Valentine's Day, Vol. 4

I can't believe Valentine's Day is here again already. While we know that love is something to celebrate daily, not annually, I've always been a fan of a day dedicated to the feeling and even the days created around it to promote different kinds of love, like Single Awareness Day (which is NOT sad as its acronym suggests, but a great excuse to buy yourself a treat and experience a self-care day) and Galentine's Day (made popular by Parks & Recreation to highlight platonic female friendships). For the fourth (!!) year in a row, I'm thrilled to share with you the 2023 Valentine's Playlist, culled from the Master Playlist available on Apple Music @audioaesthetics. Let's see which songs made the cut for 2023!

Ain't Nothing 'Bout You by Brooks & Dunn ft. Brett Young (written by M. Rutherford, T. Shapiro)

Featured on Brooks & Dunn's 2019 album Reboot, I love this revamp of this song with Brett Young as much as I love the original, which can be found on their 2001 album Steers & Stripes. I think it's great that the lyrics for this song don't just focus on the subject's looks in terms of attractiveness, showing that true love is more than just skin deep and encompasses personality, emotion, and so many other intangibles as well.

Once I thought that love was something I could never do/Never knew that I could feel this much/But this yearning in the deep part of my heart for you/Is more than a reaction to your touch/It's a perfect passion and I can't get enough/The way you look, the way you laugh, the way you love with all you have/There ain't nothing 'bout you that don't do something for me/The way you kiss, the way you cry, the way you move when you walk by/There ain't nothing 'bout you that don't do something for me

Inside Your Heaven by Carrie Underwood (written by A. Carlsson, P. Nylen, S. Kotecha)

Featured on Underwood's 2005 album Some Hearts, this song is admittedly one of the weaker ones that was written as a single for an American Idol winner. A lot of people find the lyrics a bit nonsensical, but I've always just taken them to mean that the narrator loves the subject so much that they feel this deep, compelling need to be with them and know them so intimately that they can know everything about them.

I've been down, now I'm blessed/I felt a revelation coming around/I guess it's right, it's so amazing/Every time I see you, I'm alive/You're all I've got, you lift me up/The sun and the moonlight, all my dreams are in your eyes/And I wanna be inside your heaven/Take me to the place you cry from when a storm blows your way/And I wanna be the earth that holds you/Every bit of air you're breathin' in, a soothin' wind, I wanna be inside your heaven

Valentine by Jim Brickman & Martina McBride (written by J. Brickman, J. Kugell)

Featured on Brickman's 1997 album Picture This, this song holds a special place in my heart because my mom has always said it reminds her of how she feels about my dad. Brickman's piano skills mixed with McBride's masterful vocals create a truly beautiful song that never gets old.

If there were no words, no way to speak/I would still hear you/If there were no tears, no way to feel inside/I’d still feel for you/And even if the sun refused to shine/Even if romance ran out of rhyme/You would still have my heart until the end of time/You're all I need, my love, my Valentine

Beautiful Disaster by Kelly Clarkson (written by M. Wilder, R. Johnson)

Featured on Clarkson's 2003 album Thankful, I think of this song as the narrator weighing the pros and cons of a new relationship with someone who's a bit more emotionally complicated than she's dealt with in the past. It's a great song with great vocals by Clarkson, and I'm glad I've come to appreciate it as I've gotten older instead of it being one of the "boring filler songs" on an album like I thought when I was twelve.

He's magic and myth, as strong as what I believe/A tragedy with more damage than a soul should see/And do I try to change him, so hard not to blame him/Hold on tight, hold on tight/Oh, 'cause I don't know, I don't know what he's after/But he's so beautiful, such a beautiful disaster/And if I could hold on through the tears and the laughter/Would it be beautiful, or just a beautiful disaster

This Everyday Love by Rascal Flatts (written by D. Wells, E. Charles)

Featured on Rascal Flatts's 2000 self-titled album, this is such a fun, sweet, upbeat bop that proves that love doesn't have to get boring just because the honeymoon phase is over. When you really, really love someone, you're able to find joy in parts of life others may deem mundane, like doing chores or running errands, just because you're doing them together.

Each morning the sun shines through my window/Lands on the face of a dream come true/I shuffle to the kitchen for my coffee/And catch up on the front page morning news/Then she walks up behind me and throws her arms around my neck/Just another normal thing I've come to expect/It's ordinary, plain and simple, typical, this everyday love/Same 'ol, same 'ol, keeping it new/Emotional, so familiar, nothing about it too peculiar/Oh, but I can't get enough of this everyday love

Ours by Taylor Swift (written by T. Swift)

Ya'll knew she was coming - featured on Swift's 2010 album Speak Now, this song has a lot of similarities to the themes in This Everyday Love. Let others say what they will about your relationship, they aren't you, they're not in this specific relationship, you are, and if it's meant to be it will continue to grow into something beautiful and prove everyone wrong (but please, if family and/or friends are giving you valid concerns about your safety and well-being listen to them).

Elevator buttons and morning air/Strangers' silence makes me wanna take the stairs/If you were here, we'd laugh about their vacant stares/But right now, my time is theirs/Seems like there's always someone who disapproves/They'll judge it like they know about me and you/And the verdict comes from those with nothing else to do/The jury's out, but my choice is you/So don't you worry your pretty little mind, people throw rocks at things that shine/And life makes love look hard/The stakes are high, the water's rough/But this love is ours

Our Song by Willie Nelson (written by C. Stapleton)

Featured on Nelson's 2020 album First Rose of Spring, this is a beautiful, simple love song penned by the incredible Chris Stapleton. It doesn't have too many frills, but it gets the point of a strong, true love across just fine without a huge amount of fanfare, and that's just fine.

In this time that I've been given to fill my life with livin’/I hope I have done the best that I can do/Yes, regrets, I've got a few, but, honey, none of them is you/And I need you like a singer needs a song/I don't know if heaven's real/But that's how you've made me feel/You make it all alright when everything's wrong/And this is our song

Happy Valentine's Day if you're planning on celebrating this year! I hope you found some romantic tunes to check out and fill up your hearts. Happy listening, and see ya'll next week!