February 14, 2014

Valentine’s Day through Music

After a blog server upgrade and 8+inches of snow, we are still getting back to normal around here! Wanted to wish all of my readers valentines a very Happy Valentine’s Day! Thank you for stopping in to be a part of my life!

This Valentine’s Day I have been thinking a lot about music and how love, the most powerful emotion, inspires nearly every song we hear. Below are some of the songs that struck me recently on the continuum of love.

First Crushes – Browsing YouTube recently I stumbled upon a video by the Greek teen heartthrob ƩTAN (or in English “Stan.”). I loved this video of his live performance. He has a wonderful voice and look but the reactions of the teen girls in the audience are just priceless. I have no idea what he is singing but I think I can hear the word “gala” which means “milk,” a poetic choice for a love song.

Angst – One of the greatest challenges of love is making sure two people are on the same page. So many love songs express the one-sided pining that can plague relationships. It’s hard to pick favorites from all the choices but there are two that stand out to me recently. The first is from Ed Sheeran (who I don’t claim to be cool enough to know without having heard of him on The Voice). His videos are great. He tends to hide from the camera and there is a bit of a Where’s Waldo effect trying to even find him in his videos. His song “Give Me Love” is amazing and the video is movie quality. The second is Colbie Caillat’s “Hold On” and for some reason, it feels to me like the female response to Ed Sheeran’s song.

One of the best all-time songs on one-sided love, however, has to be John Mayer’s “Half of my Heart.”

Heartbreak – Love gives us the highest highs but also, sadly, the lowest lows. It doesn’t always go right and it is pretty devastating when love falls apart. Fortunately, we have so many songs to help us cope with the pain and discover inner strength. The Band Perry’s “Lie” helps us use a little anger and humor to get through the pain. I also like September’s “Cry for You” that our local radio station played recently.

Joy – The latest song from Lady Antebellum is the best expression of how wonderful love feels when it all goes right and how worthy the search for a deep and meaningful love in your life is. Being fearless and bold always seems to pay off when it comes to love.