I'm Not Gonna Write You a Love Song... But I'll Tell You About Some

My dear readers, the time for groundhogs, footballs, presidents, but most notably, the day of love, Valentine's Day, is upon us. 

Courtesy of Epic Records
Hence the title...

My love life has been... well, to be frank with y'all, pretty bland. I stopped getting Valentine's Day gifts after 5th grade, AKA after the period of time where you're forced to give everyone in your class a card. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna go around being a Valentine's Day Love-Scrooge and hate on y'all who are in happy relationships. Though, I might be inwardly gagging if I see you and your boo thang making out in front of my 3rd-period class, but that's on you, NOT me.

Via YourTango

Whether you're like me and spend Valentine's Day watching rom-coms with your mom or have a partner to shower love with, we all can appreciate a good love song to vibe with on that special day. I mean, practically all the chart-toppers are about love. Remember my first ever blog post, 5 Songs to Play When We Lead the Revolution Against Today's Top Hits (Time to Overthrow King Ed Sheeran!)? Ed Sheeran is pretty much the love song mastermind of the 21st century. Not to roast him yet another time, but one can only listen to "Thinking Out Loud" and "Perfect" so many times.

For me, those songs max out at a solid 2 times, 3 if I'm in a good mood.

Sorry, Ed.

So, once again, I've compiled a playlist of some funky fresh love boppers, categorized into 4 sections. Love is different for everyone and people are at different stages of love. Like personally, I've only had 3 major crushes. In 1st, 5th, and 6th grade. So essentially, I know pretty much nothing about it.

A little pathetic, I know. But I mean, what am I supposed to do about that??? Just force myself to have a crush on Johnny from two blocks away?

Then for other people, they fall fast and sometimes get their heart-broken a lot. That's never been me, but I empathize with them.

And with that, I've organized this post from songs about the butterfly feelings of having a crush to being absolutely crushed and heart-broken. Ah, love. 

CRUSHIN'

Have you ever had a crush so strong it just consumed you? That feeling is pretty much manifested into melody form within all of these songs. It took everything within me not to put "Crush Culture" by Conan Gray in this section because I already have one of his songs in a different section... but here's a little promo anyway, love you Cone!!

"Pardon Me" by He Is We

Courtesy of Universal Motown Records

This song is one I stumbled upon when I was much younger and constantly reading fanfiction. It was my jam when I had my 2nd crush in 5th grade, thinking I was gonna have this great big romance because I was going to middle school next year and I was OFFICIALLY cool.

Shiver.

Anyway, I just think it's so wholesome, telling the story of someone who is kinda beating themself up over the fact that they get really nervous in front of their crush, stuttering and tripping over words. 

I just love the nostalgic late 2000s/early 2010s vibes from this song and even if it doesn't exactly fit the modern criteria of a hit song, the story is timeless and is just such a good energy! Even if it does remind me of my cringy 5th grade self.

"One Step Closer" by Shane Harper

Courtesy of AMi Records

This is pretty similar to "Pardon Me" in that a huge part of me choosing this song was its nostalgia factor. Are you getting that "woah he looks familiar" feeling from seeing Shane Harper? 

Y'all remember him from Good Luck Charlie? Well Spencer Walsh is a Two Timing Pig!

But besides his role there, he made pretty fun songs that were some of my go-to shower karaoke tracks. I mean, yeah, it's kinda corny to say I'd do anything for you, but isn't it sweet to hear and jam out to? It's a guilty pleasure.

"Stop It" by B.A.P

Courtesy of T.S Entertainment

B.A.P was one of my ults when it came to k-pop and it absolutely breaks my heart that at the peak of their career where they rivaled greats like EXO and were bigger than BTS at the time, they were DONE DIRTY by their company and it caused their downfall to disbandment.

On a happier note, this song is an absolute BOPPER. B.A.P was known for more of their badass hip-hop tracks so this one was a huge turn from that. It's so bright and upbeat, expressing those feelings when your crush is playing hard to get and all you wanna do is give them all the love in the world and be happy with them.

Courtesy of T.S Entertainment
L to R: Yoo Youngjae, Moon Jongup, Choi Junhong, Bang Yongguk, Kim Himchan, Jung Daehyun

Look at how cute they are! My favorite is the blonde one.

WELL... IT'S COMPLICATED

These songs are honestly all kinds of complicated. Not just "I don't know if we're dating or not" but complicated feelings from "I wanted to be with you but you've been leading me on and now I'm tired and don't want to be with you" to "We broke up and you're suffering but I ended up not feeling as heart-broken so I feel guilty for being happy". I've never felt either of these feelings, but man, is love crazy.

"We Won't" by Jaymes Young feat. Phoebe Ryan

Courtesy of Atlantic Records

I LOVE duets, especially ones about difficult times during love, they just give me chills. The way the female artist's voice floats over the male artist's is just *chef's kiss*

The story behind this song is a break-up, a mutual one, but both of them still wish that they could be together even if they know they shouldn't. They know that if they get together again, all they will cause is pain and self-destruction, but it feels so good to know that they both love each other still through late-night phone-calls that shouldn't happen.

The longing just tugs at the heart-strings and its perfect for those stormy nights when you're in your feeeeeeelings.

"The King" by Conan Gray

Courtesy of Republic Records

It wouldn't be a Nickel's song recommendation post without Conan Gray, who I already told you I'd be including earlier.

"The King" is my "aggressive lipsyncing while I wash the dishes" song. It's like, "why would you want to be with anyone else when its obvious you like me??" and it just gets me feeling a little more confident in myself.

I'll say it once, I'll say it again, I love the dreamy feel of Conan's songs. Despite the fact that this song has a bitter tinge to it, it's still got me feeling some type of way. Y'knooooow?

"The Good Side" by Troye Sivan

Courtesy of EMI Music Australia 

I've loved Troye since he dropped his first EP, TRXYE, and I've followed his journey for almost 6 years now which is absolutely BONKERS. So when I first heard this song, I pretty much knew who it was about even if he didn't say it outright.

We always hear break-up songs that are about the singer's heartbreak and their trauma during that relationship, but Troye's story is different. After his break-up (with, as myself and other Troye fans speculate, Connor Franta), he didn't struggle as much. Sure, he felt pain, but not as terrible and life-shattering as his partner did. Troye was lucky enough to have support systems around him at the time of his break-up, whereas his partner did not. And this song is an apology for that, an olive branch to his former significant other.

I love the guitar instrumental and this synthesized melody that sounds, to me, almost like a galaxy with shooting stars. I have no idea what that means in terms of the song, the galaxy vibe I mean, but I just love how it's tied into the acoustic guitar. It doesn't feel like those two things should fit, but they do.

TAKEN BY MY BB

"Sun and Moon" from Miss Saigon sung by Lea Salonga and Simon Bowman

Courtesy of Cameron Mackintosh

This was the first-ever musical I ever saw on Broadway, though I saw the revival with Eva Noblezada and Alistair Brammer back in 2017. It was seriously one of the greatest experiences of my life.

If I were ever given three genie wishes, one of them would be to see the original West End production just to hear 17-year-old Lea Salonga sing this and "I'd Give My Life For You" (and maybe the helicopter scene too hehe).

Taking place during the Vietnam War, American GI Chris falls in love with the young and innocent Kim, who was forced to work as a bargirl. This is a duet between the two of them the night that they meet and just... Y'all remember what I said earlier about male-female duets? Yeah, this is that in its most perfect form.

I have a lot of opinions about this show, especially how it translates to modern audiences and controversies concerning the musical, but that's for another day. Right now, I'm gonna focus on the love in this song and my love of this song.

"Shut Up" by Greyson Chance

Courtesy of AWAL Recordings America

Ever since going viral on YouTube and getting to go on Ellen, I've been a huge fan of Greyson. I really wished he made it big in mainstream pop, but he's making music he loves and that 100% makes up for it. 

"Shut Up" which was actually released exactly a year ago, is basically Greyson saying to his lover, "I get nervous and talk a lot, but I can say what I want through a kiss, so I'll shut up."

The only problem I have with this track is that it is way too short.

Honestly, this song makes me so proud of Greyson; If you listen to his first release (my JAM back as a literal 5-year old) "Waiting Outside the Lines" to this opening track to his most recent album, you can tell how much he's evolved as an artist.

I'm a proud mom. *wipes tear*

"Please Never Fall in Love Again" by Ollie MN

Courtesy of 667470 Records DK

This song is such a bittersweet one. These two people are happily in a relationship, Ollie being alone and dark for a while until they met his significant other. But he knows that their relationship could end, though he hopes it won't.

If their relationship does end, he hopes his lover will just text him because he's not ready to do it face-to-face. Also, he hopes that his lover returns his Shrek DVDs.

I'm not lying when I say that's a real lyric in the song.

I literally kept singing the song and making up gibberish during that lyric and to my surprise, it was about Shrek. So naturally, it became my favorite song.

BROKEN-HEARTED HOURS

Now, this final section REALLY gets me into my feels. Whenever I listen to these tracks, it makes me feel like I've been through hell and back with because of my own heartbreak when in reality the closest thing I've ever felt to this is my 1st-grade crush playing my favorite game, the one we made together called Witches and Wizards, with my friends and not inviting me... I digress.

"Six Degrees of Separation" by The Script

Courtesy of Phonogenic Records

I really thought I was edgy when I listened to this song, usually in the shower, belting my feelings away. But nonetheless, when it comes to break-up songs, I love the pop-rock sound, which this is exactly.

When you think of six degrees of separation, usually you think about the idea that people are separated only by six social connections, like a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. But The Script's take on it is more like the stages of denial, but as the stages after a break-up.

And the lyrics feels so raw, showing how torn you can be after a relationship. The worst part about sad songs like this is that there are people out there who can relate to this when they deserve to be happy :(

"Beautiful Liar" by VIXX LR 

Courtesy of Jellyfish Entertainment

VIXX LR is actually a sub-duo of the k-pop group VIXX, the members in this sub-group being Leo and Ravi, who are the main vocalist and main rapper, respectively. This was their debut track as a duo and not only did absolutely DELIVER, but it pretty much ripped my heart out and tear it into tiny little pieces.

The visuals of the music video reflect the lyrics perfectly and I remember having it on loop when this song was released. Leo, wearing all black, represents his outer facade. He's hiding his true emotions and lying to himself by saying that he doesn't love this girl anymore because he wants her to be happy. Ravi, on the other hand, with his bleached white hair and white long-sleeved shirt, represents his inner thoughts, hoping that he wouldn't have to let go of his lover.

Leo's vocals are unmatched basically (like TENOR KING jeeeeeez) and I love how Ravi delivers such an emotional rap despite it being such an uptempo track. These two complement each other so well and can never get enough of this song even though it brings me to tears nearly every time I listen to it.

This song is one of many in my playlist that proves that the emotions and stories told in music can transcend language.

"Dearly Departed" By Marianas Trench

Courtesy of 604 Records

I know I already included them in my last song recommendation post, but they are legitimately my favorite band ever and I couldn't just NOT include them.

If I had to pick a favorite track out of all these 12, it would have to be "Dearly Departed". I love love love the ukulele, which gives the track such a light tone, paired with the soft, but sorrowful violin. In comparison to the rest of the album, it's really simple, which is exactly what this story needed.

This song is about the band's lead singer's, Josh Ramsey, break-up with his fiancé during the writing of this album, hence the play on "dearly beloved" to "dearly departed".

Each line of this song expresses Josh's pure heartbreak, one of my favorites being about how he stares at these cards on his table, the same ones he's been meaning to throw out but he just can't bring himself to do and you can assume he's talking about their wedding invitations.

The most heart-wrenching part of this song, in my opinion, is the bridge, with the lyrics:

"Every MASTERPIECE I'd write again, you'll always be my PORCELAIN. I CROSSED MY HEART, but I STUTTERED too. So TRUTH OR DARE, was I GOOD TO YOU? HAVEN'T HAD ENOUGH of you ALL TO MYSELF. Still right BESIDE YOU in sickness and health. For EVER AFTER you will be my home. And there's NO PLACE LIKE HOME."

Notice the words that I put in all caps? Those are the titles of every song he wrote for his ex-fiancé.

And cue the waterworks.

I tried to keep each one of my descriptions short because I included a lot of songs, so I hope you were able to find something in there that struck your heart-strings!

So if you've got a date for next Friday, you've got someone you're hoping will compliment that nice red shirt of yours, or if the only kisses you're getting are the Hershey chocolates, at least you've also got a great playlist of songs!

Here's the playlist, my dear readers. Enjoy to your heart's content!!

Before I head out, I must ask you guys, will y'all be my valentines this year? <3

If my playlist didn't convince you, let's hope this does: 

Roses are red,

Green is the color of a lime,

As I always say,

Until next time, 

Nickels :)