Five Favorite . . . .

Love songs! I stole this idea from Tyler, who has been planning his version since Valentines Day and has yet to actually post it. Typical . . . Anyway, it was super hard to pick just five of my favorites, so there might be a part two coming your way in the future. I like my love songs generally angst and mush free and a little quirky. Sometimes Old Fashioned. It's hard to beat Nat King Cole's L-O-V-E. So here are mine. They aren't in any particular order of favorite to least favorite or anything like that. If you haven't heard them before I encourage you to look them up on Youtube.

1. Such Great Heights by The Postal Service
I must say that I love the lead man for Death Cab for Cutie (The Postal Service is his solo project) because his lyrics are a little strange but definitely encapsulates the feeling of the song. The tone of this song is warm and sweet without overdoing it. My favorite lyrics are:

I am thinking it's a sign that the freckles
In our eyes are mirror images and when
We kiss they're perfectly aligned
And I have to speculate that God himself
Did make us into corresponding shapes like
Puzzle pieces from the clay

Of course, part of the appeal for romantic love is finding somebody that you fit together with seamlessly. The lyrics describe this in a very literal, non cliche way that I love.

2.Better Together by Jack Johnson
I have to admit: This is the song that I picture for myself in my future. Jack Johnson writes very laid back music and most of the time it's just his voice and an acoustic guitar. But this song is about what I want in a husband: a companion. A best friend. Somebody that I want to spend most of my time with. My favorite lyrics come near the beginning of the song.

our dreams, and they are made out of real things
like a shoebox of photographs
with sepia-toned loving
Love is the answer
at least for most of the questions in my heart, like
Why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy and
sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together

3. I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face by Rex Harrison
This is from the movie My Fair Lady, but I prefer the original Broadway version as opposed to the movie version. But anyway, I love this song so much because it's written from the point of view of a very prickly man who is a bit of an asshole and doesn't really know how to word his feelings. He pisses off the woman in his life and she leaves him. This song is sung at the very end of the movie and it's a slow realization, while he argues with himself, of how much he misses her, all the little things about her, even though she drives him crazy. He never actually says "I love her" in the song, but you don't doubt it for a second. My favorite part:

But I'm so used to hear her say
"Good morning" ev'ry day.
Her joys, her woes,
Her highs, her lows,
Are second nature to me now;
Like breathing out and breathing in.
I'm very grateful she's a woman
And so easy to forget;
Rather like a habit
One can always break-
And yet,
I've grown accustomed to the trace
Of something in the air;
Accustomed to her face.

5. Ordinary People by John Legend
This song is amazing because it is a realistic love song. What absolutely kills me about love is that most people seem to think that once you fall in love with someone you're destined to be happy forever with them. They think the honeymoon period lasts fifty years. It doesn't. And when it doesn't people give up and think that the relationship has run it's course.

But this song is about how he loves his wife or girlfriend or whatever, despite the fact that they fight and yell and sometimes make each other miserable. That he wants to work through all the hard times because she is worth it and their relationship is worth it. I could quote the whole song but I'll try to restrain myself.

Girl I'm in love with you,
But this ain't the honeymoon.
We're past the infatuation phase
Right in the thick of love
At times we get sick of love
It seems like we argue everyday

I hang up you call
We rise and we fall
And we feel like just walking away
As our love advances
We take second chances
Though it's not a fantasy
I still want you to stay

I love the chorus best of all.

We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go.
We're just ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow.

I love that. It's so simple: we're just ordinary people. Normal people. We're not perfect, our relationship is not perfect. Sometimes we have no idea what we're doing, but if we slow down we'll make it through. Perfect relationship advice.

5.FNT by Semisonic.
FNT stands for Fascinating New Thing and this song is exactly what a guy should be telling a girl, in my opinion. The Chorus:

I'm surprised that you've never been told before
That you're lovely
And you're perfect
And that somebody wants you
I'm surprised that you've never been told before
That you're priceless
Yeah, you're precious
Even when you are not new

That last line is awesome because it's somebody telling a girl that even after the newness wears off she'll still be amazing to him. My other favorite line:

Fascinating new thing,
Don't betray them by becoming familiar.

That means to me, that the guy wants me to be my weird, quirky, nerdy self because that's what he finds so fascinating. I am unique. Gah! What girl wouldn't want to hear that?!

Out of all of these songs if you only have the time to look up one, I do recommend Ordinary People. I love all of them, but that song is so powerful even though most of the song is just John and a piano.

Word of the Day: Nefarious

extremely wicked or villainous

It's such a cheesy word, but I love it. Nefarious is the guy driving a train and twisting his mustache while a girl lies helpless and tied to the tracks. Classic.