Best & Worst Love Songs

This is one that has eaten a large chunk of my brain lately. It's full of Brian Wilson-esque melody and whimsy. Great, great tune!

GratefulFan wrote: "Amazon mentioned Heart's 'Alone' in the listening thread and it got me thinking about love songs."

I'm flattered that I inspired you to come up with a new topic. :D

Seeing as this is my first post on this thread, I thought I would start with the single greatest love song of all time. I don't care what anybody says; no love song comes close to this.

The song is 'Ain't no Mountain High Enough' by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell. Gaye was brilliant, and although I'm not a massive fan of all of his work, his collaberations with Tammi (especially this sont) as well as 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine' are among my all-time absolute favourite songs. Tammi was this incredible singer who died at the age of 24 of a brain tumor, but who could have been among the greatest of all time if she had lived longer and recorded more work. As it was, I think she was definitely among the all-time greats. She has a really beautiful voice and the chemistry between her and Marvin was wonderful.

I really love her; she had a great personality, and I don't think one can watch this clip without falling in love with her. My advice is to just watch her. Marvin is great, but Tammit's casual manner at the start, her beautiful smile and sexy body language, her hand rotations, her acting during the delightful 'no wind, no rain' part, and her gorgeous dancing during my favourite vocal part of the song (1:37-1:45).

The song is an absolute masterpiece and is arguably the greatest love song of all time; the video is simply unsurpassed. :D :D :D

(I'm double-posting as that's the only way I can download the video.)

I have to share this email I was CC'd on (i.e. I'm not Patti) today that made me think of the mighty Queenzone...

Hi Patti,
Unfortunately both Kent and I are in Toronto that day and are unavailable.
Dan C

Ha ha!  Well, okay, um, Dan C.  We'll definitely reschedule that meeting 'cause you're in charge of the cool tunes!  ;)

Great addition Amazon! Marvin Gaye was amazing.  What's Goin' On? is probably my favourite, but he was just great in general. I remember reading somewhere a long time ago that Tammi Terrell had a wickedly charming potty mouth.  Her voice was so smooth and expressive.  Well beyond her years, and that was true also in her showmanship (showwomanship?) as you pointed out.  To me that song is about the love after the love...when you've broken up the romantic part of your relationship but retain all the best of the affection and regard for one another. Okay!  I think half of the people who have participated on this thread have expressed a deep contempt for country music at some point or another on QZ.  But a love song thread has to have some hurtin' music!  So here's a countrified cover of a great classic love song sung by the man with the tightest pants in country music, and a veteran of having had Sharon Stone describe making love to him as being like eating a dirt sandwich. Zing!

Dwight Yoakam - Suspicious Minds
Uploaded by Coyote63000. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Awesome cover....

....of an awesome original.

Nice! She did a damn good job! Tom Petty is one of my favorite humans ever and I'm always wary of covers of his stuff. She nailed it.

Ms. Etheridge rocks, literally and figuratively.  You've got to love a purposeful and completely credible and worthwhile cover like that.  Such a great song to begin with.   Half her catalogue could probably be added to this thread.  She's as talented a songwriter as anyone.  She's particularly prolific in songs about the pain and lonliness of rejection, and of losing your person when you're still in love.  She's got at least a half dozen of those, and they're all good.  I could have chosen any one of them, but I picked 'I Want to Come Over' in part because a young Gwyneth Paltrow is incredible in the video.  At the end I always want her to turn around so badly.  She's so good you can feel what happens next in a story that should actually feel like a story, and end with the song.  The talent of these two women make it all feel a little bit real.

I really love "You Take My Breath Away" by Queen, right - but God I hate the lyrics.  It's stalking on a grand scale.

It's kind of stalky like that horrible 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing' by Aerosmith where he's staring at a woman breathing and sleeping.  Waking up and screaming "Jesus Christ!" and falling on your face in a frantic tangle of sheets two feet from the end of the bed doesn't sound that romantic. Okay, this may be roundly hated but I have a big soft spot for this bit of CanCon from 1974:

In case anybody really hated the last one, my pennance:

"The Air That I Breathe" is such a great, great tune. I've loved it since I was a child. SO good!  This one is more a longing kind of song, but a love song nonetheless. I wish these guys had made more than one record... Here is another great one, this time from Stone Temple Pilots.

GratefulFan wrote: Ms. Etheridge rocks, literally and figuratively.  

===========================================================================

I saw her play in 1988. She was support to Huey lewis and the News. Strange days indeed...

Oh!  I already found that Thorns song when I said I was going to check them out. :)  Great retro harmonies reminiscent of a whole lot of amazing folks from the 70's. It was interesting to hear what would normally be a solo song delivered by a trio.  Was nice to see and hear Shawn Mullins again after losing track of him. Okay, how does a guy this potentially irritating get this damn cool when you throw a guitar around his neck.  Love this song.  So much good stuff on the album as it was just as his marriage was breaking up and he was falling in love with his now wife.

GratefulFan wrote: "Great addition Amazon! Marvin Gaye was amazing. What's Goin' On? is probably my favourite, but he was just great in general."


I love Marvin. He wasn't my favourite soul singer (that honour goes to Otis Redding), but he was truly wonderful. His stuff with Tammi (especially Ain't no Mountain High Enough) was magnificent, and I adored a particular song which I will mention a bit later. What's Going On? was great as well.

"I remember reading somewhere a long time ago that Tammi Terrell had a wickedly charming potty mouth."

Really? :D That's brilliant! :D :D

"Her voice was so smooth and expressive. Well beyond her years, and that was true also in her showmanship (showwomanship?) as you pointed out."

Absolutely. She was gorgeous, I think it's tragedy that she died so young. She's actually one of my two favourite female singers (along with Alanis Morissette.)

"To me that song is about the love after the love...when you've broken up the romantic part of your relationship but retain all the best of the affection and regard for one another."

I completely agree. :D