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NEWS : STORIES
Romance is as romance does, and Valentine's Day is the time of year when traditional love maneuvers - sending candy, sipping champagne, cutting-out cupids, and cuddling in the naughtiest way possible - see the most action. There are all sorts of
 Maya Ford - The DonnasGreat romantic songs are usually metal ballads, like Sheriff's "When I'm With You," and Boston's "Amanda." I used to have a boyfriend named Ananda, and I'd call him Amanda, and play that song when we'd get together. I don't really care about him [any more], but it's still fun to sing it at sound check. My actual Valentine's Days have been kind of retarded. Once, my very first boyfriend and I decided we weren't going to celebrate it at all. We actually gave each other dirty looks from opposite sides of the school, and snarled at each other in art class. I think at the end of the day he gave me a Valentine that said "F*ck You, Maya." And instead of going on a date, we decided to take apart a phone on the roof of my house David Gray
John Martyn's "Couldn't Love You More" is a killer Valentine's Day track. That's truly romantic. But I really like Tom Waits' "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You." That has a particular place in my heart. I fell in love to it - well, not to that record, but that was a part of it at the time. It's all pretty cheesy and corny. It's not that subtle. It's like, "Ah, I love you! Oh, I hope I don't fall in love with you!" The two ideas are just bound together Nivea
My romantic song is Lenny Williams' "Cause I Love You." My boyfriend gave me an early Valentines present three weeks ago: He sung it to me - I mean he performed it - when we were driving in the car leaving the mall. I was crying, because I never really paid attention to the lyrics. He's a rapper, he can't even sing. But he did every note, lick for lick. It was so sweet. He knew all the words because it was his favorite song from when he was a little boy. It was beautiful. He bought an oldies CD, put it on, and said "Okay, this song's dedicated to you, every single word..." And then he knocked it out. Oh, I was crying... Al Jourgensen - Ministry
My wife and I have two songs that are "our" songs. There's Buck Owens' "Excuse Me, I Think I've Got a Heartache." It's just your basic Bakersfield sound from the early `60s. It's got a skiffle train beat and a lot of pedal steel. I wouldn't do Buck justice to sing it for you! Then at Graceland, while we were getting married, they were blasting "Can't Help Falling in Love With You." Two schmaltzy, corny songs David Crosby
You know what we do on Valentine's Day? We sneak off by ourselves, and...Well, this is how I do it. I go get crayons and scissors and glue. And I make a valentine for her. They're usually pretty elaborate; they've got a lot of colors. And they're kind of corny. And we've been doing that for a long time, we make Valentine's for each other. And now our little boy does it, too. I'm very much in love with my wife; she's a very good human being. Jeffrey Gaines
I've got the very best intentions for Valentine's Day. All I want to do is love everyone! I used to love it when we were in elementary school and you'd get that box of Valentine's and hand them out to everyone. Now everyone says, "Well, what did she get? And what did she get?" It's like a love competition! I'm like, "It's like a family. It's nothing. Don't be that way, because life's too short." As far as songs go, there's a Byrds track called "Triad" where David Crosby sings, "Why can't we go on as three?" That's a good song for Valentine's Day Amy Lee - Evanescence
On most recent Valentine's Days I've wound up hanging out by myself. I haven't had a date. But this year, my pal Faith and I are going to see Daredevil, buy a box of Godiva chocolates - I'm a chocoholic - a bottle of wine, and go home to watch Sleepless in Seattle. We decided last night that we'd pathetically party by ourselves. I've never been to the top of the Empire State Building, but last time in New York we promised ourselves we'd go. So we started walking toward this skyscraper that looked like the Empire State Building. We reached it right around dusk, but when we got up to it, it was the wrong building. Oh, man...The romantic song I've recently fallen for is Tori Amos' "1000 Oceans" from To Venus And Back. It's really moving, and it always puts me in a wistful mood. I didn't discover Tori Amos until recently - isn't that horrible? But I'm really into her; she's my favorite artist right now. And that song is gorgeous. She's talking about how she'd do anything to send her lover home again. Andy Bell - Erasure
I just bought my Valentine's card today. It's got a 3D baby on the front and it says, "Whenever I'm near you, I get all hot and flustered. For you I would dance all day in my pants and swim through a river of custard." I don't really get into it. I love roses and I love receiving flowers, so I love sending them. The most outrageous thing I've done on Valentine's Day is... well, this year my boyfriend's buying a new Mercedes, so that counts for his Christmas, Valentine's and birthday gift. As far as physical romance goes, the first sign of lust is looking into someone's eyes and really wanting to kiss their lips. Supergrass
Gaz Coombes: Our Valentine's song is "Miss You" by the Rolling Stones. It's quite nice, but it's a bit cheesy. It's not really our song because of the content, it's because we always played it in my girlfriend's bedroom when we first got it together! Mickey Quinn: Ours is "Thank You" by Led Zeppelin. I don't why. My girlfriend just said, "That's our song," and I said, "Okay." Mindi Abair
It's always tough for me to juggle having a boyfriend and being on the road. You try and meet up when you can and you try to keep the love alive, but it doesn't always work. Sometimes it's depressing - you're not together for Valentine's Day. My most memorable one was when I was with the Backstreet Boys during the Millennium Tour in Anywhere, USA, and everyone in the audience was couples. I was lonely, hating life, and I went back to the hotel room in a bad mood. And when I opened the door, there were all these candles lit, and rose petals were everywhere. My boyfriend flew to town, found the hotel, lied his way into my room, and did it all up. There was a huge box of Godiva chocolates on the nightstand. I had come from the gig - sweaty, hot, and beat. And he had little hearts stuck to him. All together it was a great move, so romantic. I don't remember any particular music that night. But the one song that always does it for me is Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On." Don't think I'm cheesy, but you know what? It always works. Put it on any time, and it's insta-vibe. It cuts through all social boundaries; when it comes on, it's just "Oooh...yeah." Alun Woodward - The Delgados
My Valentine's Day song would be Teenage Fanclub's "Everything Flows." I thought I'd go to university, and find loads of new bands and musicians there. But when I went, the students were all into Take That, and the Levellers, and Top 40 stuff. It was appalling. Then one night I met this girl and I was talking to her about music. She really liked Teenage Fanclub and had the single "Everything Flows." I had it as well! So it became one of those records for us. Ute Lemper
One of my favorite love songs is "Here's to Life," sung by Shirley Horn in her darkest, lowest, most grown-up female voice. It says in the most serene way, "Here's to life. I'd do it all over again. And I'll go for it any day, even if I'm 70 years old." It's one of the most beautiful love songs. It goes right into the stomach - pow. Jesse Malin
I was having a little bit of success with my old band, D Generation, and I thought, "This is cool! I'm not the guy the girls are gonna walk away from and laugh at! I can actually go up to a girl and get a date and maybe another date after that!" I was in this total haze of exploring what it was like to be a nutty single guy. I didn't want to get involved in long-term relationships. Then I met this great girl. We were hanging out and it was just one of those things when you look in someone's eyes and they give you that smile. You're like, "Wow. There's something going on in here." This Tom Waits song, "I Hope I Don't Fall in Love With You" was playing at that very moment. We both realized later how weird it was. We didn't mention it at the time, but the whole song is about how "I'm not gonna fall in love with you. I don't want to be there." That would be definitely be my Valentine's Day song. Jason Mraz
Valentine's Days aren't really good for me. I'm one of those guys who gets really scared and about a week before Valentine's Day, bails. Last year, I asked one girl to be my valentine, and suddenly we went from just being cool to being too cool. I was like, "Oh no! We're going to be a couple, aren't we? And if we want to go our different ways, it's gonna be a break-up." So I just bailed. I'm horrible. I'm such a bastard! Right before I moved to California, I was hanging out with this dude. He was a really good friend of mine, and he was helping me out with a lot of stuff. He was gay and on Valentine's Day we went to this really nice restaurant. I didn't even realize it, but all of a sudden it dawned on me that I had been dating him for the last two months! I was like, "Think about it! We go out, we have a lot of fun, and the next day I'd call and we'd set up another date." When he bought me Valentine's dinner at this wonderful French restaurant, I said, "I'm dating you - aren't I?" And of course, I bailed. It was wild Deana Carter
My best Valentine's Days were in high school. The week before, we'd all go into the office and buy carnations in three colors - red for love, pink for friendship, and white for secret admirers. The carnations would be delivered to the recipients during homeroom and whoever got the most carnations was the class hottie! Unlike the others, the white carnations were sent anonymously and getting even one was a thrill! Lucy Woodward
My most romantic Valentine's moment came at Christmas, actually. My ex-boyfriend was trying to win me back, and it worked. I was at dinner with another friend, and my ex kept calling me, saying he'd meet me at a club after the meal. I get to the club, he never shows up, and I'm like "I'm outta here." When I was walking up the stairs at home, I heard holiday music coming from my apartment, and there was a seven-foot Christmas tree in my house and the entire place was decorated with lights. There was an Ella Fitzgerald Christmas disc on the floor. I started crying and laughing. I didn't know it was him until I saw the note he'd left. I thought my roommate did it. But she'd actually been planning it with him. One real romantic song that comes to mind is that one by Brian McKnight - "Has I Ever Crossed Your Mind...." I was into it during a breakup. Oh, my god, I can't even let myself remember it. Too heavy. And the Beatles "Michelle" is a great romantic song. Svein Berge - Royksopp
I don't have a favorite love song, but I do have really strong feelings whenever I put on This Mortal Coil's last album, Blood. In 1991, I met this girl and I was just completely consumed by her. This Mortal Coil used all these good guest vocalists like Kim Deal from the Breeders and Liz Fraser from the Cocteau Twins. The album is a good mix of the band's rock roots and their interesting production techniques. To me, it was just really good to sit with my girlfriend, all consumed by her, listening to this music. Allison Moorer
My favorite Valentine's Day song is "Let's Stay Together," by Al Green. It's a love song for adults. It's not some one-dimensional declaration - it lets on that problems occur, but they can be worked out. Plus, it's sexy as hell. Kim Fox
Every Valentine's Day since I was 15 years old I've listened to three short pieces of solo piano music by Erik Satie. "The Trois Gymnopedies" were written in the late 1800's. They have the most haunting melodies I have ever heard, and what moves me is that I can listen to them on Valentine's Day regardless of the state of my love life: Single happy, single miserable, attached happy, attached miserable - or anything in between. With every note, there is a joy and a sadness, a conquest and a yearning - love is always near and distant, wonderful and devastating, the reason we all live but ultimately fleeting and impermanent. Each piece isn't only a love song to a person or living thing, but to all the things in life one has passion for - such as art, music, nature, and spirituality. How Satie was able to convey this in a simple piece of solo piano music I will never know, but that question is ultimately what makes all music so powerful, inspiring and ultimately otherworldly. Groove Armada
Andy Cato: Because of work, I've missed Valentine's Day for the past five years. But I used to go to town with Valentine's preparations. The cheesiest thing I ever did was in college; I wrote a song and pressed up a 7" disc, and put it in a girl's mailbox. You always get there with a tune. Tom Findlay: Let me ask my wife. She laughing. She's still laughing. I don't really get into it. I think we went to see the West Town football club once. I guess I'm not very romantic.
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