so i was sitting at home today, playing my guitar, listening to music, and i got a thought as i was listening to John Mayer’s “Love Song for No One.” the thought is, what is it that makes a good love song good? is goodness found in the fact that it’s written for a specific someone in mind, thus producing genuine feelings that only love (or emotions that are seemingly love) can produce? or is it found in just the human need and want for the companionship of another person, not having a specific person in mind, just wanting a warm body to spend your life with? or is it merely found in the ability to carefully choose words and to write well?

whatever the case may be, love songs are some of the most interesting pieces of writing to ever grace the field of poetry. just think about it. a single song can make you weep with joy or weep with sorrow. it can make you elated that the guy gets the girl (or vice versa) at the end of the song. it can make you hopeful that there will someday be someone who can write such beautiful words for you. it can make you angry at the hurt that one person is putting another through. all that can come from just one single song. the sheer power that a musician has over your emotions while playing a love song is also something unique to this genre. with the simple change of a key, the musician can send you from being hopeful and excited about the people in the song to being sympathetic and hurting for those people, only to send you back into elation at the next key change.

all this to say: i wish i could write a good love song. just one. that’s all i need. i’ve tried, sure. but none that i have written have really invoked the kind of emotion that is necessary when one thinks of a “love song.” so maybe someday when i get a specific person that brings out the best in me, i’ll be able to write the song that i’ve always wanted to write. until then………..