I'm not a romantic. Okay, I actually think that sometimes I am a romantic, but not in the way you'd expect. I hate chick flicks and happy endings. I'm not planning on waiting around for "Mr. Right" to find me in the hopes that we'll ride off into the sunset together. The roles of wife and mother don't really appeal to me at all, especially in competition with writer or teacher or any number of ambitions I haven't yet discovered.
But I believe in love. All of my stories feature it pretty heavily; the novel I'm writing is pretty much a 300 page treatise on why when we lose our ability to love we lose ourselves. And I have a soundtrack, not a formal one, but a cluster of songs in the back of my mind that remind me of what love feels like, what it sounds like. As you might expect, they're not all happy (all right, I'm lying, most of them are pretty melancholy) but the meaning they've got packed into them is worth a million crappy pop songs about soul mates and dating and weddings.
**And no, I'm not sure what it means that so many of them have one-word titles.
Faithfully -- Journey
If I am ever visited by the urge to get married and I have a wedding and there's a first dance, this song is it, beyond a doubt. Not only do I unabashedly adore Journey, I love the epic build of this song. And of course I'm a sucker for the lyrics, too. As if none of that were enough, my love for this song was only reinforced tenfold when I heard it covered on "Glee" by the fantastic Lea Michele (and Cory Monteith), though I would definitely insist on the original version at my wedding.
Honestly-- Bethany Joy Lenz
It's not a secret that most of these are songs more focused on the heartbreak side of love than the warm & fuzzy (what can I say, it's who I am). This song is about regret, but it's also about the endurance of loving someone even after things have gone south. Take this line "I'm so glad you're far away/Is that a terrible thing to say?/Still I wonder if you're okay..." Yes, she's nursing a broken heart and maybe even bruised pride, but there's still love there, and I think with any relationship that's ended it's important to remember that you loved that person once upon a time.
Someday We'll Know -- Mandy Moore and Jonathan Foreman
Something else I'm a sucker for: the couple who can't be together or shouldn't be together because of circumstances beyond them. Yes, it's true that there are a lot of people who like these types of stories, but I think I'm in the minority in that I don't root for them to defy the odds/overcome whatever obstacle is impeding them. I prefer them longing for each other, moving forward as individuals, and maybe even learning something from the experience. The two people in this song haven't figured it out yet, but they will, and the romantic side of me loves that.
Yellow -- Coldplay
Whoever it was that introduced Chris Martin to odes and/or to songwriting, thank you. This song is just such a beautiful tribute to a person who is literally the light of another person's life. I can't say much more about this (my words wouldn't do it justice), so I'll just say that I'm pretty sure it's a no-brainer on a list of love songs.
Iris -- Goo Goo Dolls
Another pretty obvious/typical choice, but I had to stick it on here. "You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be"-- what person, romantic or not, wouldn't want to hear something to that effect? We also get a strong sense of the person singing the song as a complicated, even troubled figure, and the subject of the song being a source of salvation and comfort. It's not a story song, but it makes you want to know the story behind it.
Someone Like You -- Adele
There had to be a song in here about the one that got away. It's a staple of every love song list, and Adele's contribution to the catalog is nothing short of phenomenal. There is something so raw and beautiful about every aspect of this song-- the simply piano, the lyrics dripping with longing, and of course that absurdly beautiful voice (I'm pretty sure she could cover just about any song and I'd love it). When I discovered this one, it shot straight to the Most Played on my Ipod; there's just something about it you won't be able to get out of your head.
For the Nights I Can't Remember -- Hedley
This one's a great song from a pretty unknown Canadian band, and it's all about appreciating all the things, big and small, that the person you love does for you. It's about wanting to be a better person in return, because of how much you love them. And it's got that alt-rock vibe that I thoroughly dug during my high school daydreaming phase (not to mention the fact that it was featured on Degrassi, which is pretty much the epitome of adolescent understandings of love).
Your Ex-Lover is Dead -- Stars
This is probably my favorite breakup song ever. There's so much venom in such simple lines, and it's sad while also expressing a push to move forward. I love the way they take literally the idea of forgetting or un-knowing someone you used to really love, and the way it comes to a resolution. Best lines: "I'm not sorry I met you/I'm not sorry it's over/I'm not sorry there's nothing to save."
Call It Off -- Tegan and Sara
The Temptation of Adam -- Josh Ritter
I absolutely love songs that tell a story, and this is one of my all-time favorites. In about 4 minutes of song, Josh Ritter weaves a beautiful little tale of two people assigned to man a nuclear arsenal beneath the ground, and naturally they fall in love. The temptation is "Adam's" impulse to simply allow the world above them to end so that they can continue to be together. I've read a lot of pretty intense love stories in my time, but I think there's something uniquely moving about this one.
First Day of My Life -- Bright Eyes
I've seen this on a few occasions recently as a wedding song, and while some have scoffed that it's a hipster choice, I disagree. It's a simple little song, and Conor Oberst's vocals leave much to be desired at times, but the beauty is in the simplicity, in the offbeat-ness of it. "I'm glad I didn't die before I met you," Oberst sings, and isn't that how we all feel about the ones we love?
Come Home -- One Republic
This song, one of One Republic's best in my opinion, is truly beautiful. Half plaintive plea, half "dreaming out loud" about a better world, it gets across something that is very difficult to articulate. I think there's definitely a message here that it's okay to need people, as long as you can appreciate that there is still some beauty in your life without them, it would just be clearer if they were around. Additionally, the version featuring Sara Bareilles on the second verse is even more gorgeous than the album cut.
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