All First-name Basis, All The Time

Calling someone by his or her first name isn’t merely a sign of informality—it’s a sign of comfort. There’s a certain level of ease between people on a first-name basis. For example, I usually call Nate “Nate,” but when he’s trying to put Nine Inch Nails on the playlist and thus making me feel uncomfortable, I call him “Mr. Douglas” or “Mean Jerk.”

We hope you enjoy our sampling of wonderful songs that involve first names. Meanwhile, the first person to write a song called “Knate” wins a Frisbee.

Ready, break!

Yours truly,

Ms. Kiefer and Mr. Douglas

1. Leonard Cohen “Suzanne”
2. Anathallo “A Song For Christine”
3. Ben Folds “Kate”
4. Ellery “Anna” free (Thanks Ellery!)
5. Velvet Underground “Sweet Jane”
6. Decemberists “Eli, The Barrow Boy”
7. Eels “If You See Natalie”
8. Gillian Welch “Annabelle”
9. Grandaddy “Jed The Humanoid”
10. Innocence Mission “Our Harry”
11. My Morning Jacket “Gideon”
12. John Vanderslice “Angela”
13. Joni Mitchell “The Last Time I Saw Richard”
14. Josh Ritter “Kathleen” free (Thanks Josh!)
15. Beck “Debra”