Minnventory "I just want your extra time and your kiss:" Pickup lines from great Minnesota lotharios

Har Mar Superstar, "Baby, Do You Like My Clothes?" (from 2000's Har Mar Superstar)
No one ever said Har Mar was a gentleman (see also: "Girl, You're Stupid"), but here he employs a particularly sleazy technique made famous by professional pickup artist Mystery: If you want to catch a certain someone's attention and make her fight for yours, insult her. In one of his earliest tracks, the R&B singer picks apart his potential lady's entire wardrobe, from her Hypercolor sweatpants to a shirt he once spotted at TJ Maxx. The latter seems to imply that he also shops there, but at this point his target is so humiliated that she's eager to take him up on his offer of a romantic date at the mall. All that's left is to seal the deal with a spending spree at The Limited.

The line: "Baby, do you like my clothes? 'Cause I sure don't like yours—unless they're lying on the floor with your body next to me, baby."

Semisonic, "F.N.T." (from 1996's Great Divide)
Seemingly the sweetest, most innocent track in our list of come-ons, "F.N.T." finds Dan Wilson wooing a "fascinating new thing" when he isn't cranking out noodling guitar solos. The object of his affection is a mysterious one, and the psych-pop track does a good job of capturing the rush of a new infatuation. Then again, it sounds like Wilson is going for easy pickings—this woman has some major self-esteem issues. Who else gets reeled in by the ol' "I'm the first person to tell you you're pretty? Impossible!"? Or maybe she really is a diamond in the rough, the homely character in a romantic comedy who sheds her glasses to reveal she's Rachael Leigh Cook. (If this line of conversation proves ineffective in your love life, you can always take solace in the group's 2001 ode to masturbation, "Get A Grip.")

The line: "I'm surprised that you've never been told before that you're lovely and you're perfect and that somebody wants you."

Prince, "Kiss" (from 1986's Parade)
In case you didn't know: Prince thinks about sex, like, a lot. There are at least two dozen songs in the Purple One's catalog that could have fit the bill for this list, from the relatively innocuous ("I Wanna Be Your Lover") to the basically pornographic ("Sister," "Head," "Jack U Off"—let's stop there because we're not even past his fourth album yet). Even with such a huge crop of contenders, "Kiss" easily ranks among his best songs of seduction. Part of it is that slinky, funky guitar line, of course, but there's also Prince's unflustered confidence, an attitude that's adult in the sense of "grown-up," not (just) NC-17. He's a man who knows what he wants, knows what he can offer, and has been around the block enough times to know that sexy is about much more than surface beauty: "Women, not girls, rule my world." 

The line: "You don't have to be rich to be my girl; you don't have to be cool to rule my world. Ain't no particular sign I'm more compatible with—I just want your extra time and your kiss."

Little Man, "Shag If You Want To" (from 2006's Soulful Automatic)
Prince isn't the only diminutive singer-guitarist in Minnesota with a healthy libido. Chris Perricelli, leader and namesake of Little Man, lets it all hang out in this rough-edged garage rocker. He doesn't waste any time on double entendres, informing his paramour that they can "shag if you want in the bathroom, shag if you want in the hallway right now." Which is not to say a little romantic ambiance is out of the question—"I got the Persian rug," he points out. "I got the candles lit." It seems like his approach here would only work on a partner who'd already made up her mind to say yes, but it has the virtue of being totally unambiguous.

The line: "I'm gonna buy some beer. I'm gonna take you home. We're gonna mix it up with what I got down here."

Aaron & The Sea, "Singles Club" (from 2009's Seconds And Shapes)
"Singles Club" is the perfect synth-pop jam to play while you're gearing up for a night of scamming on possibles at the bar. Grab a hairbrush-microphone in front of the mirror, lip-synch to Aaron Rice's buttery vocals, and practice your subtle hip thrusts. Rice's lyrics work particularly well for those who enjoy playing hard-to-get, what with his sly delivery and repeated declaration that he's "not your valentine." The song's video offers another reason to give into your mating instincts, equating singledom with death. When the zombie apocalypse comes do you want to be a sitting duck in a singles' support group? Find your life-saving V-Day date when Aaron & The Sea perform with local dance troupe Nineten on Feb. 12 at 1419.

The line: "I'm not your valentine, but it's written all over your nametag that you'll be mine."