The Jerx Trick Music Playlist

Some of the trick titles I’ve used in my work were inspired or just blatantly stolen from some songs I like. Here’s the breakdown..

From The Jerx, Volume 1

Narrow Your Eyes

Originally a They Might Be Giants song off of Apollo 13, but my preferred version is by David Miller. It’s a less quirky, more rocking version of the original and amps up the harmonies in the chorus.

Will You Let Me Into Your Dream?

An almost sickly sweet love song by Of Montreal, sung to a sleeping person. It features one of my favorite things in music when they bring back the verse or chorus and drop the lyrics for some “bah-bah-bahs” or “la-la-las.” In fact they do it twice. If you don’t like the love song aspect, the same band has an Identical song with different lyrics called Art Snob Solutions.

From The Jerx Amateur Magic Monthly

Caster of Worthless Spells

From the song of the same name by Parquet Courts. This was the perfect name for a trick that involved both spelling and getting every prediction you make wrong.

A Firm Background in Remembering

A lyric from the song Bad Light by Built to Spill off of the album Keep It Like A Secret, one of the best rock albums ever. I also stole that album name for an unpublished routine of mine that may see the light of day in the future.

Cold Hands Warm Heart

A song by Brendan Benson, a brilliantly catchy singer song-writer.

I’m Going to Haunt This Place When I’m Gone

From the song I’m Gonna Haunt This Place by Look Park which is the new band of Chris Collingwood from Fountains of Wayne.

Memphis (Long Distance Information)

From the song Memphis Tennessee by Chuck Berry. Below is Johnny Rivers doing his version. I like this version primarily because of the way Dick Clark pronounces Whiskey-A-Go-Go in the interview afterwards, which he seems to believe may be of hispanic or asian origin.

From Magic For Young Lovers

Send Me a Pillow, The One That You Dream On

This is a lyric from a song called Elevator Action by Masters of the Hemisphere, a song so obscure that I can’t find a recording of it online anywhere.

That lyric was likely inspired by a similar line in the Smiths song “Some Girls are Bigger Than Others,” which in turn was inspired by this old country tune, “Send me the Pillow You Dream On.”

The Only Ghost Here is Me

A slight variation on the title of the song The Only Ghost There Is Me by the Bellfuries. The song has, to me, an early 60s feel to it. The backing track is mostly strings, which you rarely ever hear in a pop song. I also like this non-string version quite a bit.

I’ll Be My Mirror

A variation on the classic Velvet Underground song, I’ll Be Your Mirror. That song has just about the loveliest lyrics you’ll find in a song…

I find it hard to believe you don't know
The beauty you are
But if you don't let me be your eyes
A hand to your darkness, so you won't be afraid

The version song by Nico is very well known, so I’ll link the Clem Snide version which is also pretty great.

The Sweetness In Water

I originally heard the song Fresher Than the Sweetness in Water done by Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, and it wasn’t until, oh about 45 seconds ago, that I learned that it was a cover. Here’s the original version as done in the late 60s by the British group, Honeybus. I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of this band, but they seem right up my alley.

Two Dying Worlds In Orbit

This comes from a lyric in the song, Some Jungle by the group Umm. Usually I like music that has a ton of energy and fire behind it, but in this song, the singing and even the guitar part sound lethargic and I still love it. The boy-girl vocal harmonies have a really interesting quality to them.