Staff Pix 2/16: Post V-Day Special
L is for the way you LOOK…right, sorry. Happy belated Valentine’s Day! The Milk Crate staff wrote all about their favorite songs about love, presented with blurbs worthy of a promotional sticker on a jewel case. Tune in to Staff Pix on Fridays 5-6PM EST!
Bennett Himmel
“Official” by Charli XCX
Charli XCX is an artist best known for her poppers-scented, sugary, fizzy hyperpop tracks. She mostly makes songs to bump while you put on your neon pink lip gloss and do shots of bottom-shelf blue raspberry flavored vodka with your friends, songs to hype yourself up to. Hot girl music. “Official” showcases an emotional, tender side of Charli that we hadn’t seen much of before its release, and we haven’t really seen after. It’s a sweet song- a laundry list of the things that make your lover worth loving, the things that make your relationship “official.” It’s about the little things: the faces you make when you're upset, the ways that we hide, or even, “the things that we break when we’re switching positions.” It’s a love song that’s perfect to play with your significant other or to yearn to alone in your bed. Happy February.
Izzie Claudio
“As” By stevie Wonder
This isn’t just a love song, it’s a song of unbreakable devotion. The lyrics ooze with promise and Stevie Wonder doesn’t shy away from the word that holds so much weight when it comes to love: “Always.” This is a song for the lovers who would do anything for their partners, who aren’t afraid to announce to the world how deep their love runs. Wonder is royalty in the soul music world and his voice lets loose with raw emotion as the song progresses. These lyrics are poetry, the chorus adds beautiful depth, and at its foundation this is a song of praise. “Did you know true love asks for nothing? / Her acceptance is the way we pay / Did you know that life has given love a guarantee / To last through forever and another day?” Wonder beautifully showcases that love always wins, despite all odds.
Izzy Desmarais
“I go to the barn because i like the” by Band of horses
For the past two Valentine’s Day themed Staff Pix episodes, I’ve written about a track from my “...first dance songs” playlist. This year, of course, will be no different. The playlist contains seven songs (so far), and each one is a real contender for the first dance at my wedding. In 2022, I gushed over the airplane scene from The Wedding Singer and Adam Sandler’s acoustic ballad, “I Wanna Grow Old With You.” In 2023, I finally admitted my love for awful CW teen dramas and reveled in the hopeless, starry-eyed romanticism of “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None The Richer. Now it’s 2024, and I’m picking something a little less obvious, but still swoon-worthy. “I Go to the Barn Because I Like The” by Band of Horses is a perfect love song. Somewhere between alt-rock and country, led by a gangly and heavily tattooed stoner with endearing Southern charm, Band of Horses is not a group that seems particularly romantic. However, if you dive into their discography, you’ll find a collection of love songs that exude wistful and genuine devotion. “I Go to the Barn Because I Like The” is my favorite because of the feeling it leaves behind my ears, in the back of my jaw. My heart is heavy after each listen, but in the best way possible. The opening lines, “Well I’d like to think I’m the mess / You’d wear with pride,” are so poignantly vulnerable; they articulate, at least for me, what unconditional love is. It’s self aware, with frontman Ben Bridwell acknowledging both his and his lover’s faults, but it’s done with the admiration of someone who is in it for the long haul. The hook glitters in my mind, conjuring up a classic movie scene image of an old lover waiting outside, his tie loosened, throwing pebbles at your window and smiling up at you. It’s a solid pick, and I hope my future husband thinks so, too.
Sofia Giarrusso
“souk eye” by gorillaz
Nothing is more raw and genuine than a love song by a fake cartoon band, right? Seriously though…“If loving you’s a felony now / then I’m a renegade”...c’mon. 2D (Damon Albarn) lays his entire heart out for whatever this something or someone might be; the ambiguity of it all makes the tune a practically perfect score for a multitude of situations. Check this–lost in love? Homesick? Fiending for some Ben and Jerry’s? Gorillaz’s got you. Try it for yourself. By the last minute, you’ll find yourself dancing while simultaneously reevaluating your entire identity.
Delaney Roberts
“Chocolate Hills” by leon bridges and khruangbin
This soothing little tune is called “Chocolate Hills” and it brings me so much joy. This sweet song is the third track on a five-track EP by Khruangbin that features Leon Bridges as the lead vocalist on every song. His voice is so soft and peaceful and when I listen to this song I feel as if I’m floating. This song makes me fantasize about a warm, sensational partner I don’t have. The lack of a partner doesn’t deter me from proudly singing and dancing along by myself. This song feels like love; what it feels to be loved, what it feels like to be in love, what it feels like to give love. The way Bridges repeatedly whispers, “Please stay forever,” makes me feel like I’m in a trance and I never want to escape.
Lily Suckow Ziemer
“Lonely valentine” by jomm and readyaimfire27
Is Spotify trying to tell me something by recommending a song titled “Lonely Valentine” in February? Probably, but I don’t mind considering it led me to discover musicians jomm and readyaimfire27. “Lonely Valentine” isn’t the downer you’d expect. It’s a perfect combination of thoughtful lyrics and a light beat. The problem jomm sings of in this song is a relatable one: “They don’t seem to write songs / For the lonely, the lonesome.” “Lonely Valentine” functions as the perfect foil to other songs that can make people think they are the only ones single on Valentine’s Day. There is a readiness for love in the lyrics; “I’m waiting for / Someone to say, that they’ll love me all the way.” But ultimately, that isn’t in the cards for the speakers’ Valentine’s Day. It’s okay to feel like you’re missing out on something during Valentine’s Day, and “Lonely Valentine” gives voice to that in the form of a catchy song that will make you feel heard, not depressed.
Caitlin Molloy
“After midnight” by chappell roan
This was the first song that came to my head when thinking about this Valentines day. This is an honest and fun hype up song that even if you did not have a partner for this Valentine’s Day, you can still feel some of the flirty love from Chappell Roan. “After Midnight” is a playful jam to sing and dance along to with whoever feels right. Highlighting fun and fleeting love on Valentine's Day is an underappreciated art, but one that “After Midnight” does perfectly. This song has been on repeat in my head for the past two weeks, so the timing could not have been more in sync. Big shout out to my singles this Valentines! I kinda wanna kiss YOU, if you don’t mind.
Hollie Raposo
“Kiss me” by Sixpence none the richer
I can’t remember this song not being in a romcom and it has become an iconic part of the movie that everyone knows. This is literally the epitome of the perfect love story of wanting to be kissed “beneath the milky twilight”. These scenarios that we have all built in our head as the love story we want. Something that we all wish for, and have the possibility and chance of happening. “Kiss Me” has become a prominent part of my life and listening to this song on loop and kicking my feet back and forth waiting for that moment. Your heart pumping and your mind going a mile a minute type of love. A thing that many can relate to with the overwhelming feeling of being in a relationship or thinking about the crush you always wanted to ask out. “Kiss Me” is connected to everyone at some point and has made its way into my heart to this very day.
Kim O’Donnell
“Lucky” by Jason mraz and colbie caillat
I have the definition of luck tattooed on my arm: “the intersection of hard work and opportunity.” It was one of my dad’s favorite quotes, and it stuck with me so much that (naturally) I had it permanently put on my body. I used to think it was just a message about your career/ambition, but the song “Lucky” reminds me that sometimes the “hard work” is just life and the “opportunity” is just a chance meeting. Mraz and Caillat are separated by oceans and seas, but their love transcends all these obstacles. And when they finally do reunite, they are completely engulfed in each other: “you're all I see / As the world keeps spinning 'round / You hold me right here, right now.” I don’t know if their paradise dream sequence lasts forever, but I hope that it does (call me idealistic or whatever). It’s a rare gift to be “in love in every way” with your best friend, and to truly be able to tell them, “You make it easier when life gets hard.” Plus, Mraz and Caillat performed “Lucky” on SNL and won the 2009 Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals, so that’s pretty cool too.
Gabriella Collin
“kiss city” by Blondshell
On Thanksgiving Eve, 2023, my partner and I were hustling over to The Roadrunner in Allston to see Liz Phair in concert. I bought the tickets five months prior, and called it a “long-term” gift, since we had only been together three months at that point. Standing in a winding line of older millennials and a smattering of people in their 50’s, I continued to hum “Kiss City”. During her Exile in Guyville thirtieth anniversary tour, Liz Phair was accompanied by an artist named Blondshell, who was our opener for the night. Blondshell, by some miracle, had appeared on my Instagram explore page the day before, and I was instantly hooked. “Kiss City” is an intimate yet explosive declaration of love. Like “Heaven or Las Vegas”, but with lyrics you can understand, “Kiss City” is a sincerely beautiful song. Blondshell effortlessly belts out “Momma, I'm adjacent to a lot of love”, and my heart stirs at the idea of someone being so enamored with someone who’s best quality is that they won’t leave. “Palm in palm, it turns me on / When you tell me you're not going away.” This song is such a sweet outpouring of love onto someone who is getting away with the bare minimum. The hook of this song is the idea that Blondshell’s kink is being told that she’s pretty, which is such a simple, basic expression of love. I sometimes worry that I’m running out of words to articulate the love I have for the people in my life. With “Kiss City”, simplicity is enough. In fact, it’s all you’ll want.
Stephanie Weber
“Cherry blossom” by Raury
“ I was going crazy, over you / Hold my cup out, like a fool” is the first line for “Cherry Blossom,” one of my favorite love songs of all time. I am a fool for love, tripping over my loose shoelaces just to get some of it. That feeling of butterflies returns after years of thinking it went away forever. Raury, with his melodramatic lines and soft voice, sings about someone he once loved but their relationship changed from romantic to platonic but the love still exists. He sings, “You can call me / If this world gets too wild.” I’ve never experienced a breakup where there were mutual feelings, but I can imagine the type of hurt and tenderness that comes with that experience. He sings, “I got love to give you / Even while, I'm just keeping to myself.” This song is so lovely, holding love close to the heart. Even when relationships fall apart, sometimes you can really stay friends, sharing mutual care and love for one another. Despite this song being partly a bummer, I think it’s really sweet, heartbreakingly so.
Avary Amaral
“Easier said than done” by Thee Sacred Souls
“She said, ‘Just show me this love is real’ / I said, ‘That's easier said than done’ / I said, ‘Just trust the way you feel’ / She said, ‘That's easier said than done’". “Easier Said Than Done” is such a raw and vulnerable song and that’s why it’s one of my favorites by Thee Sacred Souls. I think now more than ever due to the internet, social media, and the option to be in constant contact with people, being completely open and honest about how we’re feeling about others is something that is put under a lot of pressure. No one wants to be the only person who has completely fallen for another without knowing they’re also invested just as much. This song describes that interaction perfectly, two people who require a certain level of dedication and validation on their feelings for each other, both scared to do so and both voicing how hard it is to give yourself to another in an unconditional and exposed way.