Songs for the Mood

Since it’s Valentine’s Day and my personal website is still in the process of re-propagating, I’ve decided to make a quick sort of post on my music blog, wherein I’ll post my five favorite romantic songs. Ever. Most of them aren’t your typical guy and girl living happily ever after sort of thing. That’s just not my preference.

Personally, I like top five lists because they always prove to be an immediate challenge, a way of making me shudder with the idea that I only get to pick five songs. That’s it!

So here we go, my top five songs for Valentine’s Day:

5. “Crown of Love” – The Arcade Fire

This song always had a sort of wedding vibe to it, perhaps because I bought the Funeral album shortly before my two lovely friends Jason and Esther tied the knot in summer of 2005. The lyrics themselves are stark and crisp and passionate, especially in the chorus: “If you still love me, please fogive me. The crown of love is falling from me.” And the music is pretty dandy as well.

4. “Unison” – Bjork

About being anti-social and hermit-like, this song always had a strong significance to me. The song has a cheerful aura to it that always made me feel good about listening to it in a sad kind of way. It’s my favorite track from Vespertine, an album solely dedicated to the concept of love in the best of ways. What I enjoy best about “Unison” is its crafty ability to be about finally realizing the need for another person without sounding as if it were crafted by that Dion woman.

3. “The Rat Who Could Be King” – Matthew Good Band

This is one of my favorites, despite being thoroughly depressing. It’s these sort of epic songs, the sort that span almost seven seconds of heartfelt misery that really make me press Repeat over and over again. My favorite line is, “Once you’re in you’re pretty much fucked.” Although I have no real idea what it means, I always symbolized it in context with a boy I used to claim I was in love with, and feeling that way about him made me feel like the worst shit in the world. Matt sings in the chorus, “And I’ve a grenade with our names scratched in the side. But that’s just love, and you know that love’s not enough.” So dignified.

2. “Calculation Theme” – Metric

Despite the music being somewhat repetive, I always found it so soothe Emily Hains’ voice in the perfect way while she sings about ghosts and numbers and sweet potatoes. The lyrics are really ecletic in that way, but I find them to be perfect. So perfect, in fact, that I would consider this track as one of the best in Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? Few people understand the genius of it, the idea of it taking notice of the people that get in the way of a relationship.

1. “Let’s Roll” – The Stills

It has everything, a somber beat, dynamic lyrics, and no cliche bullshit. The lyrics to me seem more sexual than they are sensual, or maybe they might be romantic after all. I could never tell exactly. I’ve always admired this song for its own reasons, however, those being to highlight what ever mood I was in considering another person. Somehow this song has always stuck with me over the years, and I’ve always listened to it during those moments of admiration. It just fits.

The Five Best Summer Albums

5. Here We Go – Tuuli

Four summers ago I purchased this album from all-girl pop-punk Canadian band, Tuuli. Since then, it’s since slipped into my past, what with songs about bad break-ups and misbehaved boys. Really, though, the greatest part about Tuuli (which is, for the most part in these days, split and non-existent) was their refreshing sound. It was girly, it was poppish, it was everything summer for a sixteen year-old should have been.

4. Logic Will Break Your Heart – The Stills

This album really has a somber tone to it the entire way through, but in my case, after buying it, I let it become the sophisticated soundtrack to the more drab events during the summer of 2004. Really, though, it’s better for evening listening.

3. Funeral – The Arcade Fire

Speaking of “sophisticated” summer albums, this one really is an obvious pick. I picked it up last June and quickly let it drone into my summer with flying colours. A few of the songs actually deal with winter weather and freak snowstorms, but it didn’t make much of a difference, really. Often enough, a summer album is really all about the sound. And this album had it perfect.

2. All We Know is Falling – Paramore

Last summer, I received my pre-order of this album the day I got back from an amazing all-friend camping trip. I listened to it on repeat while I was cleaning the mess out of the coolers and scrubbing the campfire smell out of the pots, and it just brought back memories of every great event prior to it. This entire album just has a refreshing sound to it, and this band is quite possibly one of the most promising acts I’ve seen in a long time.

1. Watoosh! – Pezz

Otherwise known as the early Billy Talent, Pezz had a different sound to them that was upbeat and summer-like in all ways possible. It was typical teen angst fueled by upbeat energy – a good mix, in my opinion. Watoosh! was their first full-length album as Pezz, which sparked up my summer of 2004. Even now I can still throw it in the old CD player and feel it all come back.