Music in general can be a fairly depressing endeavour. As Rob says in High Fidelity, “Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?” Overblown has been wondering about that for a long. time. Now is not the time to dwell on such things though. Now is the time to listen to songs that are actually relatively positive about love and romance. Let’s celebrate this completely made up holiday with some stellar alternative love songs!

20 Postal Service – Such Great Heights It is through the postal service that some of the most romantic declarations of love were delivered. So these guys are in. 19 Regina Spektor – Us Overblown loves that film (500) Days of Summer, and this song features prominently in it. That scene were Tom (Joseph Gordon Levitt) is at a party and both reality and expectations play out side by side mirrors our teenage years. We were saps though. Make of that what you will. 18 Smashing Pumpkins – Luna Billy Corgan has always been a hopeless romantic and he doesn’t get more romantic than on ‘Luna’ from 1993’s Siamese Dream. I’d consider having this as my wedding song. 17 Mazzy Star – Fade Into You Our Martin Wilson proposed to his wife, the wonderful Kimberly, while this song was playing. It’s not as romantic as it sounds though; he was tremendously hungover. 16 Death Cab For Cutie – I Will Follow You Into The Dark This one’s in the vein of the ‘doomed love’ variety. Or maybe it’s about growing old with each other. At any rate, it’s appeal lies in it’s subtlety and honesty. 15 Sonic Youth – Superstar I love the original. I love the cover. Karen Carpenter is an extremely under rated singer and Sonic Youth’s version adds a raw, vulnerable hue to an already fragile song of idolatry. 14 Pixies – Hey

A song about being chained to the one you love? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Guess it depends how fidgety the other person. 13 The Buzzcocks – Orgasm Addict Was more romantic than a song about sex addiction? Maybe Michael Douglas in a negligee? 12 PJ Harvey – Legs There’s always been something extremely seductive about Polly Jean’s oeuvre. Here it is in its nascent form. 11 My Bloody Valentine – Feed Me Your Kiss Little creepy maybe. But love is creepy. Super creepy. 10 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps When Overblown was a lot younger, we spotted this on MTV. Probably on that Zane Lowe show when he sat on a brown couch. Remember? Karen O cries in this video. What’s impressive is that it doesn’t come off as contrived. 9 The Ramones – I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend Overblown sang this to a girl in his back garden once. That didn’t work out. It remains a great song though. 8 Deftones – RX Queen Chino Moreno’s lyrics and vocals are sexy. Sexier than an evening of whiskey and clumsy fornicating. Anyone who disagrees has emotional problems. 7 Alvvays – Archie, Marry Me Alvvays is a pretty romantic name; just ask Severus Snape. So it makes sense they’d have a romantic song or two. This one is both pragmatic and doe eyed. A perfect combination. 6 Peaches – Fuck The Pain Away Not so romantic, but we’ve all been there. Both inside and outside relationships. Peaches scares us. In a good way. 5 Wolf Alice – Bros This track is about friendship, but you’ve got to best friends with your life partner don’t you? What’s the point otherwise? 4 Lemonheads – Into Your Arms Before Sunrise and its sequels are some of the most romantic and realistic movies about love. This track features prominently in the the first movie. Evan Dando is one of the most under rated song writers of his generation. Fact. 3 The Replacements – Favorite Thing Overblown’s favourite thing was seeing The Replacements tearing it up at Primavera last year. To be fair, half of Overblown was fairly drunk at the time. We like to think it was romantic. 2 Morrissey – You’re The One For Me, Fatty Two of Overblown’s friends, who may want to remain nameless, used to sing this to each other when we were all a lot more youthful. Drinks were probably involved. And probably a burger or two. Morrissey would not approve. 1 Fucked Up – Queen of Hearts Doomed romance at its finest. Simple, honest, and direct. Probably the best way to be in a relationship. Now sing (shout?) along, “Hello, my name is David, your name is Veronica, let’s be together, let’s fall in love.” Don’t forget to follow Overblown on Facebook, and Twitter.