It’s Valentine’s Day next weekend and I’m feeling the need to talk about loooove. For someone who talks about the depth of her emotions a whole lot, I don’t think I’ve ever blogged about love and music. (My love of music, sure, but not the giddy butterflies, lightheaded, joy spilling out of your heart kind of love.)

As you know, I love making mixtapes, and I recently made one as a Valentine’s present for a special someone. One of the songs on there was “Dying Breed” by The Killers. It is such a unique description of devotion rather than passion. Brandon Flowers sings about how “If you’re looking for strong and steady, then baby, you’ve found it.” And no matter what, he’s going to be there for the subject of the song. Their love is strong, lasting, and hard to find. They’re a dying breed: everyone else is falling by the wayside but the two of them will always be there for each other.

I also used the song “Banks” by NEEDTOBREATHE. Again, it describes stability and protection: “I’ll be the banks to your river.” The subject of the song is always going to be held safe and steady as they journey along. The singer will remind them of their value and make sure they’re happy. I think that the structure of the song also closely mirrors the ebb-and-flow path of a river. The vocals rise and fall very smoothly.

I couldn’t resist including a super girly silly song on the mix. C’mon, it’s Valentine’s Day. “Impulsive” by Wilson Phillips was the obvious choice. The group’s high, crooning voices make for a pillow-soft fantasy. Besides, they’re singing about “arrows through hearts, drawn on a misty window.” Adorable daydreaming is the name of the game when it comes to crushes.

While we’re talking about cuteness, an obscure (yet intuitive for me) choice was “The Things You Notice” by Marnie Stern. “I got. I need. I got a really special one.” What I love about this particular song is its push-pull lyrics: “I lost and you found. I lost and you found. I was lost and you found me.” She’s stopped all her wondering and wandering: whoever the subject of the song is, they’ve brought her home.

These songs are very different from my Nice Guy playlist (another post for another day) in that they remind us: love is not something to demand, or pursue aggressively. When the relationship is right, it’s going to unfold beautifully and naturally.