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12 by Jenny Lewis

Here's the drill: 12 songs to summarize an artist's career, in chronological order (of course). This one features...

Completely separate from Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis has put together an impressive oeuvre that is very difficult to winnow down to just 12 songs (if you include her work with Rilo Kiley, fuhgeddaboudit). But I've made what I feel is a valiant attempt.

Because I admire Jenny's lyrics so much, I'm going to limit my commentary to a favorite couplet from the song.

(If you have Amazon Music Unlimited, you can listen along here.)


1. "Rise Up With Fists!!!" (from Rabbit Fur Coat, 2005)
"But you can wake up younger, under the knife / And you can wake up sounder, if you get analyzed."

2. "Melt Your Heart" (from Rabbit Fur Coat, 2005)
"It's like a valentine from your mother / It's bound to melt your heart."

3. "Born Secular" (from Rabbit Fur Coat, 2005)
"God works in mysterious ways / And God gives and then he takes."

4. "See Fernando" (from Acid Tongue, 2008)
"Pitch a tent, pop a top / Forget about what you ain't got"

5. "Acid Tongue" (from Acid Tongue, 2008)
"To be lonely is a habit, like smoking or taking drugs / And I've quit them both, but man was it rough"

6. "Straight Edge of the Blade" (from I'm Having Fun Now, 2010)
"I have never seen a love that was greater / Between two men who couldn't be straighter"

7. "She's Not Me" (from The Voyager, 2014)
"But she's not me / She's easy"

8. "Head Underwater" (from The Voyager, 2014)
"There's a little bit of magic / Everybody has it"

9. "The Voyager" (from The Voyager, 2014)
"When it finally hit me, I didn't cry / 'Cause I was at the 7-Eleven flippin' through the New York Times"

10. "Do Si Do" (from On the Line, 2019)
"Turn up the stereo / "Til everything rattles"

11. "On the Line" (from On the Line, 2019)
"It used to be Bobby forever, we were together day and night / He left me for a superfan called Caroline"

12. "Puppy and a Truck" (digital single, 2021)
"My forties are kicking my ass / And serving them to me in a margarita glass."

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