Do you feel it in the air? No, not the mysterious illness going around — love! With Valentine’s Day coming up, it’s time to get into the spirit of companionship. Regardless of relationship status, I believe that the idea of love is something to be appreciated. So here’s a list of songs that celebrate what love can and should be: devoted, genuine and heartfelt. I’ve kept them confined to the soft and melodic, all the better for a little introspection.
1. Hozier: “Work Song”
As a huge Hozier fan, I think this song is an absolute must. It is the embodiment of love, affection and yearning. Tell me you’ve heard a lyric more romantic than “When my time comes around / Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth / No grave can hold my body down / I’ll crawl home to her.” The rest of the song is similarly heartbreakingly profound and, I believe, one of Hozier’s best. If you listen to any song on this playlist, looking for how love really feels, let it be this one.
2. John Vincent III: “Next to You”
It’s about devotion and the desire to be with someone always. Sounds like love, if you ask me — and not only in a romantic sense. I’d go anywhere for my closest friends.
3. Florence + the Machine: “No Choir”
“No Choir” displays the tender, gentle and quiet side of love. Nobody writes grand poems about the comfort of sitting in silence with another person, but it’s just as beautiful and meaningful as any loud declaration of affection.
4. Noah Kahan: “Everywhere, Everything”
Even as the world ends, love persists. Love can be found everywhere and in everything. It’s pervasive and far-reaching. “Everywhere, everything / I wanna love you 'til we're food for the worms to eat / 'Til our fingers decompose / I'll keep my hands in yours.”
5. boygenius: “True Blue”
“It feels good to be known so well / I can’t hide from you like I hide from myself.” It isn’t always comfortable to be seen so clearly, but as the saying goes: “to be loved is to be known.”
6. Gregory Alan Isakov: “Amsterdam”
“She’s got my back / She’ll follow me down every street / No matter what my crime.” While supporting criminal behavior isn’t the most advisable, the sentiment still remains.
7. Sixpence None The Richer: “Kiss Me”
“Kiss Me” is a classic and very dear to me. Listening to it feels giddy and fun. It mimics the feeling of having butterflies from being near someone who makes you smile.
8. Taylor Swift: “You Are In Love”
There are so many Taylor Swift songs I could have put in this playlist, but there’s something so touching about how simple “You Are In Love” is. When you know, you know.
9. The Goo Goo Dolls: “Iris”
Is it possible to really love someone without knowing them? I don’t think so — which is why “Iris” resounds so much. It’s saying: I love you, I want you to know me. Even when the entire world seems to be against you, the person you love will still see and accept who you are.
10. Hozier: “Be - Acoustic”
Starting and ending the playlist with Hozier songs? I did say I was a fan. Anyway, “Be” is another heartbreakingly beautiful song, the acoustic version especially so. In it, Hozier claims that the Garden of Eden itself suffered for losing the laughter of him and his lover. (“Be that hope when Eden was lost / That’s been deaf to our laughter since the master was crossed / Which side of the wall really suffers that cost? / And, lover, be good to me / Be as you’ve always been.”) He never wants her to change, simply to be as she is. That sentiment is unmatchable; if someone can feel that way about another person, and put it into words, then love definitely exists in this world.
Melissa Moon is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at mmoon@cornellsun.com.
‘Solar Flare’ is a weekly playlist column where Sun contributors spotlight a slice of musical taste with the campus community. It runs every Monday.
