Top 5 Love Songs

I remember once reading a rant by R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe about the "odiousness" of love songs and his pride that his band really didn't do them. Of course, most people could easily rattle off a couple numbers from the group that most would objectively call love songs, namely "The One I Love" or "Strange Currencies."

And, course, Stipe isn't totally wrong. Many love songs can be overwrought and syrupy. But that hardly means there aren't volumes of shining examples. The bulk of the catalogs of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are comprised of love songs. Few would consider them odious songwriters. Meanwhile, the Austin, Tex., quartet Quiet Company (NMT) has devoted their entire collection to non-schmaltzy songs concerning love.

What follows in this special Valentine's Day edition of New Music Tuesdays are my five favorite songs about and informed by love. Certainly, you may have your own list. That's great. Feel free to share yours in the comments.

#5 – "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)"
The Decemberists (NMT, NMT)
The Crane Wife (2006)



I initially considered making this list consist entirely of Decemberists material. Maybe next year. Few songwriters are as able to craft original yet endearing love songs as the Portland, Ore., quintet's frontman, Colin Meloy. It doesn't get much more creative than this posthumous love letter from a departed Civil War solider on the Union side to his Confederate sweetheart, a duet beautifully delivered by Meloy and Laura Veirs (NMT).

Key lyric: "But oh my love, though our bodies may be parted, though our skin may not touch skin.  Look for me with the sun-bright sparrow, I will come on the breath of the wind..."

#4 – "She's An Angel"
They Might Be Giants (NMT, NMT)
They Might Be Giants (1986)



Few observers think of the duo of Johns – Flansbaugh and Linnell – who constitute They Might Be Giants (TMBG) as purveyors of love songs. And that's a correct perception, as most of their lyrical compositions focus on matters of science, humor and oddity. But this cut from their self-titled debut has staying power among the Johns' most sincere – if slightly paranoid – contributions on matters of the heart.

Key lyric: "I found out she's an angel, I don't think she knows I know. I'm worried that something might happen to me If anyone ever finds out."

#3 –  "I'll Be That Girl"
Barenaked Ladies
Stunt (1998)


Much like TMBG, Canada's chief musical humor export are seldom recognized for their more serious offerings, although they actually comprise a greater portion of the band's oeuvre. Not only is this lesser-known track of the group's U.S. breakout record among the best numbers on that album, but it ranks among the best songwriting the now-departed, former co-frontman Steven Page (NMT) contributed to the band, due to its dark, role-reversal theme resting upon seemingly cheery pop-rock instrumentation.

Key lyric: "It's time to kick off your shoes, learn how to choose sadness. It's time to throw off those chains, addle our brains with madness. 'Cause we've got plenty of time to grow old and die, but when at last your beauty's faded you'll be glad that I have waited for you..."

#2 – "We Both Go Down Together"
The Decemberists
Picaresque (2005)



Meloy is particularly prolific in churning out love songs in the star-crossed lovers archetype ("O Valencia!," "From My Own True Love (Lost At Sea)," the William/Margaret storyline in The Hazards of Love), but, of those, this is unquestionably his best.

Key lyric: "Meet me on my vast veranda, My sweet, untouched Miranda! And while the seagulls are crying, we fall but our souls are flying!"

#1 – "The Gambler"
fun. (NMT, NMT)
Aim & Ignite (2009)



fun. frontman Nate Ruess poured everything he knew about love songs into a fragile but convicting piano ballad from the New York trio's debut. It's not Ruess' own experience of romantic love, but that of his parents. Personally, your blogger and his wife chose it for their first dance. I'm know we weren't the first or last.

Key lyric: "I swear when I grow up I won't just buy you a rose, I will buy the flower shop, and you will never be lonely. For even if the sun stops waking up over the fields, I will not leave, I will not leave 'til it's our time. So just take my hand, you know that I will never leave your side..."

Steven Page

Just over two years ago, then-Barenaked Ladies (BNL) co-frontman and founder Steven Page was arrested for possession of cocaine in Syracuse, N.Y. Though Page was cooperative with police, and subsequent legal negotiations led to the charges being reduced, the incident marked the beginning of the end of his tenure with the band. He officially quit the band he helped to form and propel to stardom on February 24, 2009, and turned his musical direction to a solo career. Although he released his first solo album, The Vanity Project, in 2005 while still active in BNL, and produced A Singer Must Die – an album of covers and new arrangements of some of his BNL-era material – today's release of Page One truly marks the full-fledged start of his independent work.

Those familiar with Page's contributions to the much-loved Toronto quintet will surely recognize much of the same sound on the 12-track effort, beginning with the lead-off number, "A New Shore." The song's topic is plainly clear – his journey as a solo artist – as reflected in the opening lyrics, "I'm relinquishing command for something I do not understand / this man's about to turn his whole life upside down." Tying the risks of his solo material to a sailor on an uncertain quest, Page makes his hesitations and motivations obvious in the uptempo number, which any BNL fans comfortable with cuts such as "Call Me Calmly" or "Trust Me" will find familiar. The combination of Page's distinctive and powerful tenor along with his well-honed songwriting talents are no less diminished here than on his recent BNL work, although the bridge part here noticably misses the instrumental prowess of his now-former BNL mates, especially Tyler Stewart's drumming.

Meanwhile, first single "Indecision" is a sunny pop rocker, much in the "Its All Been Done" or "Too Little, Too Late" vein. Featuring clean and brisk guitars matched with catchy harmonies, its a solid, hooky product, but also one that complements his late BNL career offerings on the double album, Barenaked Ladies Are Me(n), such as "Bull in a China Shop" or "Running Out of Ink." It's a safe and smart move for Page, who could tend to drift towards overly somber or sentimental numbers on occasion in his former group.

And yet, Page's best BNL material flirted with dark and threatening subjects wound into structures that highlighted the heart of his emotional range along with the musical character of the band. Page-crafted BNL songs like "Brian Wilson," "Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank," "I'll Be That Girl" and "Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel" explored weighty or even morbid themes while introducing enough humor or clever songwriting to reach a more thoughtful destination. Thankfully the trend continues here on a pair of tracks in "Over Joy" and "Leave Her Alone." The former is more breezy pop, lifting Page's self-diagnosis of depression and shame into something more optimistic via its upbeat tone, while the latter is a brassy, big-band style number, with its horns and rolling piano boosting his thoughts on parental concern.

Much of the material is clearly self-referential, including reflections on his relationship with Christine Benedicto – who was also arrested in connection with the cocaine incident – in numbers like "She's Trying to Save Me," and "The Chorus Girl," the last of which explicitly points to the incident, as Page notes, "there’ll be no waiting limos / No cocaine and discos / I gave that all up for the chorus girl." There are also a couple of ideas that don't work quite as well, in the form of "Entourage" – a less interesting version of his BNL track from their Everything to Everyone record, "Celebrity" – and "If You Love Me," which is just a touch too quirky for Page's style.

Come for: "Indecision"
Stay for: "A New Shore"
You'll be surprised by: "Leave Her Alone"