love is a battlefield

13Feb10

Whether you love or hate Valentine’s Day, there is no way to ignore it.  Normally, this would be the moment where I start ranting about holidays that make large chunks of the population feel sad, but instead I’ve decided to put my personal feelings towards V-Day aside and focus on others this weekend.

I’m a pretty empathetic person.  I like to help people out, and I figured that a good use of my time would be to compile soundtracks for all those out there who are affected in some way by Valentine’s Day, whether it be good or bad.  Nothing as good as Joni Chainsaw or Quotable Douchebag, but I think you’ll enjoy nonetheless.

For the Scorned

1.  Quit Playing Games With My Heart – Backstreet Boys  (in the 5th grade my favourite Backstreet Boy was Kevin, but all of my friends made fun of me so I lied and ‘fell in love’ with Nick.  What a mistake.  Now Kevin is happily married with children, and Nick is an alcoholic who tried to recapture his glory days by appearing on a terrible (albeit really entertaining) reality TV show called House of Carters.  Moral of the story?  Trust your instincts, ladies.  Trust your instincts.

2.  Cry Me a River – Justin Timberlake (I like boy bands, alright? Get over it.)

3.  Heartless – Kanye West

4.  Your Time is Gonna Come – Led Zeppelin

5.  Smile – Lily Allen

6.  Up Out My Face – Mariah Carey feat. Nicki Minaj (totally my current jam courtesy of Hilary.  Nicki Minaj is a-ma-zing.)

7.  Silver Lining – Rilo Kiley (Jenny Lewis is my hero.)

For the Jaded Albeit Slightly Hopeful

1.  What About Love – Heart (there’s something about the 80s power ballad that makes everything in life seem that much more important.  My personal Heart favourite: Alone.)

2. Dead Letter and the Infinite Yes – Wintersleep

3.  L’Amour Ne Dure Pas Toujours – Feist (for those of you who can’t speak french, this song is essentially saying that love does not last forever, and the affair in question was just another experience and her heart is taking a vacation.  This is the original.)

4. Sunday Kind of Love – Etta James (this song has taken over my life.  it’s everywhere I go and I don’t mind one bit.)

5. Have You Ever Seen The Rain – Creedence Clearwater Revival

6.  Little Bit – Lykke Li

7.  Brown Trout Blues – Johnny Flynn (beautiful man.  beautiful line: I could be somewhere else/ I should be someone else / But you shouldn’t tell me what to do.)

For the Broken-Hearted

1.  White Blank Page – Mumford and Sons (have I mentioned I’m seeing Mumford and Sons LIVE ON MONDAY?  with that out of the way, this live version is a little rough around the edges, but it’s filmed beautifully and in some quaint British bookstore and it features beards, banjos, plaid and dramatic outpouring of emotions.  it doesn’t get better.  it just doesn’t.)

2.  Slow Dancing In a Burning Room – John Mayer

3.  Laughing – Guess Who (fan videos are the best!)

4. Handle With Care – Traveling Wilburys (talk about a supergroup.)

5.  Temazcal – Monsters of Folk

6.  Come Pick Me Up – Ryan Adams (and then he married Mandy Moore.)

7.  9 Crimes – Damien Rice (if you want to weep for hours on end, you should probably just go ahead and listen to his entire discography.)

For Those In Love

1.  Whatta Man – Salt ‘N Pepa (if you find someone who spends quality time with his kids [when he can, of course] AND who’s so crazy that you want to have his baby, then you better lock him down.)

2.  I’m in Love – John Lennon (I’ve heard rumours that this was recorded in a bathroom.  wherever it was recorded, it is quite possibly the sweetest song by Lennon and one of my favourites.)

3.  Maybe I’m Amazed – Paul McCartney

4.  Like a Hurricane – Neil Young

5.  Syrop and Honey – Duffy

6.  Wild Horses – The Rolling Stones (this is a clip from Gimme Shelter.)

7.  Murder in the City – The Avett Brothers

For Those Whose Favourite Movie is Dirty Dancing

it’s only appropriate to have a section on our Valentine’s Day soundtrack list devoted entirely to the movie with the best soundtrack and love story EVER.

You think this is a joke?

It’s not.

1.  Cry to Me – Solomon Burke

2.  Hungry Eyes – Eric Carmen

3.  Love is Strange – Mickey and Sylvia

4.  Stay – Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs

5.  Do You Love Me – The Contours (you broke my heart / ‘cuz I couldn’t dance / you didn’t even want me around / but now I’m back / to let you know / I can really shake ‘em down.)

6.  She’s Like The Wind – Patrick Swayze (genius at work here.)

7.  Time of My Life – Bill Medley and Jennifer Warner (you can’t tell me you don’t cry every time Baby finally does the lift.)

There you have it.

I know this has nothing to do with book covers, so for good measure, here are a few vintage covers from a DC comic called Girls’ Love Stories that I find totally fascinating.  They say they’re love stories, so I saved them just for the big day.

“He’s not kissing me.  He’s kissing her.  His GHOST LOVE!”

“She’s young… beautiful…but ALONE… WHY?”

“If you were half a woman you’d help!”

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