Love and ROCK-ets

Pablo Gonzalez

Music Journalist

I remember when I was in my high school history class, my teacher showed me some music that he likes. He puts on Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” A song about nuclear holocaust. He tells me this is why he loves metal. They do not sing about some schmaltzy love. I remember agreeing with him at the time, but I want to challenge his opinion. Love and its themes are engraved in the core of music, especially pop music. There is a certain power to love that fuels us. It is unlike any other emotion; it is a passion that just does not burn out.

To start, Black Sabbath has one of the most heart-wrenching love songs: “Changes.” A song that makes the Prince of Darkness a fragile, open man. The song’s lyrics can strike anyone’s heartstrings. It hits a hard place for anyone who has gone through deep heartbreak. It shows just how powerful love is, to be able to take Ozzy Osbourne from the nuclear holocaust to true heartbreak. As a side note, if you have not yet listened to Charles Bradley’s cover of “Changes” please do it will change you.

Love, in its rawest form, can overwhelm us, lift us up, or leave us undone, but it’s the passion that universally unites us all. A perfect example of the power of passion is Father John Misty’s I Love You, Honeybear (2015). An album filled with love that is practically overflowing. Each song has lyrics that gush out an almost intoxicating aroma of passion. The passion that fueled Joshua Tillman’s was the intense love he has for his wife. The whole album is practically dedicated to her, yet we can relate to its themes of passion. Love goes beyond the personal and can connect us, without knowing Tillman’s wife we are still able to relate to its passion.

During much of high school, a sense of teen angst lived in me. It was easy to dismiss love and its role in music and art. But at some point, my perspective shifted. Now, I can’t help but feel that love is the last thing the world needs less of. It’s easy to feed into fear, corruption, and temptation; Its ability to turn us against one another is incredibly persuasive. But we can resist, and though it may sound cliché, it all starts with love.

Love is boundless and in no way restricted. It’s easy to say that a lot of contemporary pop music and its use of themes of love are lackluster, but I argue that even the love-crazed songs of Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift serve their roles in spreading love. Some of the greatest love songs came from pop music. You only need to look at the works of Morrissey to see pop music birthing classic love songs. “Hand in Glove” by The Smiths, is an amazing example, it tackles a love that often isn’t expressed in music and media: same-sex love. There’s a reason people dance and sing their heads off to love songs—it’s something we all understand deep in our soul, it’s a feeling that shapes us, the reason we’re even here in the first place. So, when given the choice between hate and love, remember, it takes far more strength to be gentle, far more courage to be kind.

The late Tom Robbins put it best, “The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion, and the tyranny of the dull mind forever threatens…but our lives are not as limited as we think they are, all things are possible, laughter is holier than piety, freedom is sweeter than fame, and in the end, it’s love and love alone that really matters.” So, choose love. Again, and again. Because in the end, it’s the only thing that ever truly matters.