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“IT MUST BE LOVE LOVE LOVE”

Bang slap in the middle of February comes Valentine’s Day – the day when we all go nuts for love. At Music First Audio we like to celebrate this special day not least because so much of the music we love is about the subject. Try looking for those songs which don’t feature a reference or love theme. If the song is not about love then it might be about jealousy, suspicion or dare we say heartbreak. As night follows day, heartbreak follows love in our great cannon of love songs.

But let’s put the emotion to one side for a minute and concentrate on music and why love seems to dominate music of all persuasions. Our great bard hit it on the head in his ever-popular crowd pleaser Twelfth Night with his famous phrase “If music be the food of love play on”. This play features love triangles, misadventures and romantic mistakes and can leave the audience in a complete whirl. The content reflects a night when passion, misrule and love come to the forefront. The play is often given a sound track which works so well with the love theme.

These days modern love songs are as much about lust and plan old sex rather than love in its purest sense. Nothing wrong with that but listen to a modern rap lyric about love and then listen to Rogers and Hart “My funny Valentine”. You could be forgiven in thinking they are not about the same thing and you could be right. Whether performed by Ella, Frank, Chet Baker or Miles “Funny Valentine” is just pure class. So what about songwriters who dare to break away from this universal emotion and write a song about something else. The Beatles were great exponents of the love song but supposedly at the suggestion of Paul’s aunt they wrote a song not about love. The result was Paperback Writer – a song that in a way perhaps led to their confidence to write about the taxman and a benefit for a retiring circus act. Music can be about other subjects but those subjects need to be loved by the songwriter. Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” is a political and environmental tome but even this song towards its end features her “old man” being taken away in the eponymous taxi. Did she love him or was he off his rocker? Certainly you can feel her love for her subject in the song.

Of course the theme of love is not just confined to song. Love features a lot in classical music particularly opera and ballet. Check out the incidental music to Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet”. This music is not only full of love themes but is very exciting when necessary and achingly tender as well. A great alternative, on Valentine’s Day, to those who have had their fill of “silly love songs” (thanks again Sir Paul).

So if February be our “love” month let us celebrate it with plenty of the food of love ……music. We are not known as Music First for nothing. Or should that be love first audio. Whatever your music love – love it with all your passion. We do.

All the best

From all at Music First Audio