Dear Mr. DJ…
June 15, 2014First of all, I want you to know how lucky I feel to have you DJing my wedding. What a relief it is to know that this critical aspect of the event will be in such good hands! You know music, you know me and Leila, and you know how to read crowds, so you’ll do a terrific job. We trust you completely.
Nevertheless, since you’ve asked for guidance on what I want to hear at the reception, the following thoughts may be helpful.
For starters, can we please avoid “I Will Survive”? Yes, it gets people dancing, but it’s basically a tale of stalker-ish behavior — not great source material for this particular occasion. Ditto for “Every Breath You Take” (The Police) and “Possession” (Sarah McLachlan). Actually, beyond stalker songs per se, let’s just veto all songs about ill-advised romances. Even ones like “Stacy’s Mom,” in which the relationship is mostly hypothetical. That still leaves us with plenty of good, wholesome songs, right?
Speaking of wholesome: since many family members of varying ages and tastes will be present, we probably shouldn’t use music that is fixated on specific body parts (“Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” comes to mind), the physical act of making love (“Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood), or one-night stands (“December, 1963 [Oh What A Night]”). Likewise, I have no interest in tracks that condone excessive drinking (“Margaritaville”), drug use (“Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35”), reckless driving (“Fun Fun Fun”), belligerence (“Saturday Night’s All Right For Fighting”), lying (“Better Man”), larceny (“Been Caught Stealing”), egotism (“Big Time”), or jingoism (“God Bless the USA”). Or carelessness with baked goods (“MacArthur Park”).
Not everyone who will be at the wedding is married or in a relationship, so we should avoid songs about the hardships of being single. But if a song sounds too lovey-dovey, that gets uncomfortable as well. I guess what I’m saying is that you should play realistic love songs — stuff like “Love The One You’re With.” Well, not that one, because it seems to advocate “settling,” and this marriage is NOT an example of that. But you get the idea, don’t you?
I hope it goes without saying that any song over five minutes long (“American Pie,” “Stairway To Heaven”) is tedious and unwanted. This is a wedding reception, not a Grateful Dead show.
We’ll probably need some mellow tunes for the cocktail hour, but let’s not use Dar Williams. She’s an alum of Wesleyan, and, as you know, Leila and I went to Williams — Wesleyan’s rival in the Little Three. So we really want to feature Williams artists if at all possible — for instance, Fountains of Wayne, co-founded by Chris Collingwood ’89 and Adam Schlesinger ’89. Just don’t play their biggest hit, “Stacy’s Mom” (see above).
Some songs, while safe according to the above criteria, are just too sad for a wedding. Any Beatles song, for example, will remind people of John Lennon’s tragic demise. So please do not feature anyone who died prematurely. (This includes Mozart, by the way.)
I realize that these restrictions are a lot to keep track of. Would it be easier if I just provided a list of songs that you CAN play? You know, totally uncontroversial material like, say, “99 Luftballons.” Oh, wait a minute — the accidental release of the titular balloons supposedly causes a war or something. I’m not sure, because the lyrics are in German, but just to be safe, let’s skip that one too.
Tell you what — let me think about this a bit more and get back to you.
My Track Record 
“Love the One You’re With” is actually worse than you suggest, I think. I interpret it as a paen to “free love” in the sense of “just sleep with anybody who happens to be around.”
And I have to admit to mixed feelings about “Stacy’s Mom”, I think because of the creepy video.
So, what I’m hearing is that the DJ will just have to put “Birdhouse in Your Soul” on repeat? đ
Well, “Birdhouse” *did* make the whitelist…
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DPpMNCHxh5xCCkxhl7HydO7TRu3tRUIRXEHLk10v3XA/edit?usp=sharing
I love that, after axing all those songs for having lyrics that might put someone off, that “Centerfold” made the cut. đ
And I guess the controversy over the “Like a Prayer” video is water under the bridge at this point, so that one’s probably safe. đ
Kudos for thinking outside the box with “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” and “Valley Winter Song”.
I confess that I was expecting “Born to Run”. And “Future’s So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades”. đ
Great wedding!!!
After the wedding, I’ve been contemplating, and I think the DJ did a great job to send you and Leila off. đ