Music hits love’s highs and lows

The vast majority of all songs are love songs. The topics they deal with include unrequited… The vast majority of all songs are love songs. The topics they deal with include unrequited love, true love, lost love, first love, love at first sight and so on. Writing songs about love is so common that some psychologists believe that music has become a glorified way of courting mates. Whatever the reasons, it cannot be denied that one thing that love does, at least, is make people write music.

Like many subjective phenomena, love is something that poets, songwriters and other artists have been able to explain better than scientists have. Songs, in particular, have the ability to capture the sadness, joy, excitement or even disgust that comes along with love – and of course, it’s not what you say, but how you say it. The following are some of the love songs that have said it best.

Pearl Jam, “Faithfull”

For those of you who forgot about Pearl Jam after 1996’s No Code or who weren’t around during their time, you are missing out on some of Eddie Vedder’s best work.

At its core, “Faithfull”

is a religious song – an atheist’s song. The first verse questions the use of prayer, calling prayers “echoes nobody hears.” Vedder then dismisses religious faith in favor of faith in a love interest: “What’s a boy to do?/Just be, darling, and I will be too/Faithful to you.”

Radiohead, “I Promise”

Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke once said that he is often disappointed that many listeners fail to see the humor in his lyrics. Well, this one’s for you, Thom. Unbeknownst to many, Radiohead recorded several brilliant but unreleased songs in between OK Computer and Kid A.

One of them was a short love song entitled “I Promise.” “I won’t fool around no more/I promise/Even when I get bored/I promise.” Yorke sets the stage with a parody of committed relationships and then highlights his own unconditional commitment. “Even when the ship is wrecked/I promise/Tie me to the rotten deck/I promise.”

Wilco, “At Least That’s What You Said”

This is Jeff Tweedy’s illustrative storytelling at its best. He manages to pinpoint the thoughts that go through the heads of those in love. “When I sat down on the bed next to you/You started to cry/Maybe if I leave you’ll want me to come back home/Or maybe all you mean is ‘leave me alone’/At least that’s what you said.”

Animal Collective, “The Purple Bottle”

Love is all about irrationality, and Animal Collective hit that notion on the head with this one. “Make me sick, sick, sick to kiss you and I think that I would vomit/But I’ll do that on Mondays/I don’t have a work day.”

And sometimes, you’ll just hold onto something that’s not there: “Well I’d like to spread your perfume around the old apartment/Could we live together and agree on the same wares?/A trapeze is a bird cage even if it’s empty and definitely fits the room.” Those crazy kids.

Radiohead, “Morning Bell”

The flipside of love is grief. Thom Yorke was able to capture the violent havoc that this grief causes in Radiohead’s 2000 release, Kid A. The song chronicles a divorce, which is the result of what seems to be a haunted house.

Lyrically, the song manages to realize the ugliness of dividing up what was once one: “You can keep the furniture,” “Where’d you park the car?//The clothes are on the lawn with the furniture.” He finishes with the most difficult task, in a line not unlike a famous Bible passage: “Cut the kids in half/Cut the kids in half.” I guess sometimes it’s difficult to see the humor in Yorke’s lyricism. Regardless, it makes for a poignant love song.