Eyewear's Top 14 Songs For Valentine's Day

she is in love

As poets and lovers know, music and and love go together like a tenor and vehicle. Here are Eyewear's top 14 love songs, or songs about 'love', in no order - and, I should add, some classic break-up songs like 'Wicked Game' or 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' are not included, though they too are about love's wounding force - however, in the spirit of the occasion, I am erring on the side of romance and eros.

1. Bob Dylan - 'Lay, Lady, Lay' - the most improbably delightful Dylan song, for me, this rich cowpoke tune is also seriously sexy.

2. Ella Fitzgerald - 'My Funny Valentine' - well, this is the classic, really, the heart of the matter, and pure wit at that.

3. Bob Marley & The Wailers - 'Could You Be Loved' - the answer is, with this going on, yes.

4. Madonna - 'Dress You Up' - one of the great cross-dressing songs, and exuberantly wackily boy-crazy pop.

5. Simple Minds - 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' - memorable 80s nostalgia trip and indie pop love gem.

6. Bow Wow Wow - 'Aphrodisiac' - this lusty song is nearly insane, and suits the madness of love potions.

7. Depeche Mode - 'I Feel You' - the most stridently romantic of all DM's tunes, and one closest to being a rocker, with sleazy synth thrust they have.

8. Mazzy Star - 'Fade Into You' - possibly the greatest unrequited love song - certainly the best dream pop version.

9. The Romantics - 'One In A Million' - the power pop classic. Its joyous simplicity never stales.

10. Rihanna, Jay-Z - 'Umbrella' - such a moving, sweet song, with an image as old as Herman's Hermits, and timeless.

11. Massive Attack - 'Girl I Love You' - a throbbing, sinister and deeply powerful expression of passion.

12. Minnie Driver - 'Everything I've Got In My Pocket' - this attempt to cheer up an apparently depressed friend or lover is very moving.

13. The Kinks - 'All Day and All Of The Night' - more primal, more pure, than The Beatles, this is the greatest Sixties expression of utter desire. "I believe you and me last forever" - what is more poetic than that?

14. Whitney Houston - 'I Will Always Love You' - is there a more beautifully sung pop song? A more poignant one on this date in time?

Honourable Mentions: 'A Girl Like You', The Smithereens; 'Heart Shaped Box', Nirvana; 'Today', Smashing Pumpkins, and 'There She Goes' by the La's.

A poem for my mother, July 15 When she was dying And I was in a different country I dreamt I was there with her Flying over the ocean very quickly, And arriving in the room like a dream And I was a dream, but the meaning was more Than a dream has – it was a moving over time And land, over water, to get love across Fast enough, to be there, before she died, To lean over the small, huddled figure, In the dark, and without bothering her Even with apologies, and be a kiss in the air, A dream of a kiss, or even less, the thought of one, And when I woke, none of this had happened, She was still far distant, and we had not spoken.

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