Valentine's Day

Even when I was single, I loved Valentine’s Day. Yes, a large part of it was the excellent selections of Valentine’s candy, but there’s so much more to love then just the romantic aspect. My mom is still the type of mom who always sends a Valentine’s card and my favorite type of candy (either M&M’s or mini Reese’s cups), and that always made me feel so special. My husband, with whom this year I will be celebrating our 11th Valentine’s Day together as a couple, always makes sure the day is special. I always text my close girlfriends to wish them a Happy Galentine’s Day because dammit, they deserve it. I also love the color pink, so a day basically dedicated to that color is always okay in my book.

It is a holiday, so naturally I have a playlist that I play the week leading up to February 14th to really get and stay in that love type mood. I picked a small sample of songs to highlight here for you to get the feel of it, and hopefully you get enjoyment out of listening to them no matter what type of romantic situation you’re in.

i love you by Billie Eilish (written by F. O’Connell, B. O’Connell) This song from Eilish’s 2019 album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? tells the story of the beginning of a relationship where one party tells the other that they love them, and that second party has to take some time to process that before coming to the conclusion at the end of the song that they love their partner back. It’s so real in today’s society where so many people are afraid of feeling those deeper feelings towards someone else for fear of getting hurt, and the song itself is just very calm and beautiful and easy to listen to. It’s not true, tell me I’ve been lied to/Crying isn’t like you, ooh/What the hell did I do, never been the type to/Let someone see right through, ooh/Maybe won’t you take it back, say you were tryna make me laugh/And nothing has to change today, you didn’t mean to say I love you/I love you, and I don’t want to, ooh

One Kiss from You by Britney Spears (written by S. Lunt) I’m not even sorry, I still know every single word to every single song on my favorite Spears album, Oops!…I Did It Again from 2000. As a 9 year old Spears fan when this album came out, I thought this song was so incredibly romantic. Now, twenty years after its release (wtf, by the way, I can’t even believe that), I still really enjoy the sweetness of this song. With some more life experience under my belt, I remember the beginning of my relationship with my husband (we’re high school sweethearts) and feeling just like Spears says at the beginning of the first verse that she doesn’t want people to tell her she’s too young to realize that she’s in love. I don’t wanna hear that I’m too young/To know it’s love that makes me feel this way/’Cause I don’t have to feel the heat of the sun/To know it’s shining on me every day/When it’s warm outside, and the look in your eyes/Is longing to show me the way, no, no/I don’t want to wait/Just one kiss from you, and suddenly/I see the road laid out in front of me/You give me strength, you give me hope/And when you hold me in your arms, you make me whole/And I don’t know just what I would do without one kiss from you

Clumsy by Fergie (written by B. Troup, S. Ferguson, W. Adams) I am still a fan of Fergie’s 2006 debut solo album The Dutchess. I remember buying it at Target when I was 15 and listening to it almost non-stop for probably a solid month. Clumsy was a single from the record, so it got played a lot on the radio as well. I think it’s such a fun song about falling in love with someone and how you just feel like an absolute goofball and the total opposite of cool, but you really don’t care because you’re so happy. The first time that I saw your eyes/Boy, you looked right through me, mmm mmm/Play it cool, but I knew you knew/That Cupid hit me, mmm, mmm/You got me trippin’, stumblin’, flippin’, fumblin’/Clumsy ’cause I’m falling in love, in love/You got me slippin’, tumblin’, sinkin’, fumblin’/Clumsy ’cause I’m falling in love, in love/So in love with you

Before Your Love by Kelly Clarkson (written by C. Dennis, D. Child, G. Burr) This was one of Clarkson’s first singles straight out of American Idol along with A Moment Like This, and it’s still so incredibly good. Featured on her 2003 debut album Thankful, this song describes the feeling of being in the type of love that causes you to forget what life was like before that person entered your life, forever changing you for the better. I wonder how I ever made it through a day/How did I settle for a world in shades of gray/When you go in circles, all the scenery looks the same/And you don’t know why, then I looked into your eyes/And the world stretched out in front of me, and I realized/I never lived before your love/I never felt before your touch/I never needed anyone to make me feel alive/But then again, I wasn’t really living/I never lived before your love

When I Fall in Love by Kristin Chenoweth (written by E. Heyman, V. Young) Chenoweth’s cover of this classic love song is featured on her 2019 album For the Girls, and it’s so perfect for her voice. From the first time it was recorded by singer Jeri Southern in 1952 for the film One Minute to Zero, this song has been played at innumerable weddings and in countless romantic films, and why not? The lyrics about not wanting to fall in love unless it’s 100% are so relatable to so many, and wanting to have that type of devotion to your partner is, in my opinion, the ultimate goal in love. When I fall in love, it will be forever/Or I’ll never fall in love/In a restless world like this is, love is ended before it’s begun/And too many moonlight kisses seem to cool in the warmth of the sun/When I give my heart, it will be completely/Or I’ll never give my heart/And the moment I can feel that you feel that way, too/Is when I fall in love with you

I Love You by Martina McBride (written by A. Follese, Keith Follese, Tammy Hyler) I fell head over heels for this song when it was featured in the 1999 film Runaway Bride. I still own that soundtrack and know all the words to almost all the songs on it. This song is another great example of falling crazily in love with someone, acting the fool and not caring, and that nothing feels like it could ever go wrong so long as the love lives on. The sun is shining every day/Clouds never get in the way for you and me/I’ve known you just a week or two/But baby, I’m so into you, can hardly breathe/And I’m in, so totally wrapped up emotionally/Attracted so physically/Acting so recklessly/I need you so desperately/Sure as the sky is blue/Baby, I love you/I love you

Faster by Matt Nathanson (written by M. Weinberg, M. Nathanson) I’m pretty sure I was first introduced to this song by a free Song of the Week download when Starbucks was still doing that, and I immediately loved it and put it on a ton of my playlists. It’s so upbeat and danceable, and the lyrics about what makes this man so insanely in love with his partner and the physical reaction of his heartbeat is quite lovely. You’re so delicious, you’re so soft/Sweet on the tip of my tongue/You taste like sunlight/And strawberry bubblegum/You bite my lip, you spike my blood/You make my heart beat faster/Own me, you own and rattle my bones/You turn me over and over, ’til I can’t control myself/Make me a liar, yeah, one big disaster/You make my heart beat faster

I hope all of you remember to celebrate all of the different kinds of love in your life this week as Valentine’s Day approaches this coming weekend. See you next week!