Free Music February: Top 5 Love Songs

Photo by TheWickedSoul

Happy blizzard, everyone! I hope you were able to keep safe, warm, and cozy, and catch up on the books / movies / music / cooking / skiing / whatever it is you've been wanting to do more of this winter.

As for me, I was able to catch up on all that shoveling and living off the grid I'd been meaning to do. We were without power for over 24 hours, a rarity in our dense urban village. But the wood stove kept us warm, and the good folks at National Grid has up and running by late Saturday night.

Anyway, in celebration of Valentine's Day, I have a special Top 5 Day post for you: my favorite romantic songs that I've written. And as a token of my love for y'all, they are all FREE to download in the month of February.

Without further ado...
 
5. Riches of the Poor | Download free
As John Lennon said, "All you need is love." It's as simple as that. I've been blessed enough to know it in many forms, and it really is all the riches one could ask for. Fun fact: The melody to the chorus was written many years ago, beside a campfire on the shores of Lake Huron, in celebration of that most marvelous foodstuff: "Peanut butter, whoa-oh-whoa-oh-oh / Peanut butter, whoa-oh-whoa..."

4. Fear of Drowning | Download free
I love the way this song came out. It covers a lot of deep territory, even though the chorus is pretty syrupy sweet; it's very much a grown-up love song. The butterflies of budding romance are great and all, but facing life's challenges with your partner is as real as love gets.

3. Going Away (Adagio) | Download free
This is a sad but ultimately redemptive song about something that happens in relationships all the time: two people who are in love start to grow apart. We all need to grow as people, and ideally you grow in step with your partner. But that's not always how it works. What can you do when your paths begin to diverge? I guess that's what's so melancholy about it.

2. J.W. | Download free
This song is just heartbreaking. Like a soggy dog mournfully howling outside his owner's door in a snowstorm. Even now, some 15 years later, it conjures up the same intense emotions within me. Is there a better vehicle for emotion than music? It's like a time machine! Fun fact: A lot of people presume J.W. to be a girl's initials, but that's not the case. (No, it's not a dude, either.)

1. On and On | Download free
I've already written a whole blog post about this one -- the song I sang to Gina on our wedding day. That's not the reason I rank it No. 1, though. It's my hope that it captures the simplicity, optimism, and sense of eternity that accompanies true love. If I had to spend the rest of my days with just four chords, well, I'd be honored to spend them with G Em Am7 and D.