Falling in Love in the Key of C
Songs that have shaped my understanding of love
1. Wilco - A Shot in the Arm
“We fell in love / In the key of C” How convenient that must have been. Walking by the sea and fulfilling every cliche you’ve ever dreamed of imposing on the opposite sex. Some people have their soap operas, chick flicks, and fairy tales, but I use hundreds of pop songs to shape my understanding of love. And this song, this bitter, depressing, and oddly upbeat song - thanks to Jay Bennett’s pop posturing - was one that I kept playing over and over again when I was actually questioning my own love. For all I know, this song is probably just about drugs, which would explain the euphoric music that accompanies the chorus about needing a shot in the arm. But to me, this is classic pop heartbreak wrapped in attractive clothes. Why do I love songs about heartbreak? Because they sound this good.
2. Ryan Adams - Sweet Carolina
This is another song where I’m not sure he was ever thinking about a girl. So why has this song affected how I view relationships? I think the reason why I look to this song for some kind of answer is Emmylou Harris. It’s like Adams was too hurt to actually talk about the girl in the song. But she won’t leave him alone. Instead, she just hovers in the background during the chorus like the ghost of a woman who got away. And for some reason I always loved the idea that someone could so profoundly affect my life that I would be haunted by her memory. That being tormented by an unattainable ghost is bad, didn’t cross my mind until a while later.
3. Rufus Wainwright - Foolish Love
This list could have really been the best of Rufus Wainwright, as he feels the most romantic of all the artists I listen to. But this song is the best. I remember when I first heard it, I was sure it was the most beautiful song I’d ever heard. It took me some three years of me telling Abby that it was the greatest love song ever when she casually said, “But it’s about a foolish love.” So is my idea of love based on superficial actions made to look like someone is in love? “Go to all the poshest places / With their familiar faces /Terminate all signs of weakness.” Or what about “Or better yet / I’ll wear shades on sunless days” Though he talks of what is going to happen because of trying to avoid his “foolish love”, he never actually describes what his lover is like. He describes how he feels about his love, but never of what it takes to get that love. In the end, everything he does is a facade.
4. Blur - No Distance Left to Run
In high school, I once made a compilation for a girl who I knew just wanted to be my friend, but who I quite liked. I decided to put this song on there. On the label, while all the rest of the songs were written in black, I highlighted this one in bright red. Why did I want her to hear this song? We never experienced anything remotely close to the sentiments of “I hope you're with someone who makes you feel safe in your sleeping tonight”. But for some reason I wanted to show that I would love someone so much that when we broke up we would hurt that much. Because that’s obviously a goal. Jesus, this is getting depressing.
5. Bruce Springsteen - I’m On Fire
Springsteen wrote many songs about love and lust, but this is the one that gets under my skin the most. It’s undeniably sexy, but creepy at the same time.
“Sometimes it's like someone took a knife baby / edgy and dull and cut a six-inch valley / through the middle of my soul” That’s pain, as I you’ve learned from the previous entry, I thought that was a positive thing to attain.
6. Aimee Mann - Save You
In the middle of high school when I was making compilations for girls that didn’t like me, I started to dream about what my perfect woman would be. For some reason this is the first time I fell in love with the words of a woman. “You look like a perfect fit / For a girl in need of a tourniquet” It was vulnerable, sad, poetic, and oddly alluring. I wanted to meet this troubled soul, and be that person that saved her. That she sounded like a siren the entire time, someone who was waiting to bring me down too, I didn’t realize until much later.
7. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentleman, We Are Floating in Space
“All I want in life’s a little bit of love / To take the pain away” Yes, and I want a rush of hypnotic guitars to envelop my ears that makes love sound this all-encompassing. This isn’t love as a relationship, but as a force of nature that ignores the rest of the world. Again, this song might be disqualified for its potentially about drugs.
8. Lucinda Williams - Those Three Days
The odd thing about songs about love, is that they never end. A song about heartbreak will usually be followed by a song about finding love again. Love seemed infinite to me, something that could never run out. Then I heard Lucinda sing this:
Scorpions crawl across my screen
Make their home beneath my skin
Underneath my dress stick their tongues
Bite through the flesh down to the bone
And I have been so fuckin' alone
The pain in those lines, and the violence and meanness implied, completely shook me. Of all the songs I’d ever heard, this one felt the most real for some reason. While the rest of these songs might have mystified love, this one actually made me fear losing someone.
9. Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
“I don’t know where, but she sends me there”
It’s hard to express what makes one fall in love considering what I’ve just talked about. With scorpions crawling up Lucinda’s dress, Aimee pulling ships into the rocks, and Springsteen getting his entire skull carved open, it’s good to remember that moment when you first fall in love someone. It feels just like this song. It’s awkward and exciting, like falling asleep in a bed with a girl for the first time.
1. Wilco - A Shot in the Arm
“We fell in love / In the key of C” How convenient that must have been. Walking by the sea and fulfilling every cliche you’ve ever dreamed of imposing on the opposite sex. Some people have their soap operas, chick flicks, and fairy tales, but I use hundreds of pop songs to shape my understanding of love. And this song, this bitter, depressing, and oddly upbeat song - thanks to Jay Bennett’s pop posturing - was one that I kept playing over and over again when I was actually questioning my own love. For all I know, this song is probably just about drugs, which would explain the euphoric music that accompanies the chorus about needing a shot in the arm. But to me, this is classic pop heartbreak wrapped in attractive clothes. Why do I love songs about heartbreak? Because they sound this good.
2. Ryan Adams - Sweet Carolina
This is another song where I’m not sure he was ever thinking about a girl. So why has this song affected how I view relationships? I think the reason why I look to this song for some kind of answer is Emmylou Harris. It’s like Adams was too hurt to actually talk about the girl in the song. But she won’t leave him alone. Instead, she just hovers in the background during the chorus like the ghost of a woman who got away. And for some reason I always loved the idea that someone could so profoundly affect my life that I would be haunted by her memory. That being tormented by an unattainable ghost is bad, didn’t cross my mind until a while later.
3. Rufus Wainwright - Foolish Love
This list could have really been the best of Rufus Wainwright, as he feels the most romantic of all the artists I listen to. But this song is the best. I remember when I first heard it, I was sure it was the most beautiful song I’d ever heard. It took me some three years of me telling Abby that it was the greatest love song ever when she casually said, “But it’s about a foolish love.” So is my idea of love based on superficial actions made to look like someone is in love? “Go to all the poshest places / With their familiar faces /Terminate all signs of weakness.” Or what about “Or better yet / I’ll wear shades on sunless days” Though he talks of what is going to happen because of trying to avoid his “foolish love”, he never actually describes what his lover is like. He describes how he feels about his love, but never of what it takes to get that love. In the end, everything he does is a facade.
4. Blur - No Distance Left to Run
In high school, I once made a compilation for a girl who I knew just wanted to be my friend, but who I quite liked. I decided to put this song on there. On the label, while all the rest of the songs were written in black, I highlighted this one in bright red. Why did I want her to hear this song? We never experienced anything remotely close to the sentiments of “I hope you're with someone who makes you feel safe in your sleeping tonight”. But for some reason I wanted to show that I would love someone so much that when we broke up we would hurt that much. Because that’s obviously a goal. Jesus, this is getting depressing.
5. Bruce Springsteen - I’m On Fire
Springsteen wrote many songs about love and lust, but this is the one that gets under my skin the most. It’s undeniably sexy, but creepy at the same time.
“Sometimes it's like someone took a knife baby / edgy and dull and cut a six-inch valley / through the middle of my soul” That’s pain, as I you’ve learned from the previous entry, I thought that was a positive thing to attain.
6. Aimee Mann - Save You
In the middle of high school when I was making compilations for girls that didn’t like me, I started to dream about what my perfect woman would be. For some reason this is the first time I fell in love with the words of a woman. “You look like a perfect fit / For a girl in need of a tourniquet” It was vulnerable, sad, poetic, and oddly alluring. I wanted to meet this troubled soul, and be that person that saved her. That she sounded like a siren the entire time, someone who was waiting to bring me down too, I didn’t realize until much later.
7. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentleman, We Are Floating in Space
“All I want in life’s a little bit of love / To take the pain away” Yes, and I want a rush of hypnotic guitars to envelop my ears that makes love sound this all-encompassing. This isn’t love as a relationship, but as a force of nature that ignores the rest of the world. Again, this song might be disqualified for its potentially about drugs.
8. Lucinda Williams - Those Three Days
The odd thing about songs about love, is that they never end. A song about heartbreak will usually be followed by a song about finding love again. Love seemed infinite to me, something that could never run out. Then I heard Lucinda sing this:
Scorpions crawl across my screen
Make their home beneath my skin
Underneath my dress stick their tongues
Bite through the flesh down to the bone
And I have been so fuckin' alone
The pain in those lines, and the violence and meanness implied, completely shook me. Of all the songs I’d ever heard, this one felt the most real for some reason. While the rest of these songs might have mystified love, this one actually made me fear losing someone.
9. Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
“I don’t know where, but she sends me there”
It’s hard to express what makes one fall in love considering what I’ve just talked about. With scorpions crawling up Lucinda’s dress, Aimee pulling ships into the rocks, and Springsteen getting his entire skull carved open, it’s good to remember that moment when you first fall in love someone. It feels just like this song. It’s awkward and exciting, like falling asleep in a bed with a girl for the first time.
posted by Nick at 11:06 PM
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