Love Songs

Originally I thought I was going to talk about just the idea of love, and what it really means. The problem with trying to pin down and define “love” is either you get a definition that is either too long and elaborate or something that is much too short and general. Looking up “love” in the dictionary is also rather unsatisfactory (though that may be because I find that the dictionary is just an intellectual crutch for people who can’t accept that the world is subjective not objective). Maybe that is why if there is a medium of expression, that medium probably has almost too many examples of attempting to define love. Perhaps it is just human nature to see love in so many things as well. If there is a blue car parked right next to a pink car, you can bet that someone on the internet has posted that picture on Valentine’s Day. For me, the best medium for trying to live up to that both simultaneous heavy and light subject of love (“I sure love ice cream, but anyway, when do you think it is too early to tell someone I love them?”) is music.

Music and love both seem to occupy this space of “I am not sure why it works, but boy do I need it” territory for me. Sure, I could think up some intellectual reasons why I need to experience both, but much like defining love, all the reasons tend to fall flat, like trying to explain why I like the color yellow or why I like apples. I might be able to link it up to an event in childhood or some sort of genetic need, but in the end, I feel that unless you are Oliver Sacks or have a similar expertise in brain function, you are not going to get very far. Despite the intellectual challenge, music does seem to somehow bridge that gap and make the experience of love a relate-able thing. The combination of appealing to the intellectual side of the brain with lyrics and rhythm, and then appealing to the emotional side of the brain with melody and hooks, makes music very much like love in a way. But the only way I can prove this point is by showing (playing) what I am talking about. So, for your enjoyment, is some of my favorite love songs.

Love Story (You and Me) - Randy Newman

Some songs state their point with bombasts of over-done music and lyrics, but there is something just so real and genuine about this song. It is the type of love that is beyond just a lust, the type of love that people strive for. There is also a certain melancholy about the song, but that is what makes this song so interesting. Love doesn’t just mean “happiness all the time,” love is also for (and arguably most important) the melancholic, angry, or sad times.

Book of Love - Magnetic Fields

I can’t decide if this song is trying to be sappy and saccharine, or a bit of a satire. Perhaps it is the super low voice, or maybe the premise that the Book of Love is “long and boring.” Either way, it is that same line between satire and real sentiment that love also saddles.

Michelle - The Beatles

Probably the most pure love song there is. It is not hard to theorize that love songs were invented to tell someone that they love them in an inventive way and this song is a perfect example of that.