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All you need is love (songs)

No Valentine’s Day is complete without the proper soundtrack. Sites like Spotify and SoundCloud offer an easy solution to your music woes.

Melissa Essig | Daily Evergreen music columnist
February 10, 2014

It’s cute how so many people like to celebrate a day dedicated to love. Personally, I have yet to experience that inebriated yearning for another human being, but I am a girl. I have feelings, desires and crushes. There are times, mostly late at night, when I get an inkling to feel someone’s breath on my neck, pulling me close and whispering sweet nothings into my ear.

So in honor of that, and in honor of love, I’ve created a Valentine’s Day playlist that you and your special someone should definitely keep on hand for that fancy dinner or late night dessert (if that’s what you want to call it).

Throughout history we have been thrown love songs from this way and that. There are those that are iconic, guilty pleasures, and then there are the sappy, gross ones that never should have made it to the airwaves.

So with that in mind, I have chosen some that I believe really are the best love and lust songs of recent. Kickin’ it old school is great, but it’s the 21st century, and I want to bring us up to the present.

Starting off the playlist are a few lesser known but yummy artists.

With soft sensual sounds and a tangible pulse, “Open” by Rhye puts you in the right mood for Valentine’s Day. Rhye’s album, “Woman,” was in my opinion one of the top five albums of 2013.

Mar is an up and coming musician from Amsterdam. His sexy, smooth house track “Man x Woman” continues to make this playlist the best ever.

Floating on down is Motopony, a Seattle band very in touch with spirituality, life and love. I’ve spent quite a lot of time with the lead singer one-on-one. His lyrics and voice are enchanting and make you doubt everything you have ever believed.

Throughout the rest of the playlist are the more recognized artists such as The Weeknd and Justin Timberlake (hello, ‘sex sounds’). They pretty much speak for themselves.

Ending the V-Day playlist is Ben Howard’s “Only Love.” Howard is indescribable.

I vowed to see him every time he came to Seattle. So far, I have experienced three live shows with him.

Every time, girls throw their underwear on stage and yell for him to take off some article of clothing. It’s ironic, though, because he never sings anything remotely sexual or desirable. He speaks of life, love and sadness. He is authentic and genuine in his lyrics.

On that note, we can all get swept away with sex, lust and attraction and especially on Valentine’s Day. However, at the end of the day our innate nature isn’t just to hit it and quit it.

We were created for relationships and for intimacy. Sure, sex is part of that, but I believe true intimacy is an exchange of the soul, a sacrificial life.

Ben Howard sings, “Darling you’re with me, forever and always/Give me shelter or show me heart/And watch me fall apart.” Love isn’t just about the physical and the good days. It’s a combination that also includes falling apart together.

So this Valentine’s Day, whether you are single and ready to mingle, saying “eff love,” or spending it with your significant other, use this playlist to focus on the sharing of your soul with another human being. Enjoy that intimacy.

PLAYLIST:

Rhye “Open”

Mar “Man X Woman”

Ella Eyre “Waiting All Night” (Acoustic version)

Lorde “400 Lux”

Motopony “Wait For Me”

Ciara “Body Party”

Beyoncé, Jay Z “Drunk in Love”

City & Colour “The Girl”

The Weeknd “Wicked Games”

Jessie Ware “Sweet Talk”

Chromatics “Hands in the Dark”