SOUNDTRACK OF THOUGHTS. VOL. 11
As cheesy as it sounds, lately I've been thinking a lot about love. Not romantic love that we express to our partner but love for other couples. I recently found myself captivated by someone experiencing love for the first time. I smiled at the thought. Seeing that person in love filled me with joy. David Bowie's lyrics from "Soul Love" best describe the situation: All I have is my love of love. So, I started making a playlist of love songs in my head.
The eleventh soundtrack of thoughts All I Have Is My Love of Love starts with Jo Stafford’s song “A Sunday Kind of Love.” Her voice is mesmerizing and her songwriting showcases a specific kind of love, a mature one. What I love about it is how the lyrics have a balance of confidence and softness. “Till There Was You” did not originate from The Beatles’ catalog. Eileen Wilson recorded it in 1950, calling it "Till I Met You." The Fab Four popularized it on record 13 years later with With The Beatles. These two songs describe opposite types of love. The first is adult. The latter seems like a first love.
Lines the bed’s too big / the frying pan’s too wide are some of my favourite pieces of songwriting ever. Joni Mitchell captured love in everyday things. But she showed great longing and true affection. “Sve Te Vodilo K Meni” is a song by songwriter Arsen Dedić from my beloved hometown. The title means "Everything Led Me to You." It echoes Jane Brontë's idea of an invisible string in Jane Eyre. It's hard to translate it into English in its entirety. It loses some beauty. Still, you can feel it without knowing the lyrics. I will not bore you any more with explanations of songs and will leave you to listen to them.
But, I must mention the film "Punch-Drunk Love." Paul Thomas Anderson wrote and directed it. To me, the film shows a few situations in a very nuanced way. The first one involves falling in love without prior anticipation, and the second describes the relationship dynamic of having many sisters who push you to the edge of insanity, but I won’t reveal too much in case you haven’t seen it. Barry (Adam Sandler) falls in love with Lena (Emily Watson) while being in a horrible place mentally, that much he asks his sister’s husband to help him. Lena becomes a key figure in his life. In a life-threatening moment, he says I have so much strength in me, you have no idea. He feels loved, something he has longed for. This supermarket scene shows him dancing. It's his only way to express his overwhelming love.
Punch-Drunk Love Japanese poster by Jeremy Blake used as cover of playlist on iTunes.
