As a follow up to the songs of heartbreak article, which featured my favourite ever comment by the way - "This list should have been accompanied by a suicide prevention hotline number" - here's the other side of the coin, a reminder that music isn't all about the blues, that it has the unbeatable ability to make you walk down the street with a smile on your face and a spring in your step. As with the songs of heartbreak, this includes well-worn classics, contemporary gems and some stories that have undeservedly fallen under the radar. Love songs are all too easily derided, and seem to be under the ownership of 60's Motown and cheesy modern chart pop right? Well sort of, whilst Gary Barlow seems to have cornered the contemporary market, let's not underestimate the wonderful storytellers past and present who've written about the upside of love so magnificently, the cream of the crop certainly don't sound clichéd, rather the opposite in fact. Love is after all 'a many splendored thing' and when a songwriter can define how that feels, with a suitable musical accompaniment, they create something genuinely magical that can stay with you forever. For example, how many of you have heard a song, at a particular moment be that your first kiss, date or moment you saw someone and thought 'I want to that song to be the first dance at my wedding'? So we'll cover lots of different stages of love here, from an array of genres. Many of these songs cover the first rush of love, but there's also a raft of wonderful songs that cover other stages too. As with the list of songs of heartbreak, there are two caveats. Firstly, there is no such thing as a definitive list, you'll all have your own stories and moments and secondly, we all have a different takes on what makes a great love song, so here's mine a song that chronicles the first rush of love, that says it's us against the world, we'll protect each other or most importantly, something's changed and for the better. Which brings me to the first song here...
What makes music fantastic? Star quality, amazing music, breathtaking lyrics and the ability to bring something new to the table, even if that means a new take on the classics. That's what I love to listen to and write about.
As well as writing for What Culture, I occasionally write a blog http://tedney.blogspot.co.uk and sometimes use Twitter, but sparingly @TedneyNash
