Lover's Music

Yes, it's that time of the year were we need to be all gooey and romantic. Now last year, I made a post called "Music to Swoon To", that was dedicated to a new relationship, and was focused mainly on avoiding that dreaded L-Word. Now, here we are a year later, and I have decided that I am going to move forward this year and not avoid dropping the L-bomb, if you are at the point where you are using some these songs to get romantic with your special somebody, then sub out a few of the songs (i.e. all of the ones with "Love" in the title), and take a few from last year's list, namely "Ambulance", "Baby This Night", "Crosses", and "Safe and Sound".

While last year's post included some classics like "Wild Horses" and "Wonderwall", this year I am instead going to focus on being Indie-ish as possible. The main reason being that if you have been with someone for a long time, it's good to try and expand their horizons a bit and music as an easy and great way to do that.

Now that the preamble is over, here we go...

1. New Radicals -- "Mother, We Just Can't Get Enough". This may just be my favourite opening song off of any album, any time. It's simply an amazing burst of energy to kick off a romantic album. It really captures the emotion that it's title suggests, as you can really feel the passion in Greg Alexander's voice as he tells his mother how great his new girlfriend is.

Most Romantic Line: "There's something about you that makes me fly/You're a heart attack, just the kind I like"

2. Wolf Parade -- "This Heart's On Fire". Another great, energetic song that really captures the feeling of being madly in love and having your heart feel like it's on fire.

Most Romantic Line: "And you're my favourite thing/ tell it everywhere I go/ I don't know what to do/ This heart's on fire"

3. The National -- "Slow Show". And here we start to slow things down, with this beautiful song by this fantastic band. This song is all about getting tired of playing for a crowd, and just wanting to put on a "slow show" for that special person. Like all of The National's songs it sounds so very intimate and personal, and the bit at the end about dreaming someone up, is so eloquent and gorgeous, a must for lover's everywhere!

Most Romantic Line: "I wanna hurry home to you/put on a slow, dumb show for you and crack you up"

4. Peter Bjorn & John -- "Paris, 2004". From the opening notes right down the beautifully simplistic lyrics, this song is not afraid to take a refreshingly juvenile approach to love. The chorus line of "I'm all about you, you're all about me, we're all about each other", describes the butterflies in one of the sweetest ways imaginable.

Most Romantic Line: " We need this precious time just to comprehend"

5. Amy Milan -- "Skinny Boy". It's no secret to followers of this blog that I LOVE Amy Milan, she's amazing, beautiful, and incredibly talented. This song is so very personable, and maybe as a skinny boy, I think that maybe she's singing it to me...a boy can dream, can't he?

Most Romantic Line: "You've got lips that I could spend a day with"

6. Michael Franti & Spearhead -- "Firefly" (Sorry, that was the only stream I could find). This song has some powerful imagery, as it describes a couple as firefly's, who are busy glowing. Plus Franti does have a sexy man voice (I'm not ashamed to admit that) so it helps to throw this out there on a Lover CD.

Most Romantic Line: " I’ll be your firefly, so you can see/Your way to me at midnight"

7. Bloc Party -- "Tulips". Now the pace starts to pick up again with this track from the oft-forgotten Little Thoughts EP. This is a great song for recognizing that special someone and realizing that you two are meant to be together. This is also the part of the CD where the L-bombs start falling all over the place.

Most Romantic Line: " It's as pure as fire/It's as pure as snow/I knew that I'd found you"

8. Ryan Adams -- "Gonna Make You Love Me". Now that we've established that you love them, you need to get them on board. This is a great song about doing all sorts of romantic gestures to prove your love.

Most Romantic Line: " They say love is hell, /But I've only been laughin' ever since I fell/It's only gonna make me love you more"

9. Cake -- "Love You Madly". I simply love this song. It's lyrics are both adorable and profound, and the upbeat tone really adds to the excitement of being in love. Simply a must for this CD.

Most Romantic Line: THE ENTIRE SONG!!!!!!! But if I had to choose, I'd take... "I don't want to hold back/I don't want to slip down/I don't want to think back to the one thing that I know I
Should have done"

10. Guillemots -- "Made Up Lovesong #43". If this song doesn't melt your heart, I really don't know what will. It is so cute and sweet, and just makes me feel very warm and gooey. The repeated chorus line of "I love you through sparks and shinning dragons, I do" is proof that sometimes less really is more.

Most Romantic Line: "The best things come from nowhere, I can't believe you care"

11. Feist -- "New Torch"(Stream unavailable...sorry). Sure, everyone loves Feist, but few people have heard her songs from before The Reminder, and even fewer have heard them from before Let it Die. However, this song from Monarch is well worth looking into. This song is so enchanting and beautiful, the lyrics make is sound so very personal and intimate, but the orchestral accompaniment makes it sound epic and grand, a very rare feat to say the least.

Most Romantic Line: "Be mine through time /This way leads into the garden green"

12. Iron & Wine -- "Waiting' For a Superman" (It's no stream, but hopefully the free download will do...). The one cover to make this list, as Iron & Wine reinvents the Flaming Lips classic. I can really take either version, but the Iron & Wine version just sounds so very wispy and surreal, which fits into the concept of being "saved" by "Superman" (i.e. you). This song is great at describing how overwhelming (but exciting) this kind of thing can be.

Most Romantic Line: "It's getting heavy/Well I thought it was already as heavy as can be"

13. Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- "Porcelain" (Man this is a bad stream, trust me the studio version of this song is amazing). This song picks up where "Waitin' For A Superman" leaves off, as it describes overcoming your fears of a commitment and relationships and being able to move forward.

Most Romantic Line: "Baby I'm afraid of a lot of things but I ain't scared of loving you"

14. Sufjan Stevens -- "To Be Alone with You". I was half tempted to just put the entire album of Seven Swans up here and call it a day, but I figure that would be cheating. Sufjan's amazing voice describes all that he would do to be alone with someone special. What follows is like The Notebook...only for your ears (and not depressing).

Most Romantic Line: "To be alone with me you went up on the tree"

15. Stars --"My Favourite Book". Surely you must have known that at least one song by Stars would make this list. They are wonderful, I love them so much. This is an Amy Milan song, as Torq doesn't sing in this one, but it's still fantastic. It's a great song about the comfort of a relationship, or really, it's just a great song period.

Most Romantic Line: "Because I never knew a home, until I found your hands"

16. The John Butler Trio -- "Seeing Angels". Another sweet song by the JBT, this one talking about someone who is so amazing that they don't seem real. Hopefully that describes your other half.

Most Romantic Line: "For I'm transparent in the light of you. /And look inside, see that fire burning bright"

17. Wilco -- "I'm the Man Who Loves You". This is another of those ones that you may want to avoid if you haven't dropped the L-Bomb, and I'm sorry that this song really only fits if you are a guy giving it to a woman, if not perhaps add "Inside and Out" by Feist, it should do the trick. Anyway, the purpose of this song really is self-explanatory, a song about showing someone how much you love them.

Most Romantic Line: "But if I could you know I would, just hold your hand and you'd understand/I'm the man who loves you"

18. Travis -- "Flowers in the Window". This song is a great at describing that indescribable feeling of having someone make a profound change on your life, perfect for a lovey mix, everyone likes to feel special after all.

Most Romantic Line: "But there are many seasons to feel glad, sad, mad/It's just a bunch of feelings that we have to hold /But I am here to help you with the load"

19. Joseph Arthur -- "Echo Park". I know, I used this song on another playlist, but it really is an inspiring bit of a poetry. This song captures so much of the special bits of a relationship that make it worthwhile.

Most Romantic Line: "The fire never understands the spark/The way it is for you and me"

20. Broken Social Scene -- "Lover's Spit". This is one of the all-time great BSS songs, and it is a great one to end this list with (If you would rather, there is a great Feist version from Beehives, since I already included Feist, I figured that I would give Drew a chance to shine here). It's a fantastic song about growing up both personally and within the confines of a relationship. It's a great one to end it off with because it gives a great sense of moving forward

Most Romantic Line: " You know its time that we grow old and do some shit"


And on that note, I'm off...I hope that all of you out in blog land are having a happy V-Day, I'm stuck on library duty tonight...how romantic...

Until next time,

G