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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Just in time for Valentine's Day, an unromantic love song


I don't expect anyone to seek my advice when choosing an appropriate record for the happy couple's first dance at their wedding. Therefore, in the week of Valentine's Day, for anybody who's merely fantasising about getting married and could use some further inspiration, I propose the best first dance song of the modern era.

Erin Bode (it's pronounced Beau-day) wrote "Long, Long Time" with her piano player Adam Maness. It begins "the rest of your life is a long, long time/It's hard to gauge when you're twenty-five".

What I like about this song is it celebrates not the first flush of romance, which is easy, but the patience required for the long haul. "We're taking all the rest of our lives." In fact it's a great love song which isn't actually romantic at all.

I like to feel it's a musical repudiation of those couples who split the minute both parties feel the married state has failed to magically transfigure their lives. If they asked me I'd say "what were you expecting?" Of course they don't ask.

2 comments:

  1. Glad to see Erin getting some attention across the pond. I guess we take her a little for granted here in St. Louis.

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  2. I like 'Tree' by Sebadoh (a band I can't otherwise stand) for similar reasons. The song has a core of practical optimism. It celebrates the idea that together two people can make something greater than the sum of its parts, but also acknowledges that there are human frailties that require strength of character and resolve to overcome.

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