Love is in the air-my top 5 love songs

Love is in the air…

In my personal opinion Valentine day in India is just a gimmick ushered by the combined efforts of the media and product selling companies but I must admit that it is difficult to stand uninfluenced..

Every time I switch on the TV, a gentle piano music greets me with tempting pictures of platinum bands of love. I notice this week that red roses have found a place among bitter and bottle gourds on my local sabziwalah’s cart .Everyone is talking ‘what are u doing on valentines’ in my aerobics class and even the instructor has moved to ‘quit playing games with my heart ‘from the regular fast beats of Venga boys numbers. While I have become more observant of my fuchsia bougainvillea blossoms in the balcony, inadvertently I have just been listening to love songs on my ipod while rolling out chapattis in the kitchen too…such is the influence of this gimmick...can’t help secretly hoping for a gift from my husband on the valentine..Sigh..

This afternoon when I was rapt kneading the dough with Billy Joel cooing in my ear ‘shes always a woman to me ’I got thinking about what my favourite love song is..A very complicated task when you try to confuse your brain in picking out your favourites...but there has to be some very special numbers that transport you to a different world..a world of sheer love and joy.

The rose I negotiated for free from sabziwala after buying two large laukis has a cast a spell and under its magical influence I am attempting below this very difficult task of picking my personal top five love songs..do comment on which ones are yours :)

Frank Sinatra-Strangers in the night

A song which existed much before Frank Sinatra remodelled it with his doobee doobee do and popularised it for the album of the same title. This song meant a huge comeback for Sinatra’s languishing singing career and also won him a Grammy  for the best male singer. But personally for me this song is special because It was ringing in our heads when we met each other for the first time. The lyrics pretty much describe what was the meeting like and is a favourite for both.

John Denver-Annie’s Song

John Denver wrote this song while on a skiing trip in Aspen with his wife Annie. It is the soul stirring lyrics that make this song a winner. The tune is simple and the accompanying piano is pleasant. The poem like lyrics describe the beauty of love manifested in all the colours of nature.

Jalte hai jiske liye-Talat Mahmood from the film Sujata

Much as I thought that I would keep it an all English numbers affair, guess its not being fair to my mother tongue music I grew up listening. This song comes from one of my favourite movies too -Sujata , that was an official Cannes entry in 1959 from India. Talat mahmood has done perfect justice to the delicate lyrics penned by Majruh Sultanpuri sahib.This is a very gentle song and an element of innocence stands out in the way it has been filmed where Sunil Dutt is humming this song to Nootan over phone.

Unchained Melody-Righteous Brothers

This song is the most recorded song of the 20^th century. Again, it existed in the musical circuits long before but got its due from the movie ‘Ghost’ and thats where I heard it too for the first time. So although many singers have tried their vocal chords on this song, for me it is the Righteous Brothers’ version that sticks out. If there is any song that perfectly describes the pinning for love..it is this. Anyone who has been away from their love would instantly relate to the lyrics that stirr ones desperation to a new level.

How Deep is your Love-Bee Gees

My all time favourite band and my favourite love song. This is probably the first English love song I heard as I child and brings back all the memories of my growing up years every time I hear it. I only realised the intensity of the delightful lyrics in my teens and later. A very melodious number and rightfully won a Grammy too.

The songs that I had difficulty picking against-

Crazy little thing called love-Queen

Tu Hi Re-OST Bombay

Always on my mind-Elvis Presley

Close to you-Carpenters