Tomorrow we're going to read a famous Modern poem entitled "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". It just happens to be my favorite. :) Because we've been exploring the idea of love in our Modern texts, I want us to think about this idea, but particularly how it looks in "Prufrock". Eliot tells us from our first glance that this is a love song, so let's think about what that idea means.
In a brief, well-proofread post, identify a favorite love song. This might be one of yours, or one that's considered so by pop culture. In addition to naming that song by artist and title, give a sense for it. What is it about? What story does it tell? Consider even capturing a bit from the lyrics.
I'll start...
One of my favorite love songs is the song my husband and I danced to at our wedding called "Feet Don't Touch the Ground". It's by an obscure Texas country singer named Stony Larue. The lyrics tell the story of two people who come from completely different backgrounds and think they could never get used to the other setting; one is from a small town and doesn't think she could love a big city while the other is used to an urban setting and doesn't think he could live in the country. Ultimately, as one might expect, he is willing to forego what he's used to because he falls in love with her. Here is a little taste: "I was used to the boulevard./ When I saw you, I fell so hard./ Now I never want to leave;/ I could stay forever..."
My all-time favorite song is from the band The Script, and is a love song called “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved”. The lyrics share the story of a man who meets his “love” on the corner of a sidewalk; however she for some reason decides to leave. He decides to stay there stating that “if one day you wake up and find that you’re missing me / and your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I could be / thinking maybe you’ll come back here to the place that we’d meet / and you’d see me waiting for you on the corner of the street”. He continues to stay on that corner (which is why the title is about how he “can’t be moved”), through rain, and snow, and questioning. This song indicates that love has taken him over, and nothing is greater than the love he has for the girl, and therefore he is willing to give up anything and everything to have her back.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite love songs is "My Heart Sings" By 311. This song is about a man and a woman that are meant to be together forever. In the song the two people know that they are meant for each other but they don't know exactly what their relationship will look like. This point is proved by the line "Let it all go cause we can't know just what will be." Their relationship is very natural: "Breathe it on out the end will come so freely / You'll figure it out the answer will come so clearly dear." The male singer is always thinking about his love. This point is evident in this quote: "4 A.M. this hotel room and I think of you."
ReplyDeleteMy favorite love song would have to be "Stellar" by Incubus. It isn't a song that tells a story like some love songs, and it doesn't ever refer to a specific gender or time or setting. For me, because it is so generalized, it's easy to connect to. It's written speaking directly to the person instead of about them, and when that's combined with the band's creative and mystical audio, it has a very intimate sound. This is how it starts: "You are stellar / Meet me in outer space / We could spend the night / Watch the earth come up / I've grown tired of that place / Won't you come with me? / We could start again." When we did our exercise to describe what love looked and sounded like, my mind immediately went to this song as it talks about leaving this world to be alone, and how, when life gets exhausting, the thought of love remains as some stability. The lyrics go on to read: "How do you do it? / You make me feel like I do / How do you do it? / It's better than I ever knew", and really these two verses are just a little modified and then repeated throughout the song, making it very simple but effective. I really love these lyrics because they capture the idea that love isn't something that can be described, it can just be felt. (Easier for my mind to comprehend than most of today's gush found in love songs. :))
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite love songs that comes to mind is "Collide" by Howie Day. This song describes that way a man feels about the one he loves. It does not necessarily tell a story but it explains different ways why he feels the two are perfect for each other, or otherwise "Collide". The chorus jumps out to me because it says "Even the best fall down sometimes/Even the wrong words seem to rhyme/Out of the doubt that fills my mind/I somehow find/You and I collide" and to me it captures the fact that love is not easy and it will never be easy. Throughout the mistakes, they find that they are perfect for each other and compliment one another. A big factor of love is having a partner that makes you a better person. A person that will point out your flaws but accept them and help you fix them if needed. The song also states "Where I follow, you'll go/I worry I won't see your face/Light up again" which shows that he will follow her to the ends of this earth to be with her; it is dedication that he has for her. Then, he expresses that he is scared to lose her which also shows dedication. He recognizes that she completes his world and everything fits into place with her in his life. These lyrics are ones that I love because they prove that we aren't perfect and love is not perfect either but when that one person affects your life that much, things feel perfect.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite love song would have to be “Love Story” by Taylor Swift. This song is ultimately about breaking the rules and being in love. She makes the feeling of love seem forbidden by relating it to the love of Romeo and Juliet. With such a forbidden love, people must be secretive and quiet because similar to the end of The Great Gatsby, forbidden love can be the end of a person’s life. Taylor Swift expresses how love can go through rocky stages without commitment. In her song, she says, “Romeo save me, I’ve been feeling so alone, I keep waiting for you but you never come, is this in my head, I don’t know what to think…” She follows that up with the lyrics, “Marry me Juliet you’ll never have to be alone, I love you and that’s all I really know…” True love is portrayed as an ideal that can truly never be thrown away. It takes perseverance, but the end result makes it all feel right. In the end, things are perfect when you are with that person you have given your love to.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite love songs is "You and Me" by Lifehouse. The music video that was created for this song is about a man who chases his dream girl down as she's about to leave his life forever. Though this may have been the writer's thoughts on the lyrics, I can't help but think of it as talking about meeting somebody for the first time. Like many songs, I think that it talks about the idea of true love at first sight. The lyrics "And it's you and me and all other people, And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you," appeals to me as two peopple seeing one another for the first time. This is where the idea of true love comes in, as the individual performing the song can't even take their eyes off of the other person because of the strength of their attraction. Many would say that this is the feeling you have when you meet the "perfect" person.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite love songs is "Like We Used To" by A Rocket to the Moon. Typically the idea of love is occuring when you are currently in love. Even though it is not what a love song typically is about, these lyrics show another side of love that is a more concrete idea. This song is about a guy who despite breaking up with a girl, wants the best for her. He recollects all of the times they had together and knows how good the feeling of being in love is. He is singing this song to her to remind her of how good he was to her and telling her to never settle for anything less than what they had which was love. Just like he says "Will he love you like I loved you? / Will he tell you everyday? / Will he make you feel like you're invincible / With every word he'll say? / Can you promise me if this was right? / Don't throw it all away / Can you do all these things? / Will you do all these things / Like we used to? / Oh, like we used to." To me this is a love song because it is hopeful and everlasting. It shows how love wants the best for the other person and wants the other to want the best for themself. Love does not hold the other person back and make them regret, instead it makes the past a goal to aim for in future relationships.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite love songs is by The Afters named "Beautiful Love." I happened upon this song and it is fitting for the reason that incorporates one of my favorite aspects of romance which is the smile. The song states, "What a beautiful smile, can it stay for a while." This is the smile that shows so many happy emotions and so many emotions. It is the white tooth smile that is entirely unforgettable. A smile that can only come an unforgettable night. This is incorporated in yet another aspect of the song: "On a beautiful night." The upbeat and fast pace rhythm only reminds a person of the happiest times in their lives. This is a song of love and beauty coming together in a united place that is only imaginable in a faraway place suck as the night sky and moon which it references multiple times.
ReplyDelete"Trouble" by Ray Lamontagne, seems to be a public favorite in the world of love songs. Lamontagne's style just pulls at a person's heart strings, with easygoing guitar and a fantastic voice that sends chills up your spine. The mood includes meaning, and the public agrees, as it helped Traveler's Insurance commercial become an easy favorite. The lyrics are about a man with a discouraged life, but none of this matters once he meets a woman. It states "Trouble been doggin' my soul since the day I was born.../Worry just will not seem to leave my mind alone/We'll I've been...
ReplyDeletesaved by a woman." The lyrics are simple, but do not make love a bliss either, "Feels like every time I get back on my feet
she come around and knock me down again," but in the end he knows his love for her all the same. The main theme throughout the song,is despite hardships, his woman is the only thing that matters.
My favorite love song is "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle. It describes a dad watching his daughter grow up, and all the great memories he has of her. The chorus reads "With all that I've done wrong I must have done/ something right to deserve her love every morning/ and butterfly kisses at night." This line perfectly demonstrates how consistent and eternal true love is; it is there "every morning and... night", no matter what. The song ends with the daughter getting married and moving away, but the father's love persists: "I know I gotta let her go, but I'll always remember/ every hug in the morning and butterfly kisses."
ReplyDeleteMy favorite love song would have to be “Then” by Brad Paisley. This song is all about the gradual respect and love a man gains for the woman he loves. He describes the initial feelings he felt for her, comparing them to the stronger feelings he has developed over the course of their relationship. I love the composure of this song because Brad flashes back to the first time they met, the first date, and the proposal, which were all important events, but his love for her grows stronger with each new experience. He sings, “ And now you’re my whole life / Now you’re my whole world / I just can’t believe the way I feel about you, girl / Like a river meets the sea / Stronger than it’s ever been / We’ve come so far since that day / And I thought I loved you then.” And as he looks to the future, he can just see her, “with a baby on the way and hair turning gray”, but all of the hardships they face together only make him love her more.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite love songs is “Life Thru the Same Lens” by A Girl Called Eddy. This song outlines how the author believes her relationship demonstrates true love but is only heartbroken when her partner does not share the same belief. This is explained in the first stanza:
ReplyDelete“We see life through the same lens
That's what you said to me
And I knew that it was true
Until you threw my heart in the sea.”
I feel this song outlines the reality of love whereas most love songs show the “romantic” and “majestic” qualities of love that have long been forgotten by society. It is more common that one person has stronger feelings in a relationship which just leads to heartbreak. This then leads the author to feel the need to “adjust their vision” and “see life through the same lens.” This shows, on a hopeful side, that love can be worked on, but in the song the reciprocating side seems to not want to work on the relationship. I ultimately feel this was a great song to capture our previous discussions on love in Modernist texts.
One of my favorite love songs is "Every Rose Has its Thorn" by Poison. The song describes two people who's relationship has faulted over the years, and the man can't seem to figure out why. When he finally does try to win her heart back, she has fallen in love with another man. But now i hear you found somebody new/ And that I never meant that much to you/ To hear that tears me up inside/ To see you cuts me like a knife/ I guess every rose has its thorn.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite love song would have to be "Whole New World" from the Disney movie Aladdin. It is a song that accurately describes how true love is supposed to feel to a person. It is a song about wonderment and of all the places that love can take you from the fathest corner of the world to the fathest corner of yourself. The song is about two people who are so totally in love all they want to do is spend time with the other. That is all they think about and it really shows not only in the song but in the movie segment as well. "Unbelievable sights/ indescribable feelings/ soaring tumbling freewheeling through and endless diamond sky... A thrilling chase/ a wonderous place/ for you and me"
ReplyDeleteI don't really have a favorite love song, but if I had to chose one I would say that it is I'll Be by Edward McCain. Thorughout the song it is hard to tell if this song is about a relationship he actually has/had or if its more of a he just saw this girl walking around. Either way the song begins with what makes this girl so special. It then turns into almost like a plan of what he is going to do for this girl and to sort of prove his "devotion to her."
ReplyDelete"I Hate Everything About You" by Three Days Grace is my favorite love song. It tells the story of the bond of love. Two people may seem to dislike each other with their actions, but the love they feel for one another is unavoidable. It draws them together whether they want it to or not. "I hate everything about you / Why do I love you "...
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite love songs is "Oh it is love" by Hellogoodbye. This song is all about how two people have truly been in love since the first time the met. It tells of each emotion the boy has felt with her company. It describes his love for her and how they equally want to be with eachother. Ultimately though he wonders if it is true. "I kiss you and I know
ReplyDeleteIt is love from the first
Time I pressed my lips onto yours
Thinking, 'Oh, is it love?'"
A love song I listen to on occasion is "Sk8er Boy" by Avril Lavigne. It's about a skater boy who likes a girl, but the girl chooses not to go out with him because “he wasn’t good enough for her.” After years pass, the girl is grown up and notices a very popular rock star on television. Unfortunately for her, the rock star happens to be the skater boy she didn’t go out with. The song ends by the couple getting together after the girl goes backstage. Somehow, Avril makes the girl her, and says she’s with the skater boy…That part I do not understand, but never the less, it’s an enjoyable song.
ReplyDeleteOne really powerful love song is "Still Loving You" by the Scorpions. This song is about a guy who wants to try and fix a broken relationship and lost love. He says he will try anything to win her back and fix what went wrong, but because the girl has guarded herself and built up walls, they are unable to get back together.
ReplyDelete"Try, baby try, to trust in my love again. I will be there, I will bet there. if we'd go again, all the way form the start, I would try to change the things that killed our love. I'm still loving you."