I'm not very well-read on music, not to mention love. Maybe this discussion isn't very consequential. I may be misinformed, even.
"Love song" (or literature) is a pretty broad banner, and I'm sure it can be divided into a lot of sub-types- sad love songs, happy love songs, somber love songs, hopeful love songs and so on. However, I've noticed that some songs that are usually placed under this banner aren't really about "love" in any meaningful sense.
I can't say I'm a fan of One Direction or pop music in general, but their popular track "One Thing" is a case in point. Lyrics:
Now what's being talked about here is not really love. This song is about that peculiar surge of emotion, that appears very powerful momentarily (in involvement with a potential significant other). I'm not knocking the song (or the band) at all, that feeling is significant and even beautiful. But it's not love, is it? I'd go so far to claim that more often than not, it's not even a precursor to love.
Of course, OD isn't the only band who've written songs along these lines. Many popular pop/rock bands (especially those with adolescent/teenage audience, the age group where the "crush" phenomena is most prominent) like Blink or Simple Plan had songs with similar messages. And that's what got me thinking in the first place- there is a pretty big body of music which are colloquially dubbed love songs, when in reality they concern things like sudden affection, infatuation, crush whatever you may call it. I think there is really a chasm of difference between love and infatuation- the former is often associated with heavy words like responsibility or commitment.
If the above semi-rant made me sound like I'm overzealous about genrefying music, I apologize. But my point spills over to other, non-musical areas of life as well. Consider this question, for example: is a slippery slope from "crush" to "love" something healthy? Media is awash with examples of such slopes- a high-school crush almost inevitably develops into lifelong love. This may lead people to think they're in love, when in reality it's a sudden infatuation, which may evaporate as soon as the thought(s) of associated responsibility of commitment pop up. We can even think of possible pathways leading to this. Infatuation is a powerful feeling, it's easy to "reason up" means to equivocate it with love.
So here are my two questions-
1. The difference between love and infatuation- should it be emphasized? To what degree?
2. You can't really "argue" whether you're in love or not, at the end of the day (to an extent) you have to trust your heart. Provided you answered "yes" to the first question, how can an individual decide which emotional state s/he's in? With respect to the potentially significant other, I mean.
Sorry if I'm making a mountain out of a mole-hill!
"Love song" (or literature) is a pretty broad banner, and I'm sure it can be divided into a lot of sub-types- sad love songs, happy love songs, somber love songs, hopeful love songs and so on. However, I've noticed that some songs that are usually placed under this banner aren't really about "love" in any meaningful sense.
I can't say I'm a fan of One Direction or pop music in general, but their popular track "One Thing" is a case in point. Lyrics:
I've tried playing it cool
But when I'm looking at you
I can never be brave
Cause you make my heart race
Shot me out of the sky
You're my kryptonite
You keep making me weak
Yeah, frozen and can't breathe
Some things gotta give now
Cause I'm dying just to make you see
That I need you here with me now
Cause you've got that one thing
So get out, get out, get out of my head
And fall into my arms instead
I don't, I don't, don't know what it is
But I need that one thing
And you've got that one thing
Now what's being talked about here is not really love. This song is about that peculiar surge of emotion, that appears very powerful momentarily (in involvement with a potential significant other). I'm not knocking the song (or the band) at all, that feeling is significant and even beautiful. But it's not love, is it? I'd go so far to claim that more often than not, it's not even a precursor to love.
Of course, OD isn't the only band who've written songs along these lines. Many popular pop/rock bands (especially those with adolescent/teenage audience, the age group where the "crush" phenomena is most prominent) like Blink or Simple Plan had songs with similar messages. And that's what got me thinking in the first place- there is a pretty big body of music which are colloquially dubbed love songs, when in reality they concern things like sudden affection, infatuation, crush whatever you may call it. I think there is really a chasm of difference between love and infatuation- the former is often associated with heavy words like responsibility or commitment.
If the above semi-rant made me sound like I'm overzealous about genrefying music, I apologize. But my point spills over to other, non-musical areas of life as well. Consider this question, for example: is a slippery slope from "crush" to "love" something healthy? Media is awash with examples of such slopes- a high-school crush almost inevitably develops into lifelong love. This may lead people to think they're in love, when in reality it's a sudden infatuation, which may evaporate as soon as the thought(s) of associated responsibility of commitment pop up. We can even think of possible pathways leading to this. Infatuation is a powerful feeling, it's easy to "reason up" means to equivocate it with love.
So here are my two questions-
1. The difference between love and infatuation- should it be emphasized? To what degree?
2. You can't really "argue" whether you're in love or not, at the end of the day (to an extent) you have to trust your heart. Provided you answered "yes" to the first question, how can an individual decide which emotional state s/he's in? With respect to the potentially significant other, I mean.
Sorry if I'm making a mountain out of a mole-hill!