Well, I was scanning through some recent reviews and I came across
bob_tomato’s invitation to participate in his Spread the Love Write-Off.
The idea: come up with songs, singers, lyrics, etc. containing the word
“love” and write about why each is significant. It caught my eye as
something unique and kinda reminded me of playing Encore, the game in
which players must compete to see how many lyrics they can come up with
containing a certain word or theme. So let’s see, here goes…
All You Need Is Love:
Maybe this is kinda tacky since it’s the title of bob_tomato’s entry.
But hey, I’ve gotta include the Beatles. And while this is certainly not
the only song of theirs containing the word “love,” it’s the first one
that popped into my head. Pretty simple statement, and a darn good one
to keep in mind. It also was the mantra of I Am Sam, a movie I enjoyed very much for its Beatles-heavy soundtrack and its heart. And that adorable Dakota Fanning.
Unchained Melody:
That is, “Oh, my love, my darling, I’ve hungered for your touch a long,
lonely time.” Simon Cowell calls it the best song ever written, proving
the crusty curmudgeon has a soft spot somewhere. I always knew he did.
Clay Aiken performed a fantastic rendition of this song on the
second-to-last Tuesday in this year’s American Idol competition, but
even he could not outdo the Righteous Brothers. It’s quite simply a
perfect record, and one of the absolute best love songs ever recorded.
It also is the theme song of Ghost, one of my favorite movies. The orchestral interpretation in the film’s final scene gives me shivers. Good shivers.
For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her:
“Oh, I love you, girl, oh I love you!” And that lyric on the page does
nothing whatsoever to convey the euphoria of Art Garfunkel’s vocals
here. It’s one of the Simon and Garfunkel songs that Art gets to
himself, and he makes the most of it, letting his voice float ethereally
along until this final crescendo. His extended notes aggravated me when
I first heard them at the age of 8, but not anymore. I think they’re
brilliant.
Long Line of Love / What’s Forever For:
I’ll group these songs together because we were talking about both of
them the other day. The latter poses the question “If love never lasts
forever, tell me, what’s forever for?” Both are Michael Martin Murphy
songs, or at least songs which he recorded. The first talks of the
enduring love spouses have for one another in a particular family tree,
while the second bemoans the fact that so many people in love are
throwing it away. While I’m at it, I’ll throw in Randy Travis’ Forever and Ever, Amen: “I’m gonna love you forever, forever and ever, amen.” Along the same lines as Long Line of Love,
and a very catchy tune with cute lyrics. I especially like “As long as
old men sit and talk about the weather, as long as old women sit and
talk about old men.”
So In Love: An old barbershop-type
song with some really swinging harmony. I’ve heard several versions of
this; my favorite is Art Garfunkel’s. Just a very fun song with a '50s
feel to it.
I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon: My
favorite Muppet song, sung by my favorite Muppet. I like it so much I
used it as the basis for my screen name on Muppet Central. This song is
rather atypical of Ernie, who is usually so hyper and adventurous. He’s
caught in a contemplative mode here, gazing out at the night sky and
realizing that there’s no place like home. He wants to go away and see
the world, but only for a short time. “Though I’d love to look down at
the Earth from above, I would miss all the places and people I love.”
So It Goes:
I’ve got this one on a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album, sung by John
Denver, who I love forever. Lousy Long-EZ. This is a nice slow
country-Gospel song discussing the ultimate impermanence of everything
in the world except for love. A really pretty song with a nice message.
“…Mountains will disappear, rivers will dry up. So it goes with
everything but love.”
Longer: One of my favorite love
songs, it’s very quiet, contrasting the grandiose scale on which the
lyrics work. Just a beautiful, fairly simple song, touching in its
earnestness and sincerity. “Longer than there’ve been stars up in the
heavens, I’ve been in love with you.” And while I’m on Dan Fogelberg, I
might as well point to another of his songs, also on the Greatest Hits
album. There aren’t a whole lot of songs out there that I am aware of
that are about fathers. I’ve fast become a fan of Luther Vandross’ Dance With My Father, and I also love Harry Chapin’s unsettling Cat’s in the Cradle, but Leader of the Band
takes the cake. A mellow tribute to Fogelberg’s father (I presume this
is autobiographical), it tries to sum up what this man has meant to him.
Very touching. “Papa, I don’t think I’ve said ‘I love you’ near
enough.”
Candle on the Water: I am an absolute sucker
for Disney, and given their long track record of love songs, I would be
remiss to not include at least one. And this is one of the most gorgeous
songs in the entire Disney canon. When I think about it, it’s actually
quite similar to what I generally call my favorite song, Bridge Over Troubled Water.
Similar theme (when you’re in trouble, I’ll be there for you), and even
a similar metaphor (in both cases, the water is the source of trouble;
the bridge allows safe crossing from one shore to another while the
lighthouse allows one already in the water to guide themselves safely to
shore). Helen Reddy did a beautiful job with this in Pete’s Dragon,
and it is always the first song I think of even though the man to whom
the song is addressed only shows up at the very end. It’s also a song of
faith, believing in something beautiful against the odds. “I’ll be your
candle on the water. My love for you will always burn.”
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me:
I’ve got Clay Aiken on the brain, so I had to stick in one of his
songs. Well, I guess I did already, but one where I think he might’ve
even outdone the original. Practically every song Clay performed on American Idol
contained the word “love,” but I’m going with this one because it’s the
song that changed him from geek to chic in the American perception. He
already had a lot of fans before this, but he still seemed like a long
shot until he blew everybody away on Wild Card night with this song.
Man, what a performance. I love Elton John, and there is nothing wrong
with his own original version of the song, but Clay’s is so terrific, I
think he may have even shown up Sir Elton. “These cuts I have, they need
love to help them heal.”
Theme song from Sharon Lois and Bram’s Elephant Show:
Hey, at least it’s not Barney, who couldn’t even come up with his own
tune for his ever-so-irritating theme song! Okay, I guess it’s not that
bad, but in its heyday I got awfully tired of it. But I used to watch
the Elephant show when I was little, and I even got to see these guys in
concert once (minus the elephant, I believe). It’s a fun upbeat song,
and I suppose it doesn’t have much more lyrical merit than Barney’s
song, but I like it anyway. “Skinnamarinky dinky dink, skinnamarinky
doo, I love you.”
Well, I could go on for pages; I can think
of dozens of songs containing the word “love,” and these are just the
first few that randomly popped into my head. But I think I’ll give it a
rest before I get too carried away and leave some of those other dozens
to the other participants! Check out bob_tomato’s entry, and those of
whoever else decides to participate. Let’s spread this love as far as it
can go!
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