Front Page Reviews & AIR

I used to be a songwriter.  I used to write small sad songs that aspired to make your heart hurt.  They weren’t great, but once in a while I captured a moment.  I wrote almost exclusively about girls—girls that were always, of course, the wrong one.  For some reason, girl problems just filled me with poetry.  My songs tended to expose a subdermal loneliness, sadness, frustration, and homesickness—but also a hopefulness – that lingered below the surface.  Romantic heartbreak provided the perfect creative catalyst for me because things hurt, but not too bad; I could keep breakups small and sad and turn them into a piece of art.  I always found a hint of promise in that sadness: she was the wrong girl, because the right one was still out there.  For me, that shit practically wrote itself.  But a funny thing happened when I met my wife in 2003.  I fell instantly in love and wrote a few crappy songs about her, and quickly realized that something was wrong.  I would put pen to paper and nothing worthwhile would come out.  Anything I wrote was forced and clichéd.  It’s like I lost my voice—permanently.  I don’t want to say I’ve given up, but in the eight years since I met my wife I have resigned myself to the fact that, as far as songwriting goes, my creative fuel was bad romance, and I have never really been able to run on anything else.

 

“This one is called ‘You Left Me and Now the Drugs Are All I Have’.  Tweedy totally ripped it off.”

 

I’m not alone in this.  Different artists tend to run best on different fuels (though some are more flexible than others).  My fuel was ex-girlfriends.  Ani Difranco’s best fuel tends to be exes as well, though she can also run on politics and social issues.  Bruce Springsteen runs on hot rods, romance, and dead ends.  Radiohead: robot fear.  Rage Against the Machine: social injustice.  U2: God and Bono.  Fred Eaglesmith: bad romance and bad engines.  R. Kelly: booty.  Bob Dylan: anything, channeled through a cast of obliquely metaphorical carnival characters.  Mark Kozelek: depression.  Dar Williams: childhood nostalgia.  Sufjan Stevens: whatever the Danielson Famile said, only a little more accessibly.  The Beatles: puppy love and drugs.  The Rolling Stones: sex and drugs.  New York Dolls: drugs and more drugs.  And so on.

Drugs?  What drugs?

 

In modern rock music, very few artists thrive on love (I’m excluding early rock and roll entirely, with its standard one-dimensional teenage puppy love themes; that includes the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Elvis, and all the rest of them).  The thing that is the rarest, and the most impressive to me, is when an artist drops a good old-fashioned love song—the kind you’d want to dance to at your wedding.  I’m talking about songs that celebrate and cherish love coherently, beautifully, and originally (not sadly or ironically or wishfully or regretfully or scornfully) and don’t suck.  Most people can’t do it – Bruce Springsteen can’t do it, U2 (or is that Robin Williams?) can’t do it, Ryan Adams may not even be able to do it.  But once in a while an artist strikes gold.  He or she often never does it again (though as you will see below, some are more prolific than others).  Exactly why romance is so unsuited to modern music is probably better addressed in a doctoral thesis and not a 3,000 word internet column, so instead I’m just going to go ahead and share with you twelve great loves songs (and I hope you add your own selections in the comments to the right).  Put them together in a playlist, go get your lover, and do a little slow-dancing.  It’s babymakin’ time.

 

 

Neil Young – When I Hold You In My Arms, Are You Passionate (2002)

The years have been kind to you, Mr. Young

 

I’ll admit that I was ambivalent about Canadians in general for a long time (blame South Park).  But over the last few years I’ve been wooed by the Be Good Tanyas, Kathleen Edwards, Neil Young, and the delightfully Canadian 2010 Winter Olympics.  Maybe it’s because Canadians tend to be more laid back and seem to have less to prove – but they have a much easier time being sincere than us Americans.  So perhaps it should come as no surprise to see that Neil Young tops this list.  While his 40-year career has seen inconsistent quality and some suspect decision-making, the one thing Young has always been is sincere.  This song came from Are You Passionate (2002), an album composed mostly of love songs for Young’s long-time wife that he recorded with Booker T and the MG’s.  When an old white rocker tries to record an R&B album, the results are almost always disastrous (in fact, he tried this once before and failed spectacularly).  But this album somehow manages to transcend genre and era and, in my opinion, is one of his finest ever (notably, the couple throwaway tracks on the album are the ones that exclude the MG’s, including the cringe-inducing “Let’s Roll”).  This is one of the best tracks on a mostly-excellent album.

The Money Shot:

“When I hold you in my arms

It's a breath of fresh air

When I hold you in my arms

I forget what's out there”

Further Recommended Love Songs from Neil Young:

Silver & Gold, Silver & Gold (2001) (“I don't care if the sun don't shine / And the rain comes pourin' down on me and mine / 'cause our kind of love / Never seems to get old / It's better than silver and gold”)

Razor Love, Silver & Gold (“But I got faith in you / It's a razor love that cuts clean through.”)

 

 

Fiona Apple – Pale September, Tidal (1996)

 

I can only assume that this song was an accident.  Apple is far better known for being pissed at guys.  Yet there it is, plain as day – track 9 on her 1996 debut Tidal – an honest-to-goodness love song.  Now I don’t know who the target of the song is and I don’t really know the context.  But I can tell you that when I would pop this cassette into the tape deck back in the day, it was magical.  Listen to the song – I can’t find any anger or irony here.  It’s a gentle love song for someone and she’s singing him to sleep.  And it’s beautiful.

The Money Shot:

“All my armour falling down, in a pile at my feet

And my winter giving way to warm, as I'm singing him to sleep”

 

 

David Gray – Falling Free, Flesh (1994)

 

If David Gray is any indication, the only people that are more sincere than the Canadians are the Welsh.  Gray has the rare ability to effortlessly blend authenticity, sincerity, and poetry in the same song without coming across as cheesy or clichéd.  His folkish songs – particularly his earlier work – can take your breath away with the lyrical pictures he paints and his inimitable and heavily-accented delivery.  His may be the most distinctive vocal style in modern music, and his raspy vocals somehow prevent his songs from seeming hyperbolic and schmaltzy.

The Money Shot:

“’Cause we're standing face to face

With the angel of grace

And don't it just taste so pure

Mercy me, I'm falling free…

Since you opened up the door”

Further Recommended Love Songs from David Gray:

Mystery of Love, Flesh (And I know there's a light / At the end of the tunnel / 'cause I taste it on your lips / And I feel a weight / That can bend me double / You lift it with your fingertips”)

Coming Down, Flesh (“’Cause when I hold you naked / When I see you laugh / I got a sword to stem the rivers / And cut the moon in half”*)

*Bonus points for a ridiculous double entendre in an otherwise earnest song

 

 

The Cure – Doing The Unstuck, Wish (1992)

What’s not to love?

 

It’s possible that this song may actually be about anarchy, what with all the references to burning things down and whatnot.  With The Cure it’s always hard to tell.  But let me say two things: first, this song, followed immediately by “Friday I’m In Love” on Wish, is the perfect one-two punch for springtime lovers who want to roll down their windows and crank up the radio.  Second, I’ve always thought The Cure got a bad rap as “depressed” or whatever.  I’ve seen them live, I’ve listened to their entire body of work, I’ve scrutinized their videos like a forensic CSI detective, I’ve watched interviews with Robert Smith – and I think the joke’s on us.  Some bands have a pop gloss that obscures an underlying darkness (i.e., INXS or the Happy Mondays come to mind).  But I can’t shake the feeling that the Cure’s goth shtick and surface darkness really obscure an underlying joyfulness.  I get the feeling that Smith is perpetually stifling a giggle or fighting off a playful grin… and that’s what makes songs like this so great.  They tend to be perceived as ironic, but I think they are the truer picture of what really goes on in Smith’s head.  The Cure may be able to get away with more sincerity than just about any other band because no one suspects that they’re not being ironic.  But I’m on to them, and now you are too.

The Money Shot:

“It's a perfect day for kiss and swell

For rip-zipping button-popping kiss and well...

There's loads of other stuff can make you yell

Let's get happy!”

Further Recommended Love Songs from The Cure:

Friday I’m In Love, Wish (“Dressed up to the eyes / It's a wonderful surprise / To see your shoes and your spirits rise / Throwing out your frown / And just smiling at the sound / And as sleek as a sheik / Spinning round and round / Always take a big bite / It's such a gorgeous sight / To see you eat in the middle of the night / You can never get enough / Enough of this stuff / It's Friday, I'm in love”)

 

 

The Replacements – Androgynous, Let It Be (1984)

 

I’m not an expert on the Replacements, nor am I an expert on androgyny, so I can only do so much to unpack this song (Bill Janovitz does more with it).  However, what we have here is a spectacular example of the rare third-person love song.  In addition to being an infectious lilting piano tune, there’s something enchanting about the love story that Paul Westerberg tells here.  As far as I can tell, the characters are not a metaphor or subtext: it’s a song about a boy and girl who happen to dress the same and are in love with each other.  Westerberg does comment on society’s expectations regarding gender roles and fashions, but his tone is not cynical or mocking – it’s downright sweet. 

The Money Shot:

“Here come Dick, he's wearing a skirt

Here comes Jane, y'know she's sporting a chain

Same hair, revolution

Same build, evolution

Tomorrow who's gonna fuss

And they love each other so

Androgynous

Closer than you know, love each other so

Androgynous”

 

 

Tom Waits –Jersey Girl, Heartattack & Vine (1980)

 

Oh Tom Waits, you stumbling, bumbling, drunken ne’er-do-well, when will you stop mooning over hookers and waitresses and find yourself a proper girl?  Well….it turns out the answer was 1980, the year he married his wife Kathleen Brennan.  It was surprising enough that the infamous lone wolf would settle down at all (and remains married to her 31 years later).  But even more surprising was that Waits could switch topics from lonely drunkenness to giddy romance without missing a beat or losing his trademark gritty edge.

The Money Shot:

“Got no time for the corner boys

Down in the street makin' all that noise,

Don't want no whores on Eighth Avenue,

‘Cause tonight I'm gonna be with you.”

 

 

Bob Dylan – Precious Angel, Slow Train Coming (1979)

Bob Dylan.  Or possibly the Devil.  Or possibly God.

 

If there’s one thing the Greatest Of All Time can be counted on for, it’s a single-malt-smooth blend of apocalypse, religion, and a women.  Dylan has never been afraid to say what he wants, however he wants to say it; but during his “Christian” phase in the late 70s and the early 80s, the enthusiastic new convert added into the mix some seriously apocalyptic theology.  So it’s a bit of a surprise that in between tracks like "Gotta Serve Somebody", "I Believe In You", and "When He Returns", Dylan drops possibly the greatest love song in rock and roll history.  The song is purportedly about his girlfriend at the time, Mary Alice Artes, who was instrumental in his conversion; but it stands up even today as both thematically epic and also intensely personal – and, of course, apocalyptic as all hell.

The Money Shot:

“Precious angel, you believe me when I say

What God has given to us no man can take away

We are covered in blood girl, you know our forefathers were slaves

Let us hope they've found mercy in their bone-filled graves.

You’re the queen of my flesh, girl, you’re my woman, you’re my delight

You’re the lamp of my soul, girl, and you torch up the night

But there’s violence in the eyes, girl, so let us not be enticed

On the way out of Egypt, through Ethiopia, to the judgment hall of Christ”

Further Recommended Love Songs from Bob Dylan:

Lay, Lady, Lay, Nashville Skyline (1969) (Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed / Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile / Until the break of day, let me see you make him smile / His clothes are dirty but his hands are clean / And you’re the best thing that he’s ever seen”)

 

 

Lisa Loeb – Sandalwood, Tails (1995)

Definitely not the devil

 

What can I say.  I’m a sucker for the girl with the glasses even now, 18 years after the release of one of the most iconic albums of the 1990s.  This song has been making me swoon for over a decade and a half, and there’s no end in sight.  Forget about “Stay” and whatever else Loeb may or may not have done since then – this is the true keeper on Tails.  It’s not very often that you hear a love song where the artist a) sings about his or her lover’s physical attributes without sounding like a total douche; and b) is so endearingly honest about being smitten and insecure.  It’s sweet and sexy, and a lovely tune to boot.

The Money Shot:

She can’t tell me that all of the love songs have been written,

’cause she’s never been in love with you before.

Your skin smells lovely like sandalwood.

Your hair falls soft like animals.

I’m tryin’ to keep cool, but everyone likes you.”

 

 

Norah Jones – Come Away With Me, Come Away With Me (2002)

Yes.  Yes, I will.

 

Has it really been a decade since this album came out?  Sometimes it seems like yesterday (as in, we’re still waiting for her follow-up, aren’t we?).  Other times it seems like it’s been around forever (as in, I’ve heard this song ninety-five thousand times and I can’t take it again).  But try to remember when you heard this album for the first time.  This song is really great.  And I cannot think of any other popular song from the last decade that was a true love song – which sets this one apart as the only relatively contemporary, popular, non-crappy love song that I know of.

The Money Shot:

“And I want to wake up with the rain

Falling on a tin roof

While I'm safe there in your arms

So all I ask is for you

To come away with me in the night

Come away with me”

 

 

Tom Petty - Angel Dream (No. 4), Songs and Music from "She's the One" (1996)

 

A beautiful little song from one of the greats.  This gem is buried on an obscure and otherwise-not-very-good soundtrack from a crappy film, but I loved it the moment I heard it.  Petty is fresh off his 1994 masterpiece Wildflowers and still grooving in that vein.  The song is gentle, simple, and pure Petty.

The Money Shot:

“I dreamed you, I saw your face

Caught my lifeline when drifting through space

I saw an angel, I saw my fate

I can only thank God it was not too late”

 

 

The Jayhawks – All The Right Reasons, Rainy Day Music (2003)

You’d be pissed too if you were a famous rock star and you had to wear your grandma’s glasses

 

The Jayhawks’ Sound of Lies (1997) reflected singer/songwriter/guitarist Gary Louris’s great bitterness over his 1996 divorce and the departure of Jayhawks co-founder Mark Olsen after the release of 1995’s Tomorrow The Green Grass.  Sound of Lies is scathing and spectacular, but bitterness is not a sustainable career theme.  In 1999 Louris remarried and rediscovered some of the joy that had surfaced occasionally on TTGG.  Some happiness started coming through on 2000’s Smile, and fully surfaced in "All The Right Reasons" from 2003’s Rainy Day Music.  This may be the first and last Jayhawks song that is clearly, sincerely, a love song.  It’s also probably the closest thing to alt-country from these alt-country pioneers since the mid 1990s.  The song is a refreshing visit to the band’s roots and a welcome sign of the uptick in Louris’s emotional state.

The Money Shot:

“And I don't know what day it is, I can't recall the seasons

I don't remember how we got this far

All I know's I'm loving you for all the right reasons

In my sky you'll always be my morning star”

 

 

Innocence Mission - Umbrella, Umbrella (1991)

 

This is a love song for grownups and married couples.  In my opinion, singer/songwriter Karen Peris and her husband, guitarist Don Peris, are one of the great singer/guitarist combos, right up there with Page-Plant, Morrisey-Marr, Bono-Edge, and Jagger-Richards.  Their deep love and partnership is evident in the lovely and powerful music they have been making since the 1980s.  A lot of the songs on Umbrella, their second studio album, reflect the inner workings and insecurities of a growing marriage.  In this song, the metaphorical umbrella is a shield that protects a scarred Karen from her fears of the world; her husband helps her put it down and dance.

The Money Shot:

“You dance around with my umbrella.

You dance around the obvious weaknesses.

Around the room with my umbrella.

You dance around the room with me.

I see us in the mirror going by-

look at my happy face!

See what you do for me”