It’s a question songwriters have been asking for centuries: “What is Love?” Shakespeare toyed with the idea in his sonnets. Benatar taught us that love is a battlefield. Others have promised that they’ll never leave their partner. Is love all that? Is love a song, a warzone, or a lifelong vow? Or is it all three?
The question may never be answered, but it sure makes for some great music. Every band, musician, singer, songwriter has their own spin on love. Sometimes its poppy and cute, sometimes we’re down in the dumps with Adele. But we can’t deny that love songs hit a vein with most of us. At least, our favorite ones do. That’s why they’re our favorites. And that’s why a majority of songs are love songs, whether they focus on romance, infatuation, sex, or lifelong commitment. Cue a slew of other 80s music videos.
At almost a week into this adventure, the five songs we’ve covered so far could all be considered love songs, to a degree (or breakup songs, which are kind of the same, just on the opposite side of the spectrum.) Two of them explicitly are love songs, but for the other three you’d have to dig a bit to find the lovey-dovey (or achey-breaky?)
Our next song is slightly more straightforward. Essentially it’s a question: “What is love?”
Day Six: Safe – The Airborne Toxic Event
The song begins beautiful and sweet, with a violin and piano sharing the stage for awhile, until a persistent bass vamp sneaks in. And the lead singer Mikel Jollett paints us a scene:
It was early for a summer
All the people and the noise from the bar
You in your grey dress with your arm on the window
Saying, “What’s the difference? What’s the difference?”
We find a couple in some sort of conflict. Jollett is pleading for his lover to say it to him. As both the music and lyrics progress and quicken, Jollett’s plead gets more maddening. He manically repeats “Everything, everything, it’s everything” over the building instrumentation. We don’t find such a pretty picture anymore. What does he want her to say?
The 5-piece band’s violinist, Anna Bolbrook, comes in with a retort:
Do you really want to hear that?
Why is everyone staring?
Where you happy? Were you honest?
Did you ever believe that any of this was real?
We’re getting a better picture of what this conversation is about. He wants her to talk about love. It’s almost like we’re listening in on a slightly heated “define-the-relationship” conversation. She seems to think this is casual, but he’s looking deeper.
We can’t just slow down now
This road’s not safe for driving
All this time I’ve wanted
Just one thing from you
The only time the word “safe” is used in the song is in the metaphor of driving down the road too fast. He’s thinking it’s not safe that they’re going so fast without committing. She thinks the opposite. They both have different definitions of a safe love. They both want something different.
It’s difficult to be in a relationship where you want something different from your partner. Most of those relationships end up falling through. However, most people stay for as long as they can for a number of reasons – fear of being alone, the investment they’ve put into the person, etc. Casual, undefined relationships often lead to heartbreak, as we see in this song. When someone doesn’t think the relationship is committed, they come and go without another thought. But they end up abandoning the other person.
We hear Jollett’s desperation through the dizzying guitar riffs as he continues to scream “Everything” but Bolbrook remains silent. And finally, he sings us out solo:
So you got out of the car
Left your bag in the backseat
And walked inside
And that was love
“And that was love.” I chose this song mostly because of that last, punch-in-the-gut line. That’s how he sums up the relationship, the heartbreak, the “everything.” Earlier in the song he says “that was love when we were sober.” They were in punch-drunk love, but now they’re dry and need to come to terms with what they’ve started.
I knew this song was going to be harder to write about, but I picked it anyway. Most of these songs have been with me for awhile, but this one is still a bit new to me. It’s not one I absolutely do not skip over on shuffle. It sneaks through the cracks often. But I wanted to write about this one because I knew it would be a challenge to dive into the meaning – and what it means to me. This song was my first exposure to The Airborne Toxic Event. I learned later that Such Hot Blood is probably the most atmospheric and ambient of their albums, almost a restating of their sound. Jollett founded the band within a week of a breakup and a devastating diagnosis. Jollett expressed in an interview what the album meant to him. It was all about “scoring his thoughts and presenting the struggle.” The feeling of confused love is fairly universal – do I feel the same way? Do they? Are we supposed to be together? Jollett gives us both sides of the conflict because there are two sides. Sometimes we’re not the heartbroken. Sometimes we’re the heartbreaker.
“And that was love.” Watching someone walk away was love for Jollett. At least, it was that love. Every relationship is different, and hopefully better than the last (depending on how many you’ve had.) Your “And that was love” might be said with a sigh instead of a sneer. That statement could be said differently for every partner you’ve ever had. Romantic love is fluid and based on our perception.
Sometimes singing about love can seem contrived or cliche, but it’s valuable. Almost everyone who goes through life falls in love at least once. And for those of us who need a few tries before we get it right, we have our songs. We have our Benatars and violins and Jolletts.
And that is love.
Audrey D. DeBoer 