, and tried to find other ways for the BPP to exist. Thanks for helping us fight to keep this great show alive.

3. Stacked Crooked – The New Pornographers

It’s all in the ending – “do not, do not deny me, deny my right to feel.”

Stage two: Anger.

4. I’ll Cry – The Reigning Sound

The Reigning Sound is one of my favorite Memphis bands, and this song is perfect for the BPP. It’s loud, it’s fast, and it’s angry. Also, it’s weird how songs about relationships mirror my feelings about a radio show. There have to be at least a few more people that feel like the BPP community is being dumped.

5. Kiss Off – The Violent Femmes

Three, three, three for my heartache.

6. Jenny Lewis – Rise Up With Fists!!

This song makes me think about the NPR CEO’s response on the BPP blog. And as a person who works in new media, it makes me concerned about my organization’s future when other media outlets are cutting their edgy, internet-based content.

Stage three: Bargaining.

7. Problems – Arrah and the Ferns

If the BPP were going to be around longer, and my favorite Muncie band Arrah and the Ferns hadn’t broken up, I’d like to think that the BPP would have played them on the show.

8. Me and the Major – Belle and Sebastian

This is the song that made me want to make this tape. You’ll recognize the situation – a young up and comer has trouble getting his older counterpart to understand him.  Like this part (minus the drugs):

“He doesn’t understand, and he doesn’t try

He knows there’s something missing and he knows it’s you and I

We’re the younger generation, we grew up fast

All the others did drugs

You’re taking it out on us”

9. Bottle and Hotel – Harlan T. Bobo

Come on, baby. Let’s just meet up. Have a drink. We can totally work this out.

Step four: Depression

10. Tiger High ‘85 – The Coach and Four

Ok, you’re probably wondering what a song about the University of Memphis men’s basketball team losing to Villanova in the 1985 Final Four has to do with the cancellation of a radio show.  Like the Tigers, the BPP’s great run ended too soon. Unlike the Tigers, the disappointment I’m feeling isn’t their fault.

11. Casimir Pulaski Day – Sufjan Stevens

A beautiful song about the hope that something will get better, and the sadness when you realize that it won’t. It also has several of the most depressing lines in recent pop music.

12. Custom Concern – Modest Mouse

Life will go on, but it’s probably going to sound a little like this for a while.

Lastly, Acceptance.

13. When Your Mind’s Made Up – The Swell Season

If this week’s broadcast were a single song, it would probably be this one.

14. Changes – David Bowie

15. Over the Cliff – Old 97’s

“Success on someone else’s terms don’t mean a fucking thing.”

To everyone at the BPP, my most sincere thanks for the great show you put on every day. You will be missed. Please stay in touch, and wherever you go, continue being the kids with the eggs.