Love: Lost & Found
Words: Stephanie Bolling

Valentine’s Day can be a foreboded holiday or a long awaited treat. Good ole’ love.  If you have it, you relish hearing about it. If you don’t have it, you want to strangle every PDAing couple and shoot Cupid from the sky (or bribe him to be on your side). Love seems to be the most sung about and over-killed topic throughout the history of music; its extensive catalogue penetrates every musical genre. The selection process was difficult, but out of hundreds of picks I managed to stitch together an array of tops for various love types.

If you’re trying to swoon your sweetheart, express your sentiments, profess your fidelity or looking for that perfect slow dancing song, one of these tracks will surely fit your musical needs.

Love: Found

Nine Inch Nails
“Closer”
The Downward Spiral
A classic Nine Inch Nails song to spell out those hot and heavy motives. Need I say more?

Sade
“Cherish The Day”
Love Deluxe
Her smoky sophistication clutches the ultimate desire and dedication of affirming your love.

Billie Holiday
“The Very Thought Of You”
Lady Day: The Best Of Billie Holiday
For that antique love that feels like you belong in a black and white movie. Meant for slow dancing on wood floors in between bottles of wine.

Dusty Springfield
“What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?”
See All Her Faces
Sung by many, but here is the slow burning Dusty Springfield version that displays the timeless nature of love.

Al Green
“Let’s Stay Together”
Let’s Stay Together
Al Green’s soulful classic that has become many couples’ “song” over the years. It’s a reminder to stay together through the thick and thin, and reaffirm your devotion to your soul mate – also good for dancing in the living room.

India.Arie
“Ready For Love”
Acoustic Soul
Coming to terms with knowing you are prepared to take the rollercoaster of love as far down, or up, as it will go. 

Bjork
“Cocoon”
Vespertine
Her soft and revealing voice awakens to the surprise of loving someone, “Who would have known that a boy like him...” I imagine this intimate song bedside as you awake to find yourself falling in love with the person next to you.

The Postal Service
“Such Great Heights”
Give Up
A Postal Service favorite for all the scenester love out there. I can see the sparks flying on Czar’s dance floor now.

Calvin Harris
“Love Souvenir”
I Created Disco
An instrumental track, perfect for affection, grooving, or making souvenirs (wink wink).

Mickey & Sylvia
“Love Is Strange”
Dirty Dancing Soundtrack
For all you cheesy romantics. To really get her attention, you can reenact the scene this song captures in the movie. OK, maybe that’d only work on me, but you get the picture.

Then there are the folks who loathe Valentine’s Day for an abundance of reasons. If you’re trying to give your significant other the hint, cursing the bittersweet nature of breakups, hating on your ex or moping about in your lonesome pity, then these tracks should cover all your empathetic needs.

Love: Lost

Ben Harper
“Picture In A Frame”
Both Sides Of The Gun
If you catch yourself staring at a photo of your lost love and reminiscing, then this song is for you.  Ben’s soul writhes, “Everything I wish for is everything I see, I remember when your kisses were for me.”

Bob Marley & The Wailers
“Sunday Morning”
Best Of Bob Marley & The Wailers Studio One
Bunny Wailer leads this one with his tender voice taking you through the daily regret of foolish love. His sopranos at the end “Pardon me ma’am, for being what I am” hit the hopeless pit of being confused in love.

Chick
“Love Is A Scam”
Someone’s Ugly Daughter
The girly screams and certainty behind C. Dane’s voice “I don’t want you no more,” lets you know just what an unfair game love can be. Definitely for the chick-rock lovers.

PJ Harvey
“The Darker Days of Me & Him”
Uh Huh Her
About half of all P.J. songs could make this list. “Darker Days” is the closing track of what I consider her “breakup” album. She sings half-gutted, “Tape the broken parts together and limp this love around.”

Fiona Apple
“Not About Love”
Extraordinary Machine
This song conveys the neurotic nature of not wanting to love someone and telling yourself you’re over it.

Prince
“When Doves Cry”
Purple Rain
A love list wouldn’t be complete without Prince. The sound of doves crying is not a good thing and so goes the constant power struggle of getting relationships right.

Nine Inch Nails
“Love Is Not Enough”
With Teeth
An angst-ridden track from Nine Inch Nails’ With Teeth that showcases the aggressive and remorseful phases of letting someone go.

The Dresden Dolls
“Good Day”
The Dresden Dolls
A song about recovering from a breakup, doing things for yourself, and reclaiming your identity. Amanda Palmer screaming at the end “I’m on fire” will surely get you feeling autonomous again.

Beck
“Nobody’s Fault But My Own”
Mutations
This guilt-ridden melancholic acceptance and regret of ruining a chance at love bleeds through Eeyore style.

Patty Loveless
“Blame It On Your Heart”
Only What I Feel
This one certainly takes care of the blatant name-calling of the ex who did you wrong. Complete with the country twang of misfortune.