Top 10 Love Songs

Now this is gonna be a hard one to write! You see, a love song can be many different things to me - sometines I associate it with a time or experience in my life that was vaguely romantic. This therefore means that a lot of the songs I think of as love songs aren't really very love song-y. Sometimes, however, I use a song to exemplify what love should be like, and these are the nice lovey-dovey numbers in my shortlist. Hope I'm not too much of a weirdo for you!!

1: Fun Lovin' Criminals - Smoke 'em

See what I mean about not being very mushy? Well yes, this is actually a song about weed, and shouldn't really be all that romantic, but oddly enough for me it is.

Smoke 'em has the Criminals' usual cool vibe to it, being very slow with the main focus on Huey's (ludicrously sexy) voice. So, why on earth is this nonchalant number a love song?

Y'see, years back, when I was getting together with bastard ex boyfriend, we were both too shy to make a move on each other, and he was still with his previous girlfriend and it was all a bit odd, we used to listen to the Fun Lovin' Criminals together cos they were my favourite band at the time (still like them lots!!). The first time this song came on, bastard ex boyfriend looked me straight in the eye and sang a few of the lyrics at me:

"It's you, it's you, it's always been you, it's always been in you."

Then told me he'd never really wanted to go out with the girl he was with, and that it'd always been me.

Me, being me, bit him. (yes, really.)

Anyway!! Onwards!

2: Pulp - Bar Italia

Another non-romantic song here - this one's about the morning after the night before. Ok, not particularly heart-wrenching for some, but this is actually one of the most touching songs in the world for me - it almost makes me cry! It has a really simple melody, with Pulp's usual (somewhat over-dramatised)grittiness in the lyrics, and is the last song on Pulp's best (in my humble opinion) album, Different Class. It reminds me of my first ever crush, who I fancied when Different Class was first released, and we both had the album. We used to sing this one at each other, and the opening

"Now if you can stand, I would like to take you by the hand, yeah
And go for a walk, past people as they go to work."

Was his first excuse to hold my hand (obviously just cos it was in the song, you see...)

3: Pulp - Live Bed Show

Right, this song is another one from Different Class, and I can't actually listen to all of it without laughing so hard I nearly wet myself. Same guy, singing lyrics again, but this time, the only lyrics he sang were

"The headboard banging in the night"

Whilst doing a ridiculous dance, and it kinda put me off him after that - so this song is the funny side of love for me, that bit where you go "hold on, what the hell am I doing?" and leave it completely.

The song itself isn't actually all that funny, it's sort of dark, and about a woman who isn't getting any - slightly too close to home there, so onwards!

4: The Beatles - I'm So Tired

No story attached to this one, just the fact that I worship John Lennon...

This song is about a guy who can't sleep because he's fallen out with his girlfriend, and he can't stop thinking about her

"I'm so tired, I don't know what to do
I'm so tired, my mind is set on you
I wonder should I call you,
But I know what you would do.
You'd say, I'm putting you on,
But it's no joke, it's doing me harm,
You know I can't sleep,
I can't stop my brain,
You know it's three weeks,
I'm going insane.
You know I'd give you everything I've got for
a little peace of mind."

I loved this song from the very first time I heard it, and it really struck a chord with me. It seems so intimate with the way John sings it, and it's so obviously derived from personal experience, which makes it that much more meaningful. This is how men *should* feel when we give them the silent treatment!!

5: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - The Power of Love

Another Louise tear-jerker. So, here we have the first eighties power ballad of the bunch, and a pretty good one at that. This is another one that makes me wish all men acted like the lyrics of this song would have us believe they do.

"I'll protect you from the hooded claw,
Keep the vampires from your door."

I just think it's really sweet - even the most independent woman wants to be protected now and again. As for the music of the song, it's totally over the top, totally decadent, and entirely eighties - I adore it!!

6: Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart

While we're on the subject of eighties power ballads...

Yes, sorry, this is rather a new addition to my top ten, and although I don't actually have any romantic moments attached to it (any romantic moments at all, accompanied by music or not, would be nice!), I thought it'd be rude to leave Bonnie out. One of my favourite "going out with da girlz" songs, Bonnie Tyler is oft to be heard sung drunkenly on the streets of Leeds of an evening. This song has everything a love song should have - a healthy dose of cheese, the lyrics "Now there's only love in the dark", and basically lots of snigger-worthy stuff. I love it!

So why does Bonnie make it into my top ten love songs? Well, it has to be to represent the cynical side of me - this song is so ridiculous that it laughs at love, which is what I do most of the time. Also, it's about going out, feeling great, and not giving a stuff as to whether you're in love or not - loving yourself, if you will. (which is nothing at all to do with the actual lyrics of the song, apart from the "Forever's gonna start tonight" line, which always makes me feel positive!)

Right, enough justification, no-one's gonna agree with me anyway!!

7: Muse - New Born

I'm not really a huge Muse fan, and this song is why. I only ever used to listen to Muse with my ex, and now whenever I hear anything from Origin of Symmetry I want to cry. I find their music far too emotional even without all the relationship stuff that I associate with it now, so I really can't listen to this anymore.

It's a great song though, with one of the best riffs in history slap bang in the middle of it!

Onwards!

8: Alicia Keys - Fallin'

Oh, our Alicia! I absolutely loved "Songs in A Minor" and listened to it constantly when I first got it. Unfortunately, I first got it just when I split up with bastard ex boyfriend (no, really, I'm not bitter!), and so a lot of it reminds me of him. Luckily, not this track! Much as I tried to make this apply to my situation with him when I listened to it, I refused to let him tarnish it for me! (so ner ner to you, mr nasty!).

Fallin' was probably Alicia's best known single, and for good reason - it's a fabulous song, and somehow manages to strike a chord with everyone who's ever been confused about their feelings

"I keep on fallin' in and out of love with you
Sometimes I love you, sometimes you make me blue"

I tend to think that every romantic situation anyone's ever in is a lot like that - a little confusing, and swinging between two extremes.

9: Ella Fitzgerald - Bewitched

Ok, so it's not only Ella who's sung this jazz standard, but her version is the one that does the most for me. Again, this is a song I identify with - it's about being totally besotted with a man, only to realise he's a bastard and to snap out of the silly infatuation. The song starts by showing the extent of the singer's fixation on this man.

"I'm wild again, beguiled again,
A simpering, wimpering child again,
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I."

By the end, however, we see a complete turnaround.

"Romance - fini! Your chance - fini!
Those ants that invaded my pants fini!
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered no more."

I love this song - although it's a little dull music wise, I think Ella does a fantastic job of making it listenable, and I really like the girl power message!!

10: Madness - It Must Be Love

Just because it's a nice light-hearted look at love, done in a way only Madness can.

"It must be love, love, love
It must be love, love, love
Nothing more, nothing less, love is the best"

I like it because, despite all of my bad experiences, I still keep my child-like faith in love (very) deep inside of me, and I totally agree with the "Love is the best" message of this song - why should a song have to be deep and meaningful to say something as simple as that?

Thanks for the (ridiculously long!) read!
Louise
xxxxxx