Sometimes I have it up to here with “heavy” love songs, you know, those I’ll rip my heart out and stomp it into the floorboards for you, baby types. I like the feeling of being in love as much as the next guy, but love shouldn’t be a burden and love songs shouldn’t be a set up for heartbreak. No, I can’t go for that.
I typically like my love songs light and breezy. I was listening to The Zombies song “I Want Her, She Wants Me”. That’s a sentiment I can get behind. Colin Blunstone is so sweet and innocent. The backing musicians are just as tender. It’s no wonder the girl wants him. He’s a teddy bear in horn-rimmed specs! Dionne Warwick’s “You’ll Never Get to Heaven if You Break My Heart” – there’s another light love song.
I’m no teddy bear – don’t think I’m fooling myself – but if the love song’s not about outright gettin’ it on, then let my love open the door after politely knocking, you know what I mean? With rare exceptions (eg, “Don’t Let Me Down” and other, similar Lennon psychodramas), I have little desire to meditate on how downright emotionally dependent I am on the love of my life. Do you prefer your love songs heavy or light?
I can go with heavy or light–sorry for the cop-out re the question–but what gets to me about love songs is that I don’t like it when the singer seems like an idiot. I don’t mean “a pleasant acknowledgment that love often makes us feel like idiots,” which is fine with me. But if the lyric makes it seem like the singer has more or less gotten what he or she deserved for being such a jackass and yet doesn’t seem to know it, then their pain or pleasure becomes laughable. I’m also not trying to write off characters in the grip of obsession who recognize that they’re obsessed. So I guess I’m saying that there has to be some level of awareness regarding the condition of love in the song, especially if it’s a heavy love song but not exclusively. I’m trying to think of some examples against which to test what I’m saying here.
Ah, I can think of one: the db’s “Happenstance,” a song I quite like in some ways. But the guy sounds too obnoxious: “all I ever wanted was to make you so damn happy” and “Think for yourself/think of me” are contradictory at best, and when linked to his insults of both the mother and the daughter, it seems like getting rid of him was just sensible.
Some of you have heard this complaint of mine about the db’s before. Whiners, real whiners.
I am not surprised that there was not much feedback on this question. Those who frequent the Halls of Rock probably did not grow up with much need for such songs. Hope all is well!
mwall, a good test might be Randy Newman, who sings all his love songs in character, and rarely offers an insight that goes beyond that character’s often limited perspective.