Got it Covered: Groovy Kind of Love

Original video located here. Accessed 28th February 2014

Song title: Groovy Kind of Love

Artist: Phil Collins

Originally Done By: Diane and Annita

Year: 1988

Why I like this song:

I have clear memories of hearing this song when I was a kid. Of course, at the time Phil was an unstoppable hit machine, pumping out one after the other. But this always stayed with me - perhaps due to it showing me how love songs work.

So this concludes this year's clutch of love songs. Will I do any more? Depends if I have any more to say about the topic....

Back to the Eighties: Blue Eyes

Original video located here. Accessed 24th February 2014

Song title: Blue Eyes

Artist: Elton John

Year: 1982

Why I like this song:

No matter his writing partner, Elton can still turn out some cracking love songs.
And this is my favourite of his. For, once again, the simplicity of it is the key to it's success.

Nineties Revisited: If You be Mine

Original video located here. Accessed 23rd July 2021

Song title: If You Be Mine

Artist: Babybird

Year: 1998

Why I like this song:

Babybird may had netted a huge hit with You're Gorgeous but I always though this, from the followup album, was the better song. 

The strings are the main selling point here along with the chorus and production. But the verses still perplex me as they seem at odds with the chorus. Still, as a lovestruck teenager back in 1998 this song did speak to me and, to that end, it still does.

This Song Rocks: All For Believing

Original video located here. Accessed 23rd July 2018

Song title: All For Believing

Artist: Missy Higgins

Year: 2001

Why I like this song:

Its the song that introduced Missy Higgins to the world.

I remember at the time thinking this was extraordinary with both it's simplicity and honesty. 
Years later, I still feel the same - although I prefer the original recording over the one that was done for her subsequent album The Sound of White. It has an ambience that somehow was lost in the professional setting...

Got it Covered: Stay With Me til Dawn

Original video located here. Accessed 17th February 2014

Song title: Stay With Me 'til Dawn

Artist: Wicked Beat Sound System

Originally Done By: Judie Tzuke

Year: 2000

Why I like this song:

The original certainly has a otherworldly feel to it and this cover replicates it with ease. 
Mysterious in nature and superb in its depiction of longing 

This Song Rocks: Everytime

Original video located here. Accessed 14th February 2014

Song title: Everytime

Artist: Britney Spears

Year: 2003

Why I like this song:

I was never a fan of Britney Spears during her heyday - mostly due to me being outside her target audience of teenage girls - but I will make an exception for this song.

Funny thing: Britney was made famous with the backing of producer Max Martin yet the one song that sounds the least like Martin's unstoppable force is Britney's best. And it works: Britney here sounds vulnerable and, dare I say, frightened. She is worlds apart from the persona that made her famous and is revealing what is truly under that mask. If this is Britney at her most honest then it is nothing less than astonishing. 

Personally, I find this handy to have around when you're missing someone.....

Nineties Revisited: I'll Stand By You

Original video located here. Accessed 12th February 2014

Song title: I'll Stand By You

Artist: The Pretenders

Year: 1994

Why I like this song:

A song that means a lot to me: It's helped me through difficult times and it is a firm reminder that I have family and friends who will never give up on me. And no matter how many times I mess up, I can still turn things around. 

I will say, this song goes through a real gauntlet of emotions: Empathy, compassion and loyalty. All of which are rarely addressed in the pop song spectrum (unless you're R.E.M.) which makes this song stand out even more.

Nineties Revisited: Iris

Original video located here. Accessed 10th February 2014

Song title: Iris

Artist: Goo Goo Dolls

Year: 1998

Why I like this song:

I remember this song but not for the right reasons: It was a huge hit when I was going through a less-than favourable point in my life. But the passage of time, and the distance from said period, has allowed me to reassess my relationship to this song.

And I like it. Maybe it's the autistic in me but I appreciate the sentiment of wanting to be understood even at great risk. So yeah, damn good song.

Back to the Eighties: Bachelor Kisses

Original video located here. Accessed 10th May 2018

Song title: Bachelor Kisses

Artist: The Go-Betweens

Year: 1984

Why I like this song:

Took me years to find this song but the romanticism in it is beyond compare.
And the mystery of why this band, along with the song they wrote, didn't take off like they should have endures.

This Song Rocks: Come What May

Original video located here. Accessed 5th February 2014

Song title: Come What May (Puretone mix)

Artist: Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman

Year: 2001

Why I like this song:

Never liked the movie Moulin Rouge but I will forever have a soft spot for this song.
That being said, I prefer the remix over the original. I guess it must be due to that piano used throughout - it gives off a sense of wonder that can never be found anywhere else.

The Asian Connection: Yakusoku wa Iranai

Original video located here. Accessed 3rd February 2014

Song title: Yakusoku wa Iranai

Artist: Maaya Sakamoto

Year: 1996

Why I like this song:

It's a no brainer to say that all of the soundtrack to Vision of Escaflowne is magnificent. And what better way to announce one's self than with this. 
Its big, it's grand, its sweeping and it's a statement of intent if ever there was one.

Classics: Just the Way You Are

Original video located here. Accessed 2nd April 2019

Song title: Just the Way You Are

Artist: Billy Joel

Year: 1977

Why I like this song:

Last year I spent the month of February talking about some love songs I liked. So why not do it again?

I love this song for it's simplicity and it's honesty. And that is more than enough 
Sure Billy has been a punchline for critics for years but in the end, you can't deny he can pump out a cracking song.