Speeddemon Presents: 100 Great Love Songs (80-61)
Feb 11 '04 (Updated Feb 12 '04)
The Bottom Line "When your seven worlds collide...whenever I'm by your side...the dust from a distant sun will shower over everyone"
Welcome to Part Two of my love song extravaganza. I think the essay that started the first part of this list was long enough, so let's take a pause on pondering what love is and get right down to business.
80. “Into The Mystic” Van Morrison
”We were born before the wind, also younger than the sun”
Ireland's finest ever soul singer created this gentle seaside ballad back in 1970, but I didn't discover it until last summer. Tucked away at the end of “American Pie 3”, sung by Jakob Dylan & The Wallflowers. I could 've easily picked a million other Van songs to appear here (“Crazy Love” is a definite standout), but this song is certainly representative of the Van The Man-one of the best romantic songwriters in history.
79. “Sara Smile” Daryl Hall & John Oates
”If you're thinkin' bout leavin', you know you can go/But why don't you stay until tomorrow”
70's Philly soul at it's finest. Daryl warmly massages each verse until breaking it down with a finely-tuned high note right before each chorus. Add the bluesy guitar licks that punctuate the song and his timeless harmonic chemistry with partner John Oates and you have the makings a the slow-dance highlight of one of those smoky blue-basement parties.
78. “No More Lonely Nights” Paul McCartney
”You've only got my heart on a string, and everything a-flutter”
You'd think that people would've had enough of silly love songs. But Paul looked around him and saw it wasn't so. So, even after “Maybe I'm Amazed” and “My Love” (not to mention “Yesterday” and “Michelle”), the cute Beatle came up with one of the best 80's ballads, a tender song with a gorgeous melody. Gorgeous enough to forget 'Ebony & Ivory”, “The Girl Is Mine”, “Give My Regards To Broad Street” and the God-awful disco version of this song that appeared on the B-side of the 45.
77. “For The First Time” Kenny Loggins
”Such a long time ago...I had given up on finding this emotion ever again”
Maybe the “Footloose” guy was still on a high after getting re-married, but this piano ballad from the George Clooney/Michelle Pfeiffer romantic drama “One Fine Day” is a definite high point in Loggins' career. With a soulfully sweet vocal and heartfelt lyrics, the opening lines of the song (“are those your eyes?/Is that your smile? I've been looking at you forever/but I've never seen you before”) perfectly capture the wonderment associated with finding that special someone.
76. “Uninvited” Alanis Morissette
”I don't think you unworthy...I need a moment to deliberate...”
When you've been burned a few times, you become desensitized to anyone who makes an overture to you. But when the right person comes along, that person throws you for a loop, as evidence by the passionate piano ballad from Alanis. Once the orchestra and the drums kick in, we jump from piano ballad to horror movie as Alanis continues to ponder whether she should let her uninvited guest in. Casting a wary eye towards approaching love, Alanis roder he indecision to a Best Rock Song grammy from this soundtrack cut.
75. ׂ Seasons Of Loneliness” Boyz II Men
”I long for the warmth of days gone by, when you were mine...but now those days are memories in time”
The Boyz graduated from the over-the-top crooning of “I'll Make Love To You” and “End Of The Road” with this beautiful Jam/Lewis produced mid-tempo ballad. Soft percussion bubbles in the distance as each member takes his turn at a verse. The perfectly harmonized chorus turns something as cliché as the changing of the systems into a mesmerizingly downbeat ballad.
74. “Ain't No Sunshine” Bill Withers
”You ever want something that you know you shouldn't have? The more you know you shouldn't have it, the more you want it”
How can three different versions of this bleak ballad convey so many different emotions? Bill Withers' original version begins with the lone strum of a guitar
and the sound of an angry man, teed off for messing with some young girl and having her leave him. Michael Jackson's subsequent version sounds like pure hurt-his amazing rendition proves that he was a master interpreter of songs that seemed way beyond his teenage grasp. A later collaboration on this song between David Sanborn & Sting finds Mr. Sumner sounding confused-not sure whether he's relieved the girl has gone or upset that she left. Three great vocalists, three different renditions. How's that for a great song?
73. “Voyage To Atlantis” The Isley Brothers
”Set sail with me...to a paradise just beyond the sea”
Hopping on the boat and setting sail about half a decade before Christopher Cross, Mr. Biggs and his brothers (plus a cousin) brought metal guitar to a soul ballad and the result is a powerfully seductive jam. Ron Isley wraps his falsetto around the guitar strumming as he promises his lady love a waterfront adventure she'll never forget, culminating in repeated ad-libbing on the phrase “I'll always come back to you”. Though never released as a single, this has become one of the Isleys' best known classics.
72. “A Thin Line Between Love & Hate” The Persuasions
The sweetest woman in the world...could be the meanest woman in the world”
You, sir, have been cheating. Creeping, knowing that your lady is aware. However, you're a slick dude. You come home at 6 in the morning, you have breakfast and a smile waiting for you. But watch out. Every dog has it's day and yours is comig. Next thing you know, you're laid up in a hospital bed. Uh-oh here she comes. Watch out boy, she'll f*ck you up!! This classic tale of one player's comeuppance was a soul hit oin the 70's before Chrissie Hynde & The Pretenders turned it into an even sadder story a decade later.
71. "I Can't Tell You Why” The Eagles
”Nothing's wrong as far as I can see...we make things harder than they have to be...and I can't tell you why”
One of the few Eagles records not containing a lead vocal from Don Henley OR Glenn Frey, this Timothy B. Schmit-led track remains the Eagles' most soulful moment. “Best Of My Love” almost rivals it for Eagles-ballad supremacy, but this song's subtle beat and the lengthy guitar solo in the middle make it perfect for those intimate, late night slow dances although the lyrics speak of the total confusion and dissolution of a once strong relationship.
70. “Cherish The Day” Sade
”If you were mine...I wouldn't want to go...to heaven”
The way that line alone is sung guarantees this chilled-out airy track a place on this list. Sade has pretty much cornered the market on elegant love songs, however this song reveals a slightly more energized Sade, basking in the glow of love.She prays for her and her love to always be together and can't imagine not being able to breathe his air. A perfect devotional love song.
69. “When You Were Mine” Prince
”I didn't care...I never was the kind to make a fuss...when he was there, sleeping in between the two of us”
Have you ever been so in love with someone that you make a complete jack*ss out of yourself. Prince has. “When You Were Mine” captures the Purple One in such a tizzy over some girl that he allows her to flaunt an affair right in his face. Is Prince hurt? Yes. Does he leave her? No. “I love you more than I did when you were mine”, he pouts. Cyndi Lauper brought the tempo up a notch or so and covered it on her 1984 debut “She's So Unusual” but even her histrionics couldn't do justice to Prince's original, which wound up being the tamest track on the otherwise ribald “Dirty Mind” LP.
68. “Outside Your Door” Me'shell N'degeocello
”For now you're just my dream...when I wake, i hope you talk to me”
Operating in female Barry White mode, the singer/bassist/poet goes to stalking measures on this piano-led ballad. She begs the object of her interest to talk to her, even sitting through a rainshower for the chance to chat. This plaintive spoken/sung track was a high point of Me'shell's '93 debut, and gained a new life when it was ripped hook, line, and sinker for Brian Mcknight's “Anytime” 4 years later.
67. “All I Want Is You” U2
”All the promises we made...from the cradle to the grave”
When Bono sings, you can never tell whether he's singing about loving a person or loving God. That's a good thing. A gospel undercurrent runs through most of U2's songs, including this one, which starts off with delicately played guitar by The Edge and then jumps off into typical U2 bombast, punctuated by Bono's throat-shredding yells of “yooooooooooou” towards the end of the song. Only love can make you run the risk of laryngitis.
66. “Just The Way You Are” Billy Joel
”What will it take till you believe in me/The way that I believe in you”
Billy hates the song. Rock critics hate the song (well, they hate Billy). Lite-FM radio and couples getting married swear by it. Why? Pure sentiment. Billy doesn't want you to change your hair color or your style of dress or become perfect for him. Another reason might be simplicity. Simple melody. No oversinging. I love it just the way it is, and this song may explain what all of Billy's hot girlfriends and ex-wives must say to him.
65. “Distant Sun” Crowded House
”I don't pretend to know what you want, but I offer love”
New Zealand's favorite trio was a quartet by the time this song rolled around, and the band was in all it's Beatle-esque glory on this ballad that picks up steam as you go further into the song. Neil Finn's choirboy-sweet vocals pledge undying and unconditional love on this song, whose message shines through even with the cryptic lyrics (“Seven worlds will collide/Whenever I am by your side”).
64. “Human” The Human League
”I forgive you, and I ask the same of you/While we were apart, I was human, too”
To forgive is divine, and to err is well...human. The British popsters proved that absence could make the heart go wander even in the strongest of relationships. After he admits it, she admits that they did the same and now they must work through the aftermath together. This was synth-poppy enough to be considered totally 80's, but soulful enough to propel it all the way to the #2 position in the R&B charts.
63. “More Than Words” Extreme
“More than words for you to feel/That your love for me is real”
Yeah, Extreme was a metal band from Boston that wussed all the way out and not only made an acoustic ballad, but an acoustic HARMONY ballad. The resulting smash may have been cheesy for some, but for me it's a gleeful reminder of teenage puppy love, as this song came out right after my sophomore year in high school. And the harmony here is top notch, especially for a song from a rock band.
62. “Take A Bow” Madonna
”The show is over, say goodbye”
Weaving just about every show-business metaphor in the book into this song, Madonna collaborated with Babyface on this beautifully orchestrated ballad and wound up with the biggest hit of her career. Both vocalists have that tentative quiver in their voices, but Madonna ain't taking no sh*t as she tells a lover who has run out of chances to hit the road. Exit, stage left.
61. “Driftin' Away” Garth Brooks
”At night you can hear it cry, as the teardrops fall from heaven's eyes and surround you, you know it's true...these tears that fall are fallin' for you”
Had anyone bothered to look beyond the conceptual fiasco that was the Chris Gaines' project, they would've found an album containing a few decent pop/country ballads. This was garth's attempt at “acoustic soul”, similar to the work of Tony Rich. However, Garth's vocal performance is more soulful than 1,000 “Nobody knows”. My hunch is this song (or at least the interpretation of it) was inspired by garth's marriage slowly crumbling apart. Either way, this song is an emotional masterpiece from an underrated song interpreter.
We're now 40 percent of the way through this. You tired of reading? Not HALF as tired as I am from having to type all this sh*t out!! Stay tuned, 'cause there's 60 more songs of romance or rejection to come.
Thanks for reading.
Speeddemon Presents 100 Great Love Songs 100-81
Flamepillar's Love Songs 101 101-81
Flamepillar's Love Songs 101 80-61
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