“A song nobody likes is a sad thing. But a love song nobody likes is hardly a thing at all.” - from Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield
DO YOU FEEL THAT?
SUPERHUMANOIDS
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So the issue is, what is love? Is it a feeling? An idea? A concept? To be honest, I’ll never be sure, but in my experience I’ve always considered it to be somewhat like a force. This song reminds me of that. Like a gust of wind, love forces its will against us. At times we expect it, and at other times we resist. Regardless of our reaction, it will act on its own without acknowledging our input.
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MISS YOU MOST (AT NIGHT)
MR. CARMACK FEAT. TA-KU
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This song really isn’t a comment on love as much as it is an example of my experience of love. I’m in a long distance relationship and what I miss most about my partner are some of the most simple, basic things that I share with her. When you are in a long distance relationship you miss out on sharing a large percent of your life with someone. Most days, I only have an hour or two to talk to my partner, and that is all the time we spend together. I don’t get to share a meal with her, or a cup of coffee, or a walk, or a bed. For me, sharing is a way that I show my partner that I love her.
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ANTICIPATE
SKREAM FEAT. SAM FRANK
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There are so many kinds of love that we are capable of feeling and, hopefully, will be able to experience in our lifetime. This song is about the overpowering sense of love the artist is experiencing while waiting for his unborn son to arrive. One day I hope that I will have this same feeling for a child of my own, just like my father had for me and my sister. When you love something or someone, there is an odd feeling of resolution and accomplishment that overcomes you. You see life more holistically, with more clarity than you did before. Love has this overarching theme of unity hidden beneath it that I find incredibly beautiful and inspiring.
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BOTH SIDES NOW (TWO VERSIONS)
JONI MITCHELL
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We have all felt the sting that comes with loving someone. When we open ourselves to love, we also make ourselves very vulnerable, which makes us susceptible to both positive and negative emotion. Love opens us up to the faults of others, and to our own. This is why loving someone can be so testing. The people we love can also be the people who take advantage of us, or the people who hurt us. This song aided me through my highs and lows with different people that I have loved. Each version provides a different tone which subsequently leads to a different understanding, a different side of the same coin. What Mitchell's lyrics have taught me is that it is better to expose yourself to love so that you can be exposed to yourself. Love will always be a teacher with a lesson.
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ALL MY FRIENDS
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
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Love for friends is different than for a partner or for a family member. What I love about it is that is so individualistic. The type of love that I have for each of my friends is uniquely different based on so many different factors. Its subtle complexities is what I think makes friendship such a beautiful thing to be a part of. It is also not as strongly tied to a need for contact as other kinds of love are. You cannot see or talk to a great friend for years and that bond of friendship is kept intact. Friendship, to me, is one of the healthiest and most important experiences in a human being's life. The ability to be a friend is strongly tied to one’s ability to love another person.
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Header art by T. Guzzio. Original photo via CNN.com.
CONNECT WITH NATE:
Nate Sousa is a student living in Lake Forest, Illinois (but don't get it twisted, he has no money). He's obsessed with the NBA and spicy food. He also runs an independent radio station in Lake Forest, WMXM 88.9FM. Listen online to either one of his programs (Tuesdays, 9PM-12AM CST, Thursdays, 4PM-5PM). or on TuneIn Radio.
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