Music and love, love and music. Pain and music, love and pain. Want to take the edge off of the intense loneliness of being away from a significant other during Valentine's Day? Head over to the Davenport Lounge, get the "Lover's Special" (four shots of espresso - "If you're going to be alone for Valentine's Day, why not be up all night thinking about it?"), turn off the lights in your room and jam these tunes.
10."Next To You" by the Police ("I can't stand it for another day/When you live so many miles away") Anger will certainly develop in a long-distance relationship, but this song never lets go of the reason for such rage: the inability to fully express love. Sting also has a chiseled face.
9. "Care of Cell 44" by the Zombies ("It's gonna be good to have you back again with me/Watching the laughter play around your eyes) This song's conceit of being in prison is not far-fetched - it's actually a logical analogy to the isolation of a long-distance relationship. However, where the Zombies truly triumph here is their focus on the anticipation and giddiness of reunion.
8. "Child's Play" by Ghostface Killah ("Puppy love, gorgeous face, amazed by lip gloss/Cherry scent, when the princess spoke, yo it bounced off)
7. "Thirteen" by Big Star ("Won't you tell me what you're thinking of?/Would you be an outlaw for my love?")
It's only right for two songs that capture the nostalgia and innocence of young love to be linked together. Remembering the nudity of a relationship's start is key to linking lovers emotionally while they are separated physically. These two artists transport the listener back to an intriguing period of love so vividly that you may feel 13 again. Plus, who knows love better than the man who said, "I love bitches with brains on them" and calls himself rap's Boy George?
6. "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space" by Spiritualized (All I want in life's a bit of love to take the pain away") The entire first verse should really be cited on this track. Spiritualized's Jason Spaceman toys with the parallels between love and drugs until it becomes unclear and unimportant which is which. Long distance love is hazy, but it can also be blissful.
5. "Lover's Spit" byBroken Social Scene ("All these people drinking lover's spit/They sit around and clean their face with it") If you're going to be in a relationship with someone who lives 3,000 miles away, you better love them enough to tolerate a little of their saliva on your face.
4. "Book of Love" by the Magnetic Fields ("The book of love has music in it/In fact that's where music comes from/Some of it is just transcendental/Some of it is just really dumb") Of course the ultimate album about love (the Magnetic Fields' "69 Love Songs," a damn good Valentine's Day gift) must yield a track for this list. "Book of Love" finds that perfect place between disdain for clich? and being absolutely cuckoo in love. It reminds those torn apart how real such a vague concept can be.
3. "Nomadic Revery" by Bonnie "Prince" Billy ("If you're not with me tomorrow/That would be the worst") The last verse of this song keeps ascending to the next level of emotional catharsis until eventually Will Oldham effectively collapses under the weight of his sorrow. He needs his lover and instead his only consolations are his majestic beard and mad indie cred.
2. "Hyperballad" by Bjork ("I go through this ... so I can feel happier/To be safe up here with you") Bjork gets love. She throws things off of a mountain (including, figuratively, her own body) to make herself feel assured and safe with her companion. It really is as simple as her metaphor: lovers go through what they have to for the ultimate salvation and comfort of each other.
1. "When You Sleep" by My Bloody Valentine Not "Such Great Heights!" MBV are the ultimate band at articulating without decipherable words, and this is the band at their peak. "When You Sleep" makes sprouting wings and flying to be with your love seem possible, and that's only in the first six seconds.
