February is the month where we celebrate love in the air, a time for us to have the opportunity to express or love and appreciation for the special people in our lives. The one thing I always think about when Valentines season comes around is my 7th grade history teacher making us listen to the Valentines playlist he made for his wife. Since that day, I’ve also thought about making my own playlist of my five favorite songs that surround the topic of love.
1) Waiting For a Star to Fall by Boy Meets Girl
Written by the duo that wrote the iconic hits “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” and “How Will I Know” for Whitney Houston, Waiting for a Star to Fall captures the quintessential sound of 80s pop with its twinkling synths and dreamy melody. With longing lyrics like “trying to catch your heart, is like trying to catch a star” and “I can’t love you this much baby, and love you from this far,” the song is a perfect daydream-while-looking-outside-of-your-window song to listen to when thinking about your secret crush.
2) Revelator Eyes by The Paper Kites
This is by far one of my favorite songs that my ears have ever had the honor of listening to. Coming from The Paper Kites experimental album ‘twelvefour,’ an album at was only produced during what’s rumored to be the most creative time of day (12am to 4am), this electric guitar driven song encapsulates the feelings of beginning infatuation when you are drawn to someone. Lyrics such as “give me a little reason to refuse my center, shifting in the feelings of a sweet surrender” accurately describes the push and pull feeling of when you first lay eyes on someone you like. Reminiscent of major 80s rock elements with the use of drum machines and electric guitar leading the song melody, The Paper Kites still manage to keep a hint of their folk touch through their harmonic singing melodies. This song is the perfect song that describes the thrill of laying eyes on someone for the first time and feeling the sparks.
3) Edge of Desire by John Mayer
John Mayer has a way with words and Edge of Desire is a prime example of his talents. While this song is more stripped down with only guitar, bass and drums building the foundation of the melody, Mayer’s voice longingly leads the melody with words that describe the intense hunger one feels to the point of willing to change your whole world for that person. Lyrics like “love is really nothing, but a dream that keeps waking me” and “I want you so bad I’ll go back on the things I believe, there I just said it, I’m scared you’ll forget about me.” John makes you feel the greed of someone who is ready to give up everything just to be with the person he loves.
4) Mi Corazoncito by Aventura
My childhood was filled with many bachata songs, so maybe I’m biased, but a love playlist isn’t a love playlist without a bachata song. Mi Corazoncito is a sick song about how when you fall for someone, they fill your every daydream and all the fantasies you have of craving that person for yourself, but know it’s crazy to be loving that person so much that you want to keep it a secret because it hasn’t actually happened in real life. This message is driven with translated lines like “it doesn’t matter if in my mind I’m your man, you still don’t belong with me,” and “I spend my days imagining, hoping to have you with me,” showing how he’s not with her and still dreams to be with her despite the fact that he can’t be with his lover.
5) Serendipity by BTS
This song is perfect description and feeling of what it is when you find the person you love and they also reciprocate, as if the stars are aligning for the both of you. Lines that translate to “the cosmos moved for us, there was nothing slightly out of place,” and “ when you called me I became your flower. As if we were waiting, we bloom until we ache,” while being delicately painted by tiny soft melodies from Jimin’s harmonies with himself and the high tones in the background with a well-placed acoustic guitar during the bridge softening the song before the beat slightly drops. This gives the melody a more whimsical faraway, feeling with slow trap beats giving structure to the song.