2001-01-19 - 23:59:11

Searching for a Song

I may be a hamster, but I'm not completely oblivious. I know Valentine's Day is coming. It's hard to ignore - every store I've been in has had huge Valentine's displays that have been up since the day after Xmas.

When I was deep in the mire of singlehood, Valentine's Day was definitely one of those holidays that I tried my best to ignore. Generally, I closed my eyes, stuck my fingers in my ears and screamed "LALALALALALALALA!" until it went away.

However this year Valentine's Day looks like fun again. Wheee!

However, Lily and I have a little problem: we don't have an "our song."

Part of the problem is that our tastes in music are so different. I tend to like older music (although I'm starting to find that most songs recorded before 1988 sound "quaint") and she likes more up-to-the-minute stuff.

We've both had "our songs" with some of our previous lovers. With my college girlfriend Anne it was "For My Lady," by the Moody Blues and with Lilac it was "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" by Elton John. Lily's had other favorite songs with some of her previous boyfriends.

So, we've been trying to find a song that we can call "ours."

My first suggestion of "Like I Love You" by Amy Grant was turned down flat. Being forced to listen to too much "Contemporary Christian" music as a child has given Lily an allergy to anything by Ms. Grant.

We have a fallback song if neither of can agree on a tune: "Amazed" by Lone Star. It's a song that happened to be playing at a couple of key moments in our relationship, but I really think we can do better. The bland whiteness of "Country Pop" makes me uneasy and Lily really dislikes country music. In fact, that was the reason she rejected another suggestion of mine: "Are We In Trouble Now?" by Mark Knopfler.

So I decided to take a more serious approach to the problem. I have a huge music library - why not use it? So I sat down and created an "audition tape" of 20 or so songs that I liked that I think might have a chance of being picked by her.

Here they are, in descending order:

SIDE A

23. Art Garfunkel - "I Believe (When I Fall In Love With You It Will Be Forever)"

"The many sounds that meet our ears, the sights our eyes behold, will fill our merging hearts and feed our empty souls."

This Stevie Wonder song has been covered several times, but I think this is the best version.

22. Graham Parker - "Oasis"

Be my oasis, and I'll try not to be your mirage.

New wave angry young man Graham Parker has now been making music for nearly 25 years. Few people are following him now, but he seems as good as ever - his most recent album "Acid Bubblegum" was as sharp as anything he's ever done.

This love song shows his gentler side, an extended metaphor about the world being a desert and his beloved being an oasis.

21. Everly Brothers - "All I Have To Do Is Dream"

I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine anytime, night or day. Only trouble is, gee whiz, I'm dreaming my life away

Lily mentioned that she liked this song, and we could certainly could do much worse than choosing this classic. This reminds me of the time when we were first getting to know each other - much like song #18.

20. Len - "Steal My Sunshine"

Of course you can't become if you say what you would have done, so I missed a million miles of fun.

What the hell is THIS doing here? Well, when I was first getting to know Lily I thought her voice sounded a lot like the female vocalist on this song. Now, some months later, I don’t really hear such a close resemblance. I think it was the way her voice sounded over the phone. Oh well, it's still a cute song and I know she has it on her MP3 playlist.

19. Joan Armatrading - "I Love My Baby"

Love to hear you call my name out loud, love to hear you say I make you proud. Will it end now, we can't say. Will we be happy all the way?

Twenty years ago I was really into Joan Armatrading, but she see seems to have dropped out of sight in recent years. This song, from her 1981 album "The Key" is almost a religious paean to love.

18. Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes - "The Fever"

When I get home from my job, I turn on my TV but I can't keep my mind on the show. When I lay down at night, I can't get no sleep so I turn on the radio. But the only sound I hear is you whispering in my ear, the words you used to say.

I really was torn here because the Bruce Springsteen version of this song is so good, but this version has its good points as well. What eventually made up my mind was the fact that Lily has heard the other version, and this one is 2 and 1/2 minutes shorter.

I didn't really understand this song until I met Lily. In the early stages of getting to know her, I became terminally distracted. I felt this constant pleasant buzz, but I couldn't concentrate on anything to save my life.

17. Marshall Crenshaw - "T.M.D."

Every once in a while I know something that couldn’t be anything else but true, and right here and now I know that I'm truly, madly, deeply in love.

From his album of last year. Crenshaw was forced to abbreviate "Truly, Madly, Deeply" because Savage Garden pretty much put their patent on this phrase with their overplayed song of the same name.

I am kicking myself because I passed up a chance to see Marshall Crenshaw live last week - he was playing at a venue less than a mile from the Hamster Palace. I wasn't feeling good that evening, but so what? I am a dork.

16. Joe Cocker - "You Can Leave Your Hat On"

They don't know what love is - I know what love is.

Heh, heh. This is a naaasty song. Written by Randy Newman, this rendition by rock bluesman Joe Cocker absolutely sizzles. From the soundtrack of the movie 9 1/2 Weeks.

15. Squeeze - "Got To Me"

Love is the lyre that no one can play. Everybody knows how it feels.

British band Squeeze has been making great music for 20 years, but with little success in the U.S. Their 1996 album "Ridiculous" was one of their best, but it was utterly ignored on this side of the Atlantic. The line quoted above is the first line in the song, and for some reason I really dig it.

14. Sting - "Fields Of Gold"

I've never made promises lightly and there have been some I've broken, but I swear in the days still left we'll walk in fields of gold.

A song of amazing warmth - but also regretful and nostalgic. I really like the production work on this song - it seems to wrap the listener like a comforter on a winter's night.

13. Marshall Crenshaw - "Whenever You're On My Mind"

I think about you and forget what I tried to be, everything is foggy and hard to see.

Sigh. See #17.

A good love song, propelled along by some crunchy guitar riffs and a cast-iron beat.

12. Everything But The Girl - "We Walk The Same Line"

If you lose your faith babe, you can have mine. And if you're lost I'm right behind, because we walk the same line.

Something of an anachronism, Everything But The Girl specializes in simple, classic-sounding love songs that could have been written 50 years ago, or this afternoon.

SIDE B

11. Mark Knopfler - "Golden Heart"

Nothing in the world prepared me for your heart, your golden heart.

A beautiful song about an item of jewelry, but really a metaphor for something else. Inspired by this song, I bought Lily an actual golden heart pendant - just about the only item of jewelry she owns. Lily really appreciated the gesture, but I think this song is too countyish for her tastes.

10. Duprees - "You Belong To Me"

Fly the ocean in a silver plane, watch the jungle when it's wet with rain, just remember until you're home again - you belong to me.

The ultimate torch song. I think this version by the doo-wop group the Duprees (1963) is far superior to the original version by Jo Stafford (1950). It sounds like the lead singer actually misses the person he's singing about. I also like the imagery in this song a lot. An unabashedly romantic version of a classic pop song.

9. Van Morrison - "She Gives Me Religion"

The angel of imagination opened up my gate, she said: "Come right in, I saw you knocking with your heart."

Nobody can blend the mystical and the earthy like Van the Man. I think he could make a religion of romance.

Van Morrison has been one of my favorite artists for years - I think I have every CD he's ever made, and he's made a lots of them in his 35-year career. However, looking at the cover of the latest People magazine I see he is also a favorite of our new first lady. Oh well, if it's any consolation I'm sure Van is as dismayed by this information as I am - he doesn't seem to like his fans very much.

8. Billy Joel - "Until The Night"

While they're closing it down, we're gonna open it up, and while they're going to sleep, we'll just be starting to touch.

There's something very erotic about this ode to struggling through the workday and forbidden love. There is almost an orgasm-like buildup to the instrumental break that is very powerful.

7. Petula Clark - "You're The One"

You're the one I long to kiss, you're the one that I truly miss, you're the one that I'm dreaming of, you're the one that I love.

This song was a hit in the U.S. by the Vogues - but Petula Clark's version is miles ahead even though it was never released here as a single. She takes this rather trite-sounding declaration of undying passion and delivers it with an amazing amount of energy and passion. She absolutely rips it to pieces. Makes you almost believe something like love could actually exist.

6. Celine Dion - "To Love You More"

Believe in me, I will make you see all the things your heart needs to know.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Everyone seems to hate Celine Dion. However, in spite of the fact that Celine Dion is an anorexic workaholic with a host of annoying mannerisms, she is a powerfully talented singer. With the same single-minded determination that Petula Clark showed in the last song, Celine blows down the walls with this passionate declaration.

5. Van Morrison - "Real, Real Gone"

Some people say you can make it on your own, oh you can make it if you try. I know better now, you can't stand up alone. Oh baby that is why - I'm real, real gone.

A song of amazing force and optimism, considering that Van Morrison had his first hit 25 years before he released this song. One of my favorites since its release in 1990.

4. Oingo Bongo - "We Close Our Eyes"

We close our eyes and dream, and the world turns round again.

This was as close as this quirky group ever got to a pop love song. A meditation on death and fleeting time, it's also a love song. You can't get much better than that.

3. George Harrison - "What Is Life"

Tell me, what is my life without your love? Tell me who am I, without you by my side

This song has been one of my favorites for - gulp! - thirty years. The ex-Beatle sounds like he is questioning his very reason for existing as producer Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" almost overwhelms Harrison's vocals.

2. Cyndi Lauper - "I Drove All Night"

I drove all night, crept in your room, woke you from your sleep to make love to you. Is that all right?

A very powerful song: erotic lyrics backed by a driving beat.

1. Everything But The Girl - "You Lift Me Up"

Such a little thing, our love won't make the world alright, but love makes sense of life and that's enough, at least tonight.

A very simple song, sung with honesty and clarity, but delivered like a spiritual. I find this tune very moving and beautiful, and listening to it never fails to get me all misty. This was one of the songs I suggested to Lily earlier, and now I'm trying again with it. What the heck, right?

I'll let you know what she chooses, if any of these.