Middle-Pause Pump-Priming Prompt
In Honor of Valentine’s Day, What’s Your Favorite Love Song?
And yes, you’re allowed to have more than one
Taylor Swift’s name came up right after church today.
Mainly because I thought she was doing the half-time show at the Super Bowl. How did I ever get that idea?
Well, maybe because she’s been in the news a lot, and her boyfriend’s one of the Superbowl Champs–the Kansas City Chiefs.
But no, I stood corrected. It was Usher along with a marching band, dancers on roller skates, a red piano, and a star-studded stream of stars joining Usher, including Alicia Keys and H.E.R.
Can you tell I’m not a sports fan?
In fact, I went to a play this afternoon. A sweet friend wanted to watch the ‘Bowl and gifted me his season tickets. The Altarena Theater was only two-thirds full during today’s matinee of Kimberly Akimbo. Not the musical, whose rights are probably not yet released, but the original stage play the current hit musical is based on.
Oh, but I digress.
Over lunch, my friends set me straight about Taylor Swift. And we got to talking about her as a songwriter. And we boomers decided that as popular as she is, her songs are nowhere near the caliber of some of the songwriters of our generation. Those mentioned included Gordon Lightfoot, Stevie Wonder, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, and Jim Croce.
Jim Croce.
There’s a special place in my heart for this singer-songwriter who died way too young. And at the center of that space is his song, I Got a Name, which among other things is a tribute to Croce’s father who died before he got to see his son’s musical success.
Like the singin’ bird and the croakin’ toad I’ve got a name, I’ve got a name
And I carry it with me like my daddy did But I’m livin’ the dream that he kept hid
The song was released on September 20, 1973, the day after Jim died in a tragic plane crash. Besides being my all-time favorite of his. it’s a love song to himself.
Which brings me to this week’s Middle-Pause Pump Priming Prompt: In honor of Valentine’s Day, what’s your favorite love song? And yes, you’re allowed to have more than one.
I love Broadway musicals.
The sappy and the edgy. And the ones, like Hamiton, that defy categorization and break all the records.
RENT is not necessarily my favorite musical. Hamilton and Come From Away are much dearer to my heart. But it happens to contain a show stopper and one of my all-time favorite love songs, Seasons of Love.
I saw it performed by a touring cast in San Francisco. And when the cast came out and sang in front of the curtain right after the intermission, the catchy beauty of the song blew me away. And had me shelling out forty bucks for the soundtrack.
This clip is from the 2005 film version. According to Wikipedia, “It is an adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s 1996 Broadway musical of the same name, in turn, based on the 1896 opera La bohème by Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, and Giuseppe Giacosa, which is itself based on the 1851 novel Scenes of Bohemian Life by Henri Murger.
“The film, which features six of the eight original Broadway cast members reprising their lead roles, depicts the lives of several bohemians and their struggles with sexuality, drugs, paying their rent, and life under the shadow of AIDS in the gritty East Village of New York City from 1989 to 1990.”
On a sad note, RENT’s visionary creator, Jonathan Larson went home after the final dress rehearsal before its off-Broadway opening, put water on for tea, collapsed on the floor, and died. So he didn’t get to witness the success his story had when it went on to Broadway three months later and from there, was performed around the world.
So in a very real way, Seasons of Love is a love song to Jonathan and his creative legacy. May he rest in joy as well as peace.
I wanna sing you a love song.
That’s not just a subheading in this post. It’s a line from one of my favorite love songs, called, simply, A Love Song. Also from 1973, and written by Kenny Loggins of the folk-rock duo, Loggins and Messina, and Dona Lyn George.
It’s not just the words, it’s the voices and their harmonies that move me so much. And the softness. The sweet, sweet soft way lead vocalist Kenny Loggins sings it.
Country artist, Anne Murray, won a Grammy in 1975 for her version of the song, which added to its popularity.
Since it takes two to tango, let’s do some duets.
Any Aaron Nevell fans out there. My heart melts when he hits those high notes. So here he is with Linda Ronstadt and their duet on Don’t Know Much:
How about the love a son and father can have for each other? Sung, in part on one of the beautiful languages associated with the heart — Italian. Here are Andrea Bocelli and his son, Matteo, singing Fall on Me. Enjoy the video with peeks at pix of the two of them when Matteo was a little boy with big eyes and a wide smile.
So those are five of mine.
Now it’s your turn. Again the Pump-Priming Prompt: In honor of Valentine’s Day, what’s your favorite love song? And yes, like me, you’re allowed to have more than one.
Don’t be shy. We know you have a playlist. Please, please, please share. We look forward to hearing from you. And whether you’re with someone special or not–
Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!
Marilyn Flower’s a sacred fool who writes fiction, poetry, and blogs, inspired by the practice of SoulCollage®. Her books: Developing Characters: Fun Ways to Cast Your Fiction, Creative Blogging, Bucket Listers. Follow her Sacred Foolishness or SoulCollage® for Writers, and Stay in touch!
