Every Song's A Love Song

Well, it has been a week. I apologize for my lateness in submitting a new entry. I suppose I needed a little bit of a break from writing. Call it a short and temporary case of writer's block. It's bound to happen every now and then.

I've had a difficult time thinking of a new topic this time. I have a list of things to write about, but none them are currently grabbing me as anything I want to delve into deeply enough to write about at the moment. I've been in the mood for something lighter, something without too many emotional implications. Love can be difficult, but shouldn't always be (I'll write that down for later, maybe we can write about that one soon). The mind wanders.....what to write about?

Ah, I've got it. I recently spent a week in Nashville, as you may have gathered from recent entries; which, of course, immediately makes me think of country music, which in turn sends the mind to thought of sappy songs of love and pain. Funny the path stream of consciousness takes. I despised country music as a child. It was all my mother would play on the radio, so I rebelled and went straight for rock and roll. Her tears would well up to half the songs, there always seemed to be people crying into their alcoholic beverages, or losing loved ones, or cheating on their spouses. She would make us listen to the words, they were a 'lesson,' always something to learn from. I didn't want to learn from a song, I wanted to have fun, not think about what they were saying!

Of course, my attitudes have changed since then. The ironic thing is that as obviously sappy as those country songs were, the rock songs I was listening to were just as emotionally charged, just as much about love gone wrong as their country counterparts. In fact the more I think about it, the more it seems that the majority of songs out there are in some way about love, whether it be getting it, losing it, getting revenge over it, or simply not having it. No matter what genre, what artist, what part of the world it comes from, there seems to be this common thread. And here we sit, listening to it, singing along with it, reminiscing and agreeing with it. We know the emotions, we've been through it. It connects us, and it sells.

If I started listing song titles, I could probably go all night. We can all think of a song or two, or a hundred, I'm sure. My favorites? Well, my favorites change all the time, but let me think of some memorable ones...

"I Do" -Jude. I thought it was the saddest song I ever heard at the time. It's about a man who's gotten an invitation to an ex's wedding. He remembers what they had, but vows not to go so that she can move on in peace.

"Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" -John Mayer. This one came out when I was in the midst of leaving a bad relationship. It's basically about being in a self-destructing relationship. It spoke to me very deeply at the time.

"Til I Get it Right" -Joan Osborne. She's tried a hundred times, but she'll keep falling in love until she gets it right. I love this one, it speaks to the idea of never closing your heart to love, no matter how many times you've been hurt.

"Over Time" -Lucinda Williams. One of my all-time favorites. It's about getting over someone and knowing that it takes time to do it.

"Still in Love" -Armand Van Helden. It's about thinking your over someone, but getting those feeling back anyway and being totally confused by it.

"Heaven Help" -Lenny Kravitz. He's ready for love, so watch out. The green light is on and flashing.

"Burning Photographs" -Ryan Adams. This is on my 'anger management' play list. Basically, it's over, I'm tired of you, I'm having a 'burn your crap' party.

"Love Me Like A Man" -Diana Krall. You get the idea.

"You Said Something" -PJ Harvey. A romantic, overpowering moment on a 'rooftop in Brooklyn.'

I could go on and on, but we'll stop there for now.

What are your favorites?