Raise Your Hands To Heaven: Speeddemon's 100 Favorite Love Songs (60-41) Feb 12 '04    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet The Bottom Line Nobody loves no one. As I begin to write the third installment of this series, I'm struck by how many of these songs seem to have been written from one extreme or another. The celebratory songs obviously come from a place of great affection and discovery. During the onset of falling in love, that's really what things are about. It's no accident that a lot of people say they never understood the words to certain love songs until they fell in love for the first time. I certainly didn't. ...Holy sh*t...I think I'm falling in love!! On the other side of the coin, there are sublimely bitter songs that signify falling out of love or the discovery that one was never in love to begin with. Or even worse, being totally gobsmacked by the fact that the person you wanted to spend your life with doesn't feel the same way about you. This type of hurt generally lends itself to the best written songs, as extreme genuine emotion generally means a more intense performance. ...I can't believe my stupid a*s fell in love... Anyway, Speeddemon Shakespeare will now step aside and allow you to enjoy positions #60-41. 60. “Sail Away” David Gray ”I've been talking drunken gibberish/Falling in and out of bars” Sometimes the most honest words come from the bottom of a bottle-and Welshman David Gray hit that nail right on the head as he mourned a love lost by his own devices on “Sail Away”. It's funny how the “sailing” metaphor pops up so often in love songs-there's something calm and romantic about water, although the only water Gray's seeing in this song is from his own well of tears. 59. “You're All I Need To Get By” Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell ”Like sweet morning dew, I took one look at you, and it was plain to see. You were my destiny.” From the most romantic duo in history (and the two reportedly never dated), this Motown classic is a subtle shade of eternal devotion. Marvin is the calm, Tammi is the soul and together they had an undeniable chemistry, creating a fire that smoldered in the souls of young lovers everywhere. I broke my pre-1976 rule to include this song and cement Marvin & Tammi as the sweethearts of the love song. Bonus points for the hip-hop rendition, the official “thug love” song of all time, from Method Man & Mary J. Blige. 58. “Fields Of Gold” Sting ”We'll forget the sun in it's jealous sky...as we lie in fields of gold” Who needs tantric sex when you can compose poetry like this? Sting's 1993 hit is the aural equivalent of a romantic walk by the countryside. Airy, smooth, and with a perfectly muted, nuanced vocal by Sting, this has gone on to become one of his best loved songs and was later given an etherally beautiful treatment by Eva Cassidy. 57. “Let's Stay Together” Al Green ”You wouldn't do that to me...now would you baby?” Almost left off the list in favor of Al's equally seductive love jams “Simply Beautiful” and “I'm Glad You're Mine”, “Let's Stay Together” is perhaps the most celebrated modern love song of all time. Even before the hot pot of grits, Reverend Al The Ladies Pal was making romance sound sanctified. Murmuring through the verses before beginning each chorus with a rousing “Lehh-ehhh-ehhts!”, you can tell Al is feeling every word of this song, pledging to stick by his love through good times and bad, happy or sad. 56. “Forever In My Life” Prince ”There comes a time in every man's life/When he gets tired of fooling around/Juggling hearts in a three-ring circus” This song was just drum machine and acoustic guitar. The lyrics were as solemn as Prince had ever been. This song was romantic enough to be John & Carolyn Kennedy's first wedding dance. Prince does his own gospelly multi-tracked call & response on this love letter to his at-the-time girlfriend, former Revolution member Wendy Melvoin's little sister Susannah. “I never imagined that love would rain on me, and make me wanna settle down,” he sang, and it was one of the first signs of a mature Prince who could actually conceive of a woman as something beyond a sex object. Too bad the relationship (and Prince's view of women) didn't last. 55. “Love Tried To Welcome Me” Madonna ”Instead of spring, it's always winter/And my heart has always been a lonely hunter” During her early-90's sexcapades, Madonna kinda got a rep as an ice princess. Vulnerability was not her strong suit until 1994's “Bedtime Stories”. Guided by a slowly cascading beat and heavy strings, Madonna wondered why she was standing at the gates of love only to have the doors slammed in her face. The person that kept closing the door was herself. One album later, she finally allowed herself to open herself up to love, but this track contains one of the few instances of Madonna sounding wounded. 54. “Baby Come Back” Player ”There was something in everything about you” Nothing says please come back to me better than a 1970's one-hit wonder. Or maybe nothing says please come back better than a song that totally rips the late-70's balladry of Hall & Oates. Either way, this sensitive, soulful slow jam is one of the finest examples of “pleasebabybabyplease” begging this side of Keith Sweat. Extra points for the super-high falsetto at the end of the bridge. 53. “Insensitive” Jann Arden ”I figured you might have some advice to give/On how to be/Insensitive” This Canadian singer-songwriter was one of many who hit big at the outset of the whole Lilith Fair movement. And she did it with a supremely bitter song about some a*shole who she fell in love with and then turned on his heel and walked away. Probably one of the best uses of sarcasm in a love song ever. 52. “One Last Cry” Brian McKnight ”I'm gonna dry my eyes, right after I get done, with one last cry...” Let's face it, crying isn't exactly the world's most masculine behavior. No one will admit to being a weepy pansy, but why fess up when you can lock yourself in a room and shed a tear or three with this heart-reading piano ballad? McKnight stays in control until finally breaking loose with some serious yelping towards the end of the song. Even though McKnight has become something of a consistent balladeer (“Anytime”, “Back At One”, and excellent cover of van Morrison's “Crazy Love”), he has not since had the emotional resonance that he had on this, his first big solo hit. 51. “I Wish It Would Rain Down” Phil Collins ”I know...I never meant to cause you any pain...and I realize I let you down” Even more crying. Phil wails his way through the end of the song. A gospel choir hums and “aah”s throughout. But the reason this song makes it onto this list is the not-so-gentle weeping of Eric Clapton's guitar throughout the song. From the intro to the furious licks at the end of this song, Slowhand almost steals this mournful ballad from Phil. If “raining” and “sailing” appear so much in good songs, how come no one has ever made a song about falling in love in the rain while sailing? Hmmmm... 50. “The Space Between” Dave Matthews Band ”The space between the bullets in our firefight is where you'll find me hiding, waiting for you Again with the water themes. Dave says that “all we can do, my love, is hope we don't take this ship down”, the video is set in the rain, what gives? Water themes aside, this pretty ballad features some excellent sax work towards the end. Dave's lyricism is still evolving, but he sure knows how to create good imagery “These fickle, fuddled words confuse me/Like 'will it rain today'” Huh? Whatever. In the end, though, love may be all it takes to navigate this particular space between Dave and the object of his affection. 49. “This Is For The Lover In You” Shalamar “When I lay me down to sleep, I rest assured with the thought that you are right-right next to me” Shalamar are one of the 80's great forgotten R&B groups, although they managed to spawn a semi-dependable hitmaker in Jody Watley. This old-school ballad, however, is marked by the smooth tenor of their other lead vocalist, Mr. Nia Peeples himself, Howard Hewett. This pledge of devotion was so strong that when Babyface rerecorded it in the 90's (with obligatory guest rapper LL Cool J), he couldn't do it without recruiting all 3 original members of Shalamar to sing background on the track. 48. “The Closer I Get To You” Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway ”Over & over again, I try to tell myself that we could never be more than friends, but all the while inside I knew it was real-the way you made me feel” Flack & Hathaway were college buddies who became the 70's version of Marvin & Tammi. Roberta's crystal clear voice was soft & high, while Donny's was pure and soulful. “Closer” is a ballad landmark-the way the two voices blend at the end of the song is stunning. Flash forward 25 years later, and the song gets the “Luther” treatment, as Mr. Vandross teamed with junior diva Beyonce for a remake that turned out to be comparable to the original, and the two won a Grammy for their efforts. 47. “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” The Temptations ”but in reality, she doesn't even know me” Sweet-voiced Eddie Kendricks was the perfect man to sing this wistful ode to a girl who doesn't even know the guy who is quietly pining for her. He dreams of “a house in the country and two kids, maybe three” with this fantasy love. Dennis edwards jumps in later to say that “every night on my knees, i pray. Dear Lord, hear my cry”...but in the end, this whirlwind love affair is just a figment of the narrator's wounded psyche. Love sure does suck, doesn't it? 46. “Sail On” The Commodores “It was plain to see that a small town boy like me just wasn't your cup of tea/Wishful thankin'” Lionel Richie certainly knows the tender side of romance, as a string of hits from “Three Times A Lady” to “Hello” can attest to. However, this country-fried ballad from Richie and his band of Tuskegee Institute buddies is a bitter triumph. Two people, once in love, look at each other and say “Know what? I'm better without you” After trying hard to please his wife, Lionel turns his back and coldly asks “Would you please just go away?” before the song jumps from country/soul hybrid to big pop ballad. 45. “Distant Lover” Marvin Gaye ”You should think about me...say a prayer for me” Marvin Gaye was capable of creating a thrilling romantic moment based simply on his finely stacked multiple harmonies. “Distant Lover” dares to ask a partner who's far apart to imagine the pain Marvin's going through as they're separated from each other. The song has hints of doo-wop, but the focus is on Marvin's agonized vocal, particularly as he says “Lord have mercy”, before the song sweeps into a beautiful horn-spiced instrumental passage.. 44. “Hands To Heaven” Breathe ”Tonight I need your sweet caress...hold me in the darkness...tonight you calm my restlessness...can you relieve my sadness?” I should check the lyrics on this song, because I'm not sure whether the right word is “relieve” or “believe”. Either way, this somber ballad burned up the airwaves in the summer of '88. Judging from this song and the one before it., absence from a long one inevitably leads into tortured prayer. David Glasper & his smooth crew of Brits had a couple of other notable love songs-most notably “How Can I Fall” and the holiday-themed “Does She Love That Man?”, (which would've made this list had I been thinking properly), but “Hands” stands head & shoulders above all of Breathe's, and most other artists' love songs. 43. “Moondance” Van Morrison ”You know the night's magic seems to whisper & hush/And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush” Van The Man takes his lady love to a most unusual dancefloor on this sax-spiced 70's classic. The jazzy arrangement is elegant enough, but the real spice here lies in Van's impassioned vocal performance, culminating in some serious scatting towards the song's conclusion. Quite possibly the best slow-dance song ever written. 42. “Wicked Game” Chris Isaak "The world was on fire and no one could save me but you" Yeah, the whole romp on the beach with Helena Christensen was cool and everything, but this song will live on mainly for the sizzling performance of Chris Isaak, who sounds totally bewildered and frightened by the strange beast called love. The ache is amplified by the slowed-down surf guitar and the practically whispered background vocals. Quite possibly what Elvis would've sounded like had he come of age in the early 90's, “Wicked Game” is a beautifully sung (Isaak's long high note at the end of the song is stunning), well-produced ballad that's so hot and bothered, sweat practically comes out of your CD player when it comes on. 41. “Taking You Home” Don Henley ”There were days, lonely days, when the world wouldn't throw me a crumb/But I kept on believing that this day would come” Don Henley has spent most of his life being an incorrigible bastid, but his songs have always had a wistful streak in them ('The Boys Of Summer”). On this song, Don completely devotes himself to being in love. As he himself sang on another song “An angry man can only get so far/Until he reconciles the way things ought to be with the way things are”. And that inspirational quote winds down the third installment of my own personal favorite Love Songs. Only 40 songs to go. You can't stop now!! Thanks for reading. Speeddemon Presents 100 Great Love Songs 100-81 Speeddemon Presents 100 Great Love Songs 80-61 Flamepillar's Love Songs 101 101-81 Flamepillar's Love Songs 101 80-61 Flamepillar's Love Songs 101 60-41

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