Love Songs
Everything's good...
Getting straight to the point, as mentioned in a previous article about heartbreakers, the love song is undoubtably the biggest genre within popular songs generally. Therefore the topic of love is normally one of a songwriter’s main sources of inspiration. I guess you could say there are perhaps three main sub-genres.
In love with you, and it’s reciprocated, everything’s good! (There are probably hundreds of thousands of songs in this category, so where to start? Just for example think Nina Simone’s ‘My Baby Just Cares for Me’ by Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson, or ‘Your Song’ by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, or Madness’s ‘It Must Be Love’ by Labi Siffre.)
In love with you, and hoping it will be reciprocated… very soon. (Think ‘I’ll Be Waiting’ by Lenny Kravitz.) There’s (at least one) key sub-genre of this sub-genre — in love with you, I know I shouldn’t be ‘coz you’re with someone else, but still I’m hoping to be with you, very soon… Think ‘I’m On Fire’ by Bruce Springsteen.)
In love with you, yet still, despite trying, it’s unrequited. (Or is this a sub-genre of heartbreakers? If you think that having already been in a substantial relationship with the song’s muse is a prerequisite for being a heartbreak, then no, it’s a sad love song. Think ‘Waiting in Vain’ by Bob Marley. Or perhaps right on the boundary between unrequited love and heartbreak, having had the briefest sweetest taste ‘Another Night In’ by Tindersticks.)
There could be one other main sub-genre, or it could be a sub-genre of the sub-genre ‘in love with you, yet still, despite trying, it’s unrequited’. It could be called something like ‘I’m way out of my depth, you’re in a whole other league’ or ‘you hardly know I even exist’. Think ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ by Wheatus, or ‘The Uptown, Uptempo Woman’ by Randy Edelman, or ‘You’re Beautiful’ by James Blunt. Yeah, about James Blunt and that song, why didn’t he at least say something to her whilst he had the chance, whilst she was there in front of him, instead of all this jaw-drop in awe, you’re so beautiful, but I’ll never be with you whingey bollocks? Next time just say something to her, James, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and all that! Different strokes, I guess, poetic vs proactive.
Anyway, there’s not so much more that I can say. I guess almost everybody experiences being in love at some point in their life (or at least I hope they do). Most of us know the deal, it’s a rollercoaster. Everybody knows what a love song is. Everybody has their favourites. I suppose (yet I also think this is obvious) the key element when writing a love song is authenticity — honesty based upon real heartfelt experience is immediately detectable and relatable, and always hits the mark. All the songs mentioned above, for me, are prime examples of this.
Yet again, as discussed in my piece about heartbreakers, my top ten love songs would include at least nine iconic Hall of Famers. Somewhere near the top would be one almost totally unknown, a hidden gem.
Again, I first encountered this song being performed live solo by its writer on a small stage in a subterranean bar in Brighton in perhaps 2007 or so. And again I was spellbound. What’s interesting for me is that I have now heard at least two, possibly three studio versions of this song, recorded with ‘producers’, and quite frankly in these recordings the song was murdered! I have a recording that the song’s writer gave to me, I think it’s the original home studio demo, and it’s great. The mix is not so good, however it outshines any subsequent professionally recorded version.
Here it is, one of the best love songs ever: ‘Everything’s Good’ by Phoenix Williams. (I don’t know where you can buy or listen to this track online, and Phoenix does not seem to have a website that I can link too…)
Finally, here’s a link to a solo live performance of this song in Brighton, back in the day. Enjoy.
Please note: I have another infotainment channel on Substack, called Unleashed & Unlimited, where I post podcasts, articles and content unrelated to music.🖋🎥🎙