Valentine’s Day can be the definition of misery if you’re single, or it can be the best day ever if you’re in a relationship. Whether you’re sad, heartbroken, in love or anywhere in between, our V-day playlist has songs to suit the occasion.
Happy Valentine’s Day from Spinnaker Radio!
“Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” – The Smiths
Every now and then, a piece of advice sticks. Do not begin a relationship because you mutually love The Smiths. I heard that once, right around the time I fell fast in love with a boy who loved The Smiths as much as I did. We broke up three years later, and I was beyond devastated. Conveniently, The Smiths are perfect to listen to when you’re sad and single
“Bitter Pill” – Dashboard Confessional
How Dashboard Confessional front man Chris Carrabba doesn’t lose his voice every time he sings this is completely beyond me. Dashboard Confessional captures that raw sadness and anger you feel when you go from loving to hating someone in a split second. If you’re looking for something vengeful, this is it.
“Boyfriend” – Best Coast
I have a problem with this song. Best Coast singer Bethany Cosentino should know that someone who is prettier, skinnier, and has a college degree is probably going to be more desirable than someone less skinny, not quite as pretty, and who dropped out of school at 17. But it evokes that longing we get sometimes for someone way out of our league.
“I’ve Just Seen a Face” – The Beatles
I am a sucker for simple love songs, and “I’ve Just Seen A Face” makes my heart swoon. Even as a (somewhat bitter) single girl, songs like this give me hope that there is a boy out there who will think of my face as that face. Paul McCartney kills it as always.
“Falling In Love at a Coffee Shop” – Landon Pigg
This song is vaguely familiar, probably to a lot of you, because it was in an AT&T commercial six years ago. It may be that I have a weird fantasy of locking eyes with a total stranger at a local coffee shop while I’m reading some avant-garde French novel, but this song is the definition of puppy love. Listen to it if you’re looking for the one and haven’t found them yet. They literally might be right in front of you at a coffee shop somewhere.
“The Book Of Love” – The Magnetic Fields
One of the best love songs on an album full of them: The Magnetic Fields’ indie opus 69 Love Songs. Very witty and great for just hanging out and cuddling with bae. If you happen to have a lot of time alone on Valentine’s, you might want to delve into the rest of the three-disc album.
“Devil in a New Dress” – Kanye West
This track is the darker, sultrier brother of “Slow Jamz.” Ye weaves a tale of passion and guilt, with a Smokey Robinson-sampling beat so immaculate it might just make your entire night. Rick Ross comes through at the end with an excellent–albeit off-focus–verse.
“Yer Blues” – The Beatles
On most Valentine’s Days, I tend to feel lonely and want to die. Thankfully, John Lennon expresses that bitterness in this sparse, gristly track off The White Album that was surely written before he met Yoko. It also happens to be a satire of English bands like Led Zeppelin who co-opted the traditionally African American genre of blues.
“Visiting Friends” – Animal Collective
Certainly, the idyllic “Winter’s Love” reminds one of puppy love, but it’s the 12-minute “Visiting Friends” that really hammers home the subtle eroticism of Animal Collective’s 2004 acoustic masterpiece Sung Tongs. Listening to it feels like melting into thin air, a cool lake or perhaps the arms of another.
“Fine For Now” – Grizzly Bear
Echoing guitar tone, choirboy harmonies, immense longing – Grizzly Bear lays it all out. The centerpiece of the romantic indie record Veckatimest, the track “Fine For Now” and its lead-in, “All We Ask,” sound like the high school prom slow dance you never had.
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