Valentine's Day

Point the first- Did you know that Valentine's Day is also the day on which Frederick Douglass celebrated his birthday?

Point the second- I am not generally a huge fan of Valentine's Day, whether I am in a relationship or not. I don't like the way it puts pressure on people to make the perfect romantic gesture, I don't like the way it sets people up to be let down, and I don't like the way it makes people who are single feel bad. But I do like when my friends and family decide to make it about more than just romantic love, to make it instead about all kinds of love.

Point the third- Despite my general lack of enthusiasm for the day, I do have a Valentine's Day playlist on my mp3 player. I happen to think it's a good one, mixing songs about the different things romantic love can make you feel. So here it is, perhaps it will inspire you.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough- Diana Ross
Ain't No Mountain High Enough- Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell
Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing- Marvin Gaye
All I Want is You- U2
As Long as You're Mine- Idina Menzel and Norbert Leo Butz (from Wicked)
Beyond the Sea- Bobby Darin
A Bushel and a Peck- (Tina Marie DeLeone- from Guys and Dolls, Revival Cast)
Can't Help Falling in Love With You- Elvis Presley
Come What May- Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor (from Moulin Rouge)
Cupid- Sam Cooke
El Tango de Roxanne- Ewan McGregor, Jose Feliciano and Jacek Koman (from Moulin Rouge)
Fell in Love- Moxy Fruvous
Fever- Peggy Lee
Fly- Moxy Fruvous
For Once in My Life- Stevie Wonder
Ghost- Indigo Girls
God Only Knows - Manhattan Transfer (because I don't have the Beach Boys original)
Guess Things Happen that Way- Johnny Cash
Hallelujah I Love Her So- Ray Charles
I Believe in You- Frank Sinatra
I Get a Kick Out of You- Frank Sinatra
I Wanna Be Around- Frank Sinatra
I Will Survive- Donna Summer
I Wish You Love- Frank Sinatra
I'd Give It All For You- Andrea Burns and Brooks Ashmanskas (from Songs for a New World)
If I Had $1,000,000- Barenaked Ladies
If I Were a Bell- Josie DeGuzman (Guys and Dolls Revival Cast)
I'm Gonna Make You Love Me- The Temptations and Diana Ross and the Supremes
I'm Not That Girl- Idina Menzel (from Wicked)
Irresistible You- Bobby Darin
It Doesn't Matter- Alison Krauss and Union Station
It's De-Lovely- Robbie Williams
I Quit- Hepburn
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For- U2
Jackson- Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash
Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)- The Temptations
Let It Be Me- Everly Brothers
Let's Get It On- Marvin Gaye
Love Rescue Me- U2
More (Theme from Mondo Cane)- Frank Sinatra
My Cherie Amour- Stevie Wonder
No No Raja- Moxy Fruvous
Nobody Makes a Pass at Me- from Pins and Needles
Overjoyed- Stevie Wonder
Peel Me a Grape- Diana Krall
Power of Two- Indigo Girls
Rest in Peace- James Marsters (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More With Feeling)
She Cries- Brooks Ashmanskas (from Songs for a New World)
Someday my Prince Will Come- from Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
Stay- Sweet Honey in the Rock
There's a Fine, Fine Line- Stephanie D'Abruzzo (from Avenue Q)
To Make You Feel My Love- Billy Joel
Under Your Spell- Amber Benson (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More With Feeling)
Wild Horses- The Sundays
You Don't Know Me- Ray Charles
You're the Top- Patty LuPone and Howard McGillin (from Anything Goes, Revival Cast)