Mixtape Essay

“Love and other Catastrophes: A Mix Tape” is by Amanda Holzer is a series of all types of love songs and I think it’s really cool how someone can make a complete story out of a list of songs. The mix tape kind of tells a story and at the beginning of it, the songs are about being alone then the beginning of a relationship starting, songs like, “All by myself” by Eric Carmen, “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie, “We’ve only Just Begun” by the Carpenters and “My Girl” by the Temptations are just a few songs that are at the beginning of the mix tape. These songs are about the beginning of a relationship and the beauty and happiness that comes along with a new relationship. Sort of in the middle the relationship becomes a little rocky and unpredictable and hints of cheating. Songs like “There goes My Baby” by the Drifters, “What’s Going On?” by Marvin Gaye, “Where Did you Sleep Last Night” by Leadbelly, “Your Cheatin’ Heart” by Tammy Wynette are a few songs that enter the middle of the mix tape. But towards the end, the songs get colder and we see that the relationship is over. “Breaking up is Hard To Do” by Neil Sedaka, “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor, “All Out of Love” by Air Supply and “All By Myself” by Eric Carmen are the final songs that end the relationship so to speak. We see through this mix tape that people start out alone and they end up alone in the end.
The range of when most of these songs were released spanned over several years. This shows that in a relationship, most of the feelings portrayed through the songs on this list last quite a while. You can be feeling alone for any amount of time. Weeks, months, years. Then all of a sudden you get swept off your feet for what feels like forever. And just as fast as that happened, you could be in the predicament you were in from the start.
With this story I found that the songs are the characters themselves. Each one has a personality to it. They convey feelings individually, as well as a group. A perfect