Let's Get Romantical

In 2002 I had a job at 43rd and Lexington and would walk through Grand Central every day to get on the 6. On Valentine's Day that year, heading to the subway at around 6pm, I saw a line of men about one city block long leading up to the tiny Godiva shop in the train station. Men of all age, race, and class, some holding cellophane-wrapped flowers but most not, collectively sent me the indelible message that roses and candy on this day of all days said: "I have put the minimal amount of thought into this."

I've never been into Valentine's Day because of that sort of by-the-numbers feel, and I ended a relationship pretty recently so I'm rollin' solo this Monday. But maybe that's exactly why this year's Valentine's Day Mix is 100% free of bitterness and irony. Just 15 of my favorite love songs of all time (let it be known that "Nitemare Hippy Girl" is for my money the most romantic song ever written). We've got to keep loving love, right?

LUFF SONGS: Click here to download

1. I Need Love - Sexton Blake
2. Nitemare Hippy Girl - Beck
3. Just Really Wanna See You - Shudder to Think
4. Tim, I Wish You Were Born a Girl - Of Montreal
5. A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off - The Magnetic Fields
6. Intimate Friends - Eddie Kendricks
7. Good Timin' - Jimmy Jones
8. Everyday Clothes - Jonathan Richman
9. I'm on Fire - Bruce Springsteen
10. You Are the Blood - The Castanets
11. Love Profusion - Regina Spektor
12. The Way I Feel Inside - The Zombies
13. T Ser s Mi Baby - Surfs
14. Put Your Hand in My Hand - Lungfish
15. I Touch Myself - Scala & Kolacny Brothers