Love That Burns Through Your Veins

February seems to have flown by…and I have just two more posts scheduled with my song choices for the prompts provided by Bee for the 2023 LOVE IS IN DA BLOG. It has been so much fun! But the prompts for the last few days have helped me capture something deep, something that runs in the blood and cannot be erased.

The prompt for the 21st February gives me the chance to reminisce about my excitement on trips to Africa:

A LOVE SONG FROM AFRICA

I am not really sure why it is that Africa proves to be quite so thrilling. The rich culture, the warmth of people, the inspirational accounts of individuals who have found ways to thrive despite monumental challenges that would cause many Westerners to crumble. Then there is nature – my goodness – if you visit Africa, it is hard to resist the chance to see some incredible animals on their home turf. This is a continent that can provide a life changing education. You won’t be the same person after spending a good stint out there. I think that is partly what Toto were singing about in their anthemic “Africa“.

I was not sure which direction to go in for the prompt for 22nd February:

A LOVE SONG FROM AN ARTIST IN YOUR REGION

I grew up in Liverpool (lots and lots of artists to choose from) but I have lived in London for most of my adult life. So in the end I allowed the song I wanted to feature to sway my decision. Paloma Faith I believe is from Hackney in London. She is behind a track I love. I particularly love her live performance at the Brits some years ago. It is so so so so good! She gets better and better and then the finale – wow!!! This is “Only Love Can Hurt Like This”.

I have loved Bee’s selection of prompts for LOVE IS IN DA BLOG, but some of them left me a little stumped, so you may have noticed a little bit of cheating – songs that might not fit the bill perfectly. When I saw the prompt for 23rd February:

A LOVE SONG FOR FLORA AND FAUNA

…my first thought was “I Never Promised You A Rose Garden”. But then I was with some friends the other day and someone quoted a few lines from Robert Burns. When I was reminded of them, they caught me by surprise and tears trickled down my cheek. Is it just a coincidence that Adelaide is 10,100 miles away from London? Or did Robert Burns pen those words for me?

So fare-thee-weel, my only love!
And fare-thee-weel awhile!
And I will come to you again,
Though it were ten thousand miles!

Though it were ten thousand miles, my dear
Though it twere ten thousand miles.
I will come to you again.
Though it twere ten thousand miles.

Robert Burns, Lindley Evans

The reason I thought the song qualifies is the mention of love being like a red red rose. I have two versions…one lyrical video – gorgeous voice. The other instrumental…with some lovely photos of flowers and fauna!

A World That Needs More Love

Ooooop! I just realized I made a mistake with my scheduling for today! I intended to publish this almost twelve hours ago. Oh well…better late than never I think.

Here are some more song choices in response to the fabulous prompts that Bee has been providing us with for LOVE IS IN DA BLOG!!

I thought for quite a long time ago about my song choice for 16th February:

A LOVE SONG FOR HUMANKIND

When I think of humankind – my heart swells with love. People…goodness…people are so much like young children – still so very much learning, tripping over, stumbling over traps, feeling shame, bruised hearts, deep painful wounds that never heal, despair, loneliness, terrors…longing for something better, sensing something is missing and yearning with an intense hunger to fill that need. Humans – capable of such extraordinary love, such extraordinary goodness and beauty and kindness and loyalty. How hard it is to see people experience injustice and suffering. How I would love to heal, to restore, to fix…the human family. If I feel this way…then I know that our Maker feels this way a million times more…and has proven this by paying the costliest price in all the universe to buy back what was lost. Just a little while longer…and the meek will inherit the earth.

As far as I was concerned there was only one song choice for the prompt for 18th February:

A LOVE SONG ABOUT FINDING LOVE IN AN UNEXPECTED PLACE

Well, you can’t get more of an unexpected place than a hopeless place. Take it away Jessie J covering Rihanna and Calvin’s “We Found Love“!!!

The prompt for 20th February provided me with a chance to share a personal story with you:

A REGGAE LOVE SONG

So…not long after I broke up with my first every boyfriend (which was a huge deal as we had courted for ten years) I had a chance to visit Texas. That trip was very good for me. I had gone through a low when I ended the relationship, feeling quite lost and confused and guilty and pessimistic. My confidence was knocked. I did not want to eat. I could not sleep. I was distraught. Visiting Texas provided a huge change of scene. I remember telling the friends we stayed with what had happened…and they helped me to laugh at what had happened, well, some of what had happened. With regards to the details which were not to be laughed at, they said it is ok to cry when needed, but not to allow myself to become a permanent sob-story. They encouraged me to pray a lot about it. It was important for me to learn to let go of the pain. One thing that helped was this song, which for some reason was being played a lot on the radio back then. This is “No, No, No” from Dawn Penn. The lyrics somehow combined all the laughter, tears and prayers that did help me recover from my first ever break up.

Love Songs That Touch A Raw Nerve

One of the best mediums to convey love in all of it’s dazzling facets is music, which is why I love Bee’s LOVE IS IN DA BLOG prompts for February. Today, I am catching up with some of the prompts from the last few days. Some of these prompts have a very personal connection to me.

The prompt for the 11th February was one that means a great deal to me. I am a big believer in this particular aspect of love being fundamental:

A LOVE SONG ABOUT FORGIVENESS

I picked a song that might not appear at first to fit the bill…but as someone who has been in a relationship that had a gigantic painful challenge, I know how it feels to be desperate for a chance to smooth over the rupture and to ensure that both parties can regain peace of mind and all of the other blessings that are attached to forgiveness. I chose a song that hits a raw nerve. It especially hit that raw nerve after I was attacked and had to flee London. The is “Hello” from Adele:

Well, the next prompt was of course difficult for me since I have been twenty-one for the past couple of decades. Since I have never turned thirty, I felt justified in picking a jazz love song from a long time ago. The prompt for 13th February was:

A JAZZ LOVE SONG FROM YOUR 30S

I have chosen a recording of a song that has a wonderful jazz feel to it…but at the same time I just adore the voice of Julie London delivering these lyrics. There is a lighthearted whimsy to these lyrics. It has a personal connection to me though. I was asked by a band to sing this live at a charity event…only, I pulled out when I realized Jack would be in the audience. I had been rehearsing it for weeks with the band, but how could I sing about the elation of love when I was utterly broken hearted. Fast-forward eight years later and I can sing this song and enjoy every upbeat note! This is a song for those happy in love! I adore this song “Fly Me To The Moon”:

I felt spoilt for choice when it came to the prompt for the 15th February:

A LOVE SONG FROM A FEMALE ARTIST

There are so many songs I could have chosen, and some I would have perhaps chosen (but I realized I can use them for other prompts!). Female artists have been belting out phenomenal love songs for decades and some of my own favourite love songs touch me most with a woman’s vocals. I have picked a love song that moves me to the core…in a way that makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I love love love this song. It is definitely a song that makes me think of Jack. At times, I still pinch myself that that beauty on my pillow is mine…and I am his! Nobody captures this amazement and contentment as perfectly as Ella Hendersong with her beautifully simple “I’m Yours”:

La La Love Songs

I have fallen behind with Bee’s sensational LOVE IS IN DA BLOG prompts for February. So I have three songs for some of the themes over the past few days.

I am afraid my mind was blank when it came to folk love songs from my tweens and love songs by a new artist…but some of the prompts Bee has supplied stirred lots of song options.

Take for example the prompt from 7th February…

A LOVE SONG FROM SCANDANAVIA

The music world owes so much to Scandinavian music artists, especially their incredible producers. I decided to pick a song that I remember singing over and over for years not long after it was released. This song was used in the the film “Super Mario Brothers”. I did not know that when I first heard this track on the radio. I just loved it! This is (Swedish) Roxette’s “Almost Unreal”

I knew which song I wanted to feature for the prompt for 9th February:

A LOVE SONG FOR THIS PLANET

Perhaps John Denver did not intend his words as a love song for the planet, but in referring to the beauty of love with lyrics reflecting the wonders of nature – well, he nailed the whole concept of soaring spirits, leaping for joy, heart-thumping with awe. These words are as stunning as the day he first wrote them. Just as it is impossible to tire of sunsets and mountains, forests and waterfalls…”Annie’s Song” feels as if it will never age.

I was not quite so certain about a song for the 10th February prompt:

A LOVE SONG ABOUT UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

There is something not quite right about the concept of “unconditional love” (which is perhaps a subject for another and much longer post), but I do believe in loyal love, love that endures all sorts of challenges and does not give up quickly. I have experienced that kind of love myself…the scale of challenges Jack and I had to overcome before we even started dating was gigantic, and it was only because of a sort of love…a mutual respect and admiration which developed like wildfire into a burning romance and powerful bond. Perhaps my thoughts on what it is to go on loving even when it appears as if all hope is lost is party captured in Dido’s “White Flag”, especially in the powerful words “I’m in love and always will be”.

Trembling With Love

When I saw the prompts for Day Three and Four of Bee’s Love Is In Da Blog, two songs came to mind instantly, and both made me feel a little trembly for different reasons.

We have so many friends who have been living joyfully in Ukraine for years. Many of them wisely left Ukraine at the end of 2021 when they say armies camped on their borders. But for those who stayed, we were horrified about the potential dangers and the anxiety they were likely to be experiencing.

Many of our friends in Poland and Romania worked tirelessly last February and March as thousands of Ukrainians fled the violence. I was so proud to see one of the charities we work caught unwittingly on camera by the BBC. I was watching a news-reporter describing he scale of the challenge to help those who had crossed borders…and there in the background were some friends of ours around a huge familiar sign, and there were about fifty people hugging and passing over blankets and food and water being shared.

Even right here in London in my role for the NHS, I have met many people who have come to London during the past year and have wanted to give them extra time, extra attention, extra consideration. The scale of upheaval…is has been horrible to see the events of the past year unfold.

I picked a song that is not specifically mentioning violence….but it does grasp the desire for people to work together, to help each other. I find it very moving…and of course…you may recognize that I am featuring Birdy’s version of this track (yes, I really like Birdy’s sound).

A LOVE SONG FOR UKRAINE AND ALL OTHER COUNTRIES TROUBLED BY VIOLENCE

For Day Four, Bee asked us to share something personal to our own relationships. There are a handful of love-songs that are special to Jack and myself. But I picked one that makes me trembly.

During the height of our challenges…there were a handful of hugely emotional letters exchanged between Jack and I. Have you ever had that feeling of shaking with the overwhelming feelings of love and the powerful effect they are having on you.

I just love what thus track from Olly Murs captures – it is intense at times – and it was so intense back then. It was tearing me up…and I know Jack has said he was paralysed by that stage of our life. The other day, I mentioned how it feels that Goldfinch is 10,100 miles away. Well…whenever I hear this song, I think of the situation between Jack and I when only two or three inches of plasterboard separated our bedrooms – and yet it was as if a vast chasm, impossible to cross, kept us apart.

A LOVE SONG SPECIFIC TO YOU AND YOUR SPOUSE

Still Waiting For My Star To Fall!

As this is the last day of the LOVE IS IN DA BLOG Music Festival, I thought I would post a second song for today. Why not hey! For today’s theme, Bee said we could pick whatever we wanted to!

My second song makes me think of a certain someone! You can guess all you like, my lips are sealed. Anyway…still waiting for my star to fall. But keeping myself busy in the meantime!

This was Bee’s original post explaining the music festival and featuring all of the themes that we have enjoyed this month:

https://thebeewrites.com/2020/01/31/love-is-in-da-blog-2020-a-music-festival-is-back/

 

Nothings Gonna Stop Us

Today is not just the last day of February…it is also the last day of the LOVE IS IN DA BLOG Music Festival. It has been so much fun to join in and see the great songs chosen by other bloggers who have taken part.

This was Bee’s original post explaining the music festival and featuring all of the themes that we have enjoyed this month:

https://thebeewrites.com/2020/01/31/love-is-in-da-blog-2020-a-music-festival-is-back/

For today’s theme, Bee said we could pick whatever we wanted to! So I picked a song that I am calling the theme tune for Jack and me! Ever since the miracle of him getting in touch and us making peace…and then ending up in each other’s arms…I do feel more confident about the future. There will be challenges. Jack being abroad so often is something that I am finding very difficult…but Goldfinch was on the opposite side of the planet, and it did not stop the flames burning.

Apparently today is the day that women are supposed to propose marriage to their boyfriends. Very wisely, my boyfriend has made sure he is in another country. 😀 I am looking forward to seeing him very much. But he has nothing to fear, I have no plans to propose to him.

I am proposing to spoil him when he is back here in my arms though!

You Took All The Colours Away

Bee, the creator of The Bee Writes…, is hosting a music festival, which I have to say, is pretty darn tootin cool! Don’t you think! By the looks of things her themes for this month long festival are going to rival Glastonbury!

Today’s theme is:

A love song that contains colour

Check out Bee’s post below for a list of the themes (a lot of love going on as you can see!) in the post below:

https://thebeewrites.com/2020/01/31/love-is-in-da-blog-2020-a-music-festival-is-back/

Although this song has BLACK in the title, you will find mention of blue, green and white as well. I do love this song! It is sad, yes…but it expresses so well the sadness when someone we love has left us.

 

 

 

Strong As Autumn Blows

Bee, the creator of The Bee Writes…, is hosting a music festival, which I have to say, is pretty darn tootin cool! Don’t you think! By the looks of things her themes for this month long festival are going to rival Glastonbury!

Today’s theme is:

A song about love in autumn

Check out Bee’s post below for a list of the themes (a lot of love going on as you can see!) in the post below:

https://thebeewrites.com/2020/01/31/love-is-in-da-blog-2020-a-music-festival-is-back/

I could have used this song for one of the other seasonal themes Bee has included in her LOVE IS IN DA BLOG music festival. Although this is a song that mentions all seasons, I have saved it for autumn because it is the kind of song I would choose to listen to in the autumn as everything is fading. The lyrics are actually very touching.

You’re My Lover

Bee, the creator of The Bee Writes…, is hosting a music festival, which I have to say, is pretty darn tootin cool! Don’t you think! By the looks of things her themes for this month long festival are going to rival Glastonbury!

Today’s theme is:

A love song that charted in the Top 10 or better

Check out Bee’s post below for a list of the themes (a lot of love going on as you can see!) in the post below:

https://thebeewrites.com/2020/01/31/love-is-in-da-blog-2020-a-music-festival-is-back/

I don’t pay much attention to charts, and I have not done so since I was a teenager. But I believe this song ended up right at the top of the charts. Well deserved I say! Great love song!