Traditionalists, romantics and cynics who would like to get laid next Saturday night, order your roses now! Valentine's Day is a mere 8 days away. If you wait much longer you'll be sporting a pot of mums on the big night and, trust me, mums will get you nowhere.
In honor of our annual celebration of love (or cheap romance if you prefer), I've compiled a list of my favorite love songs. Before I launch into it, I'd better take a moment to clarify my definition of what constitutes a love song. I'm pretty sure I deviate radically from the common wisdom on this.
A love song is simply a song about love. It is does not have to be about any one particular kind of love. For instance, according to my criteria The Troggs' Wild Thing is a love song as is Biggie Smalls' One More Chance. A love song also does not have to be about any one particular phase of love. For instance, Dylan's Don't Think Twice, It's Alright is a love song even though it's about a romance's bitter end and not it's elated beginnings.
With my analytical framework now clearly established, I present to you my list of my favorite love songs. If you think this is totally off base and that I'm really just a bitter and withered husk of a human being, please let me know. Just try to put it more nicely than I did :
This article appears in Feb 4-10, 2009.