2000 Great Songs #1433: The Death Of Ferdinand De Saussure

The Magnetic Fields ' 1999 triple-CD magnum opus 69 Love Songs is such an embarrassment of riches that I've largely declined to give it its due in this list, 'cuz where would one even begin? But for our second visit to the box set, I'm pulling the trigger and landing on the unlikely cut "The Death Of Ferdinand De Saussure." Now, 19th century Swiss linguists are not a typical topic for rock songs.…