No matter what, there is love

Lately, love has had a rough time.

John Edwards dragged it through the mud, Tiger Woods backed up on top of it while his wife beat it with a golf club, and Ronnie and Sammi from “Jersey Shore” pummeled it.

Face it, we’re one Maury lie-detector show from completely burying it.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, I’m expecting an increase of love songs. Usually, it would slightly perturb my pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. But something made me rethink this year.

No matter how cute or corny you find them, you have to wonder why love songs exist – especially now, when women are more than willing to be compacted in a house and rejected by a man on national TV week after week.

Even my parents doubt if the love song can survive these climates. Back in their days, when floppy discs were innovative technology, the radio – sorry, no iTunes, folks – was saturated with songs about love and losing love. Now, we’re in between disco sticks and lady lumps.

But the love song is not a dying breed. There will always be people who live to write them.

Whether we like to remember or not, those feelings of nervousness around a crush, the warmth of a first kiss and the crushing feeling of heartbreak connect us to love songs spanning across generations and genres.

We all run back to those love songs that define what we’re going through as we approach what is known as the most romantic, or most wretched (depending on if he calls you), day of the year.

For example, have you ever felt like you’re stuck in the friend zone, despite all those subliminal Facebook statuses? Have you just not been able to seal the deal?
My suggestion? Put on Jason Mraz’s song, “If It Kills Me.”

The song is all about waiting way past the point of desperation until the person of your dreams realizes they should leave their seemingly happy relationship and be with you. Homewrecking aside, there’s a song for you.

When you think about all the transitory trends in music, it’s surprising that the theme of love has expanded and transformed itself into many concepts. It doesn’t have to be boy-meets-girl; it can be person-meets-world or even person-meets-self.

And it says something that love songs still persist; we still listen; artists continue to write and perform them. It’s the humanistic thread that intertwines us all.

In this time and age, when it’s so easy to witness the evil the world can possess, I am thankful that no matter what, there is love.