Mormon Mentality - Thoughts and Asides by Peculiar People » EW’s love songs, and an observation from Provo

By Dan Ellsworth

Jan. 3rd, 2008 at 9:21 am

Entertainment weekly has posted a list of their top 25 love songs ever:

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20047752,00.html

One of my favorite Provo bingo events is listening to hear the inevitable playing of a Howard Jones song on the radio or in a store when I’m shopping. I don’t understand the Howard Jones nostalgia in Provo; he is to Provo what the Bee Gees are to Brazil or what Lionel Richie is to the Middle East, never fading in relevance no matter how far the rest of the world moves on.

Regarding the list, I agree with the entries from Elton John, Peter Gabriel, Paul McCartney, and the Beach Boys.

My gripes- how can they not include Bob Dylan’s Make You Feel My Love (and no, that wasn’t written by Garth Brooks; country stars generally don’t have the creativity to write their own music) or Led Zeppelin’s Thank You? And why Sweet Child of Mine? There are several from Sting or The Police that are more deserving, and most power ballads from Journey are more deserving than anything by The Cure. And I was very saddened by the absence on this list of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here.

And no Styx? Are they in the second tier?

1. Devyn S.

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 10:43am

Howard Jones and Provo - yes there is something odd in Provo with Howard Jones… I was glad to see G-n-R on the list as I like them, although I am not sure I see it as a love song. I was also glad to see Elvis in the Top Five.

2. Dan

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 10:44am

Nope, no Styx in the second tier.

3. JA Benson

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 11:01am

How could they miss _I Melt With You_ Modern English 1982 ??!!

4. John

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 11:10am

That’s why they do lists. So people can feel properly offended when their favorite is omitted and then write an angry missive to the editor. Plus, it sells magazines.

5. annegb

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 11:21am

Songs from this list that are on my “favorites” tape (which I play constantly in my car):

Unchained Melody (actually I’m kind of sick of it by now.
These Arms of Mine (Otis Redding rocks)

These are the others on my favorites:

Into the Mystic Van Morrison
Hey, Girl
My Girl both by the Temptations

Several by Otis Redding

Songs on this list that I love: All the old Motown ones, although that one girl looks like a transvestite.

I can’t believe they left off Hey Jude.

Thank God they left off the song from the Titanic. I’m so sick of that song.

Fun post

6. Dan Ellsworth

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 11:32am

Annegb, Hey Jude is one of my favorites as well. I’m not sure if it’s a love song, though. In fact, I have no clue what it’s about. Tagore might be able to enlighten us on that- he has a Ph.D in The Beatles.

7. veritas

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 11:40am

Hey Jude was written for John Lennon’s son, Julian when his parents (Lennon and Cynthia Powell) were getting divorced.

Thank You by Led Zepplin was my first dance at my wedding. And, ahem, for you to say anything by Journey is better than the Cure makes me deeply suspect of your taste in music :). The Cure are some of the best song writers of our time.

8. Nick Literski

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 11:52am

Hmmm…

“Just Like Heaven” — I’m a child of the 80s. What more can I say?

“Purple Rain” — See above. Besides, Prince is a a guilty pleasure of mine.

“Time After Time” — Beautiful, and even better on Cyndi’s recent accoustic release.

“Unchained Melody” — Another beautiful song, but forever linked with the scene from the movie, “Ghost.” Hey–I’m gay, and that scene was still impressive.

“Your Eyes” — Powerful, emotive, simply great. (Refer back to “child of the 80s” remark.)

“I Will Always Love You” — Okay, so my partner thinks it’s torture, but wow. Just WOW.

“God Only Knows” as #1? Huh? Okay, so it makes a good opening theme for “Big Love,” but beyond that…???

Annegb, I’m with you on the Titanic theme. That wretched woman has terrible curse. She gets writers to provide her with wonderful material, and then she does one thing to consistently ruin it—she opens her mouth.

9. BTD Greg

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 12:18pm

“Wish You Were Here” isn’t exactly a love song. It’s a wistful song about Syd Barret’s insanity.

10. Susan M

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 12:21pm

Purple Rain is a love song?

“Your Song” by Elton John
“Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper
= genius.

“Crazy in Love”? Blech! It’s an ok song, but top 25 ever? As if!

Ahh…”You Send Me,” Sam Cooke. The man’s incredible.

I’m impressed they included Peter Gabriel. It is such a fantastic song. And U2’s “All I Want is You” is one of their best songs, IMO.

Guns’n'Roses is a joke, right?

“I Will Always Love You” is a great Dolly Parton song.

“Let’s Stay Together” is one of the top all-time songs, love songs or not.

They left off the best love song ever written, though: Nick Drake’s “Northern Sky.”

11. annegb

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 12:40pm

Put it up on your site, Susan, so I can go listen to it.

12. Susan M

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 12:50pm

OK, Anne, posted:

http://www.strangepulse.com/?p=1193

13. Mark IV

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 12:51pm

Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton deserves a place on that list.

Dylan’s I Want You (So Bad) also should be there.

Yes, I am an old guy.

14. jjohnsen

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 1:37pm

Howard Jones isn’t just a Provo thing, he’s a Utah thing. You could always count of four or five of his songs being played at a high school dance, and I remember at one of his concerts he announced Utah was the only place he could book two shows and have them both sell out.

He and Oingo Boingo seem to have a popularity that was never matched anywhere else.

15. a random John

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 1:55pm

I’m convinced that Simon and Garfunkle are missing from the list. Probably not Cecelia but perhaps America.

16. Matt Thurston

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 1:57pm

The list was pretty good, actually. It seemed to cover a lot of bases.

Melt With You by Modern English made the 26-50 list. (You can follow a link to the next 25 from the #1 God Only Knows page.) Here: http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20047186_20047188_20047646,00.html

The Smiths, Mazzy Star, Talking Heads, Coldplay, Snow Patrol, and the great Captain and Tennille make the 26-50 list.

Just Like Heaven by The Cure is very deserving.

Ring of Fire? Great song, but doesn’t feel like a conventional love song.

No Carpenters?

17. Dan Ellsworth

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 2:04pm

arj (15),

America is one of those songs that just rips your heart out- absolutely amazing. Josh Groban’s cover of it is very good; I always thought he was a cheeseball until I heard his version of America.

Can we all agree it’s fantastic that they don’t have anything from Peter Cetera, Bryan Adams, Richard Marx, or Michael Bolton on that list?

18. Dan Ellsworth

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 2:12pm

Matt (16),

I was also puzzled by Ring of Fire; I would not classify that as a love song.
I think 26-50 are a mess- I think that list would have been better titled “25 obscure love songs.”

19. Susan M

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 2:18pm

I don’t think #26-50 are all that obscure.

My personal list would include Husker Du’s “Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill.”

20. Sherpa

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 2:20pm

“Make You Feel My Love” is one of the top songs written in the past 15 years. That should definitely be on the list. But the Dylan on the list will be suffice. Personally, I’d have a hard time picking out my favorite Dylan love song.

“Ring of Fire?” Absolutely. Not a conventional love song, but still merits a place on that list.

Whitney’s cover of “I will always love you?” Hell no. Love the song, and the backstory behind it..but that cover..Oh, no.

I thought the top 3 were right on target.

21. Dan Ellsworth

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 2:26pm

Ring of Fire is a great song, but it’s one of several that have me scratching my head because I can’t imagine it merits a place on the list more than Wrapped Around Your Finger by The Police.
I’m all for unconventional songs on the list; one of my top five is El Farol by Santana, and it doesn’t even have any lyrics.

22. BTD Greg

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 2:28pm

I wonder who the top ten “Utah” artists of all time would be?

Some nominations:

Howard Jones
Erasure
Oingo Boingo
The Ocean Blue
The Origin

23. Susan M

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 2:41pm

I was kind of surprised they didn’t include a Police or Sting song, but then I was just happy they left off “Every Breath You Take,” which is not a love song, but gets treated like one.

24. Sam B.

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 2:49pm

Meh. There are some pretty good songs there, but it’s horribly mistitled. Call it “Top 25 Love Songs from the last 50 years or so from the United States and Great Britain that made it on the Billboard Top-40 Chart,” and I’d quibble here and there, but not to the extent the argument would be worth it. But leaving out classical music, opera, jazz, bluegrass, anything in a foreign language, anything religious (just think about the wonderful spirituals declaring love to God), etc., etc.

25. Nick Literski

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 2:51pm

I saw Erasure in concert this past summer in Seattle. Andy Bell was fantastic, but I was amazed at the range of the audience. Everything from a drag queen to a straight couple who were surely in their 60s, and yes, the latter were on their feet with the rest of us. I can’t agree that Erasure is just a Utah choice.

26. BTD Greg

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 3:07pm

Okay, sub Alphaville for Erasure.

27. Dan Ellsworth

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 3:15pm

Yes, Alphaville is very much alive and well in Utah.

28. Devyn S.

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 3:29pm

BTD Greg - My first thoughts were also Oingo Boingo, Howard Jones and Depeche Mode - seems like those groups will never die in Utah while the rest of the country has moved way past them…

29. MAC

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 4:14pm

“Top 25 Love Songs from the last 50 years or so from the United States and Great Britain that made it on the Billboard Top-40 Chart,”

Try the time frame from 20 to 50 years ago. This is the list for people who still listen to cassettes, or less euphemistically it is old fogey music. I imagine that whoever compiled the list noticed it and asked their kid, who then threw out the Beyonce song, and they didn’t know any better than to include it. Aren’t most of these artists dead?

30. dpc

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 4:16pm

Howard Jones did a great cover of Dido’s ‘White Flag’ on Hit Me Baby One More Time a couple of summers ago. Not sure that I would pay to go to one of his concerts though…

31. queuno

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 4:58pm

Ah, memories of Provo, where most people thought “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston was a romantic song about eternal love…

32. queuno

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 5:00pm

(The “Print” link failed to bring up the entire article without forcing me to help inflate EW’s hit stats by clicking on ever page. Does someone have the entire list they can post?)

33. danithew

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 6:51pm

I have a New Yorker friend who keeps lists of his favorite music, on an annual basis, and Alphaville’s Forever Young has been his favorite #1 song for something like twenty years.

Even this friend of mine, who I think has visited Utah only once in his life for a week-long vacation, has noticed that Alphaville is huge in Utah. Doesn’t Alphaville still go to Salt Lake City occasionally to do concerts?

It’s kind of a funny thing with Utah and these New Wave groups. It doesn’t bother me. I just find it kind of cute and amusing.

34. queuno

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 8:16pm

I don’t know if they are top 25, but I always like the Pretenders’ “I Would Walk 500 Miles”.

35. Susan M

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 9:06pm

I think you mean the Proclaimers. Unless you mean the Pretender’s “2000 Miles.”

36. Matt Thurston

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 9:11pm

Some of my favorite love songs:

“First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes
“Love is Stronger than Death” by The The
“Slave to Love” by Bryan Ferry
“Crazy Love” by Van Morrison
“Escape (the Pina Colada song)” by Rupert Holmes

Some great “Anti”-love songs:

“How Men Are” by Aztec Camera
“Unloveable” by The Smiths
“The Price I Pay” by Billy Bragg
“The Short Answer” by Billy Bragg
“Rent” by Pet Shop Boys
“Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman
“Superstar” by The Carpenters
“Anything Anything” by Dramarama
“Like a Drug” by They Eat Their Own (or maybe it is a love song?)
“I Hope I Don’t Fall in Love with You” by Tom Waits
“Say Hello Wave Goodbye” by Soft Cell
“This is the Last Day of Our Aquaintance” by Sinead O’Connor
“Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinead O’Connor

37. annegb

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 9:17pm

Is there a way to listen to these songs, the ones that aren’t on Susan’s site? BTW, that is a beautiful song, Susan, thank you.

38. Dan Ellsworth

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 9:27pm

My favorite anti-song is Can’t You See, by the Marshall Tucker Band.

Gonna find me
A hole in the wall
Gonna crawl inside and die!

It’s the anthem of my BYU dating experience.

39. annegb

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 9:34pm

My songs from 1970 (yes, I know some of you were born the year I graduated high school) were “Baby, I’ma want you” (which is a stupid title and kind of a stupid song as well) and “Close to You” by the Carpenters.

They always think of when I fell in love with my first husband.

Bill still thinks our song is “You are the Sunshine of My Life” by Stevie Wonder, which is really his and Julie’s song, but he’s a sweetheart about it and I’ve stopped correcting him LOL. You get a little older, these things aren’t as big a deal.

40. queuno

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 10:20pm

You’re right, Susan.

41. queuno

Thu, Jan. 3 @ 10:27pm

Nonsequitor on great music - I played Guitar Hero for the first time on NYE. According to my children, I rock. I told them that I wasn’t watching for the note sequences to light up and react as I was just depending on my own knowledge of the rhythm.

Scorpions, Cream, Steve Miller Band, Pat Benatar, GNR. They rock (and I rocked).

(Even Poison. Apparently one of our hosts was shocked to know that I loved Poison in high school. If she only had an idea.)

42. queuno

Fri, Jan. 4 @ 2:43am

Some of my wife’s favorites:

“Only you” (NOT THAT ONE, the one by Yaz), which is our song
“She’s Got A Way” (Billy Joel)
“Cheeseburger in Paradise”

43. a spectator

Tue, Jan. 8 @ 9:59am

Provo classic: Forever Young.

If you know every word, you are likely a Mormon.

44. annegb

Tue, Jan. 8 @ 10:53am

Try A Little Tenderness–the first couple of minutes, then it goes paranoid-schizophrenic.

There’s a song that Donny Osmond sings and I remember thinking the first time I realized it was him that he’s a better singer than people realize. I just can’t remember the name of it.