Nevermind The Posers

Love can be a lot of things. It can be blind or a battlefield; it can be a mystery or a riddle; you can fall in or out love.  Love is also great fodder for songs, whether it’s new or old love, a make-up or a break-up.  Last week NVMP covered our favorite songs for the scorned lover, but this week we tackle our favorite love songs.

Editor’s Note: I’ve been on vacation the past week with my boyfriend in Georgia. He’ll be contributing his love songs picks to NVMP’s Top 5 this week!
– Dan

Tina’s Top 5:
5. “1,000 Miles Per Hour” by OkGo – This song is beautiful; it’s about two people running away together from all of their problems.
4. “Until The Day I Die” by Story of the Year
3. “I Will” by The Beatles – “Love you forever and forever/love you with all my heart/love you whenever we’re together/love you when we’re apart.” Perfect.
2. “Truly, Madly, Deeply” by Savage Garden – I deemed this my wedding song when I was 12 years old.  Beautiful, melts my heart every time I hear it.
1. “I’ll Catch You” by The Get Up Kids – One of those songs that can bring me to tears with only the first chord.  If my soul-mate hated this song, I’d be forced to say ‘hit the road Jack’.

Honorable mentions: “Fidelity” by Regina Spektor, “Two of Us” by The Beatles, “All I Want Is You” by Barry Louis Polisar, “Movie Loves A Screen” by April Smith and the Great Picture Show

Dan’s Top 5:
5. “Sanctuary” by Utada Hikaru
4. “Hard to Concentrate” by Red Hot Chili Peppers – This song sounds like someone’s wedding vows.
3. “The Real Thing” by Gwen Stefani – A light pop diddy about love.
2. “Out of Control (State of Emotion)” by Kenna – From the lyrics to the driving beats, this song wraps up all the confusion, joy, anxiety and happiness that comes with love and puts it in an upbeat little package.  It’s about being completely and unabashedly in love.
1. “Stricken” by No Doubt – It’s a simple, sweet song about being stricken by love.

Honorable Mention: “Drive You Home” by Garbage, “Right Back Where We Started From” by Maxine Nightengale, “Wishbone” by Architecture in Helsinki

D.J.’s Top 5:
5. “Who’s Gonna Love You” by The Pussycat Dolls
4.  “I Did It For Love” by BOA
3.  “Meet Me Halfway” by Black Eyed Peas
2. “Piece of Your Heart” by Natasha Bedingfield
1. “Make You Feel My Love” by ADELE

Stigz’s Top 5:
5. “How’s It Gonna Be” by Third Eye Blind – An extremely sappy and old school track, this definitely gets at the angst, uncertainty, and emotional torrent that we call love.
4. “You Are My Everything” by Mary J. Blige – I’m not exactly a fan of R&B or hip hop per say, but an ex-girlfriend turned me on to this song, and it definitely evokes the St. Valentine’s Spirit.
3. “Water Runs Dry” by Boyz II Men – Anybody that’s been to a middle school dance knows this one, and if you listen to it when you get older, it definitely takes on a new life and meaning once you get past the fact you’re listening to Boyz II Men.
2. “Take Me Away” by 4 Strings – A classic dance track that, whether you’re intoxicated or not, makes you feel at home and safe in your own skin.  If you haven’t heard it, check it out.
1. “Monkey Knife Fight” by Minus the Bear – This track absolutely and completely paints a picture, a portrait, of a love affair.  Not using cliché lyrics and over the top hyperbole, this song delves into the smaller things, specifically the lines, “Windows down wide/all the city lights just blur/my eyes on the lights her head on my shoulder,” which delineates the connection between two people without the bells and whistles of cliché ballads we all too often hear.

Dave’s Top 5:
5. “Truly, Madly, Deeply” by Savage Garden – A guilty pleasure to say the least, Savage Garden solidified their status as a mushy, relationship band with this track.
4. “Always” by Bon Jovi – Sometimes Jersey boys say it best.
3. “Angel” by Aerosmith – A classic the moment it was written, this song is definitely responsible for a few “surprise” love-children.
2. “Love Is On The Way” by Saigon Kick – Cheesy…80s…Decadent.
1. “For Cryin’ Out Loud” by Meatloaf – Epic and bold, the way love anthems were meant to be.

Caroline’s Top 5:
5. “My Best Girl” by Lucero
4. “Wildflowers” by Tom Petty
3. “Everlong” (Acoustic) by Foo Fighters
2. “Beyond The Sea” by Bobby Darin
1. “All I Want Is You” by U2

Greg’s Top 5:
5. “From This Moment” by Shania Twain – The moment of saying “I do” that forever connects you to your beloved.  How cute.
4. “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston – I will always love you, ‘nuff said.
3. “I’m Already There” by Lonestar – I don’t like country, the music, the artists, the message, but when I heard this song for the first time, I fell in love with it.  It was 9/13/01 and some news program was showing a montage of fathers who had died in the WTC.  The idea of the person you love being gone but still there as “the moonlight on your hair” still makes me choke up.
2. “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” by Death Cab For Cutie – This song is so touching –  I have always wanted someone to say to me that they would follow me into the dark.
1. “I Want To Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles – I believe this to be one of the best love songs ever.  It’s about young love, when holding hands is best thing in the world.  Isn’t that what we all want, just someone to hold our hand?

Angela’s Top 5:
5. “You’re My First, My Last, My Everything” by Barry White
4. “Down on Bended Knee” by Boyz II Men
3. “I Swear” by All 4 One
2. “And I Love Her” by The Beatles
1. “You Are So Beautiful” by Joe Cocker – It’s my parents’ wedding song.  I had to.

Mark’s Top 5:
5. “Pictures of You” by The Cure – Do I really have to explain why it is such a great, agonizing love song?

4. “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel – The realization of love.  Who hasn’t cried just a little when hearing this song?  I sure haven’t… ahem.
3. “Limits of our Love” by Charlotte Martin – Taking risks and shouldering each other’s problems; do what you can to make something that feels right work.
2. “Lucky Cloud” by Arthur Russell – A sweet and simple Cello led tune.  Who hasn’t gone overboard from one kiss?
1. “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode – The absolute king of the gloomy love song.  Eerily accurate.