Staff Pix 2/14: We Heart Milk Crate!

Ahhhhh, February 14th. Just another regular, smeg-ular day living in society. Since there isn’t much special going on, why not celebrate us! Milk Crate! We heart Milk Crate, and we hope you do too—here’s some love songs to prove it! Tune in Friday 5-6pm to hear these pix LIVE! <3

“Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Joy Division

What better song to celebrate love than with one that whole-heartedly comes to terms with the downside of it? Ian Curtis’s melancholic and hauntingly reflective vocals spearhead the track’s exploration of isolation, failing relationships, yearning, and the undeniable truth that love is simultaneously the one thing we all want, and yet the thing that destroys us. More than a defining song of the post-punk movement, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” continues to perfectly capture what it is to love and lose with its vulnerable lyrics:

“There's a taste in my mouth as desperation takes hold/

Just that something so good, just can't function no more.

Then love, love will tear us apart again/

Love, love will tear us apart again.” —Heather Thorn

“I Believe In You” by Kylie Minogue

“I don’t believe you know me, although you know my name,” Kylie Minogue coos on her 2006 single released to promote her greatest hits collection. What should be a throwaway pop song turns out to be one of Kylie’s most rapturous odes to love in its purest form. Over sparkly French synth arpeggios, Kylie sings of the relief of giving oneself over, of having trust in your partner. She lists everything she doesn’t believe in: that magic is only in the mind, that when you die your presence isn’t felt. “But IIIIIIIIIIIIIII believe in you,” she admits on the chorus, stretching “I” until it’s barely a word. One of Kylie’s best. —Bennett Himmel

“Miss You” by Alabama Shakes

Raw, to the bone. I love you, I miss you, “I cannot chase you.” Brittany Howard’s wails of despair are rich and earnest, opening the track with hyperspecific details that direct us to a delicate person, place, and time. The intensity of Howard’s performance builds in tandem with an ripping electric tinge, muffled just enough so as not to interrupt her incredible passion. The pain becomes circular, traversing the audioscape. Yearning on, we must eventually reach a harrowing conclusion, leaving with a simple, wonderfully concise: "I'm yours / Yessir.” —Sofia Giarrusso

“His ‘N’ Hers” by Pulp

Everybody wants to talk about yearning. There are a million songs about wanting to be wanted, but never the achievement of a relationship. Love is an emotion that to a lot of people is serious. And while it is scary, that's all a part of the experience. The grand ending of this song is set between rounds, two people laying in bed asking each other about their fears: “I'm frightened of evenings in the Brincliffe Oaks Searching for the...Conversations / ‘Oh, you're stupid,’ she said / And she took my hand…I want you to touch me.” My favorite piece of advice is ‘I think we are thinking too much about ourselves’ and I often have to remind myself that sentence when I feel that inevitable nervousness that comes with liking someone. But that's the best part, the thrill. —Salem Ross

“Forever” by The Beach Boys

Known for their various love songs spanning both confessions and celebrations, The Beach Boys’ “Forever” is objectively their best. It’s an honest melody that views love not as some sacrifice but as a means of fulfillment. To love someone is an act of completion, it’s what fills in the gaps of uncertainty and doubt, and Dennis Wilson perfectly encapsulates that feeling here. I mean, what a beautiful sentiment to hope to fill someone’s entire life with love, even if that love is never returned to you. They speak about love through the not-so-little things (a word, a laugh, a song) rather than some fixed transactional interaction. The closing line, “I’m gonna love you in your way / Forever,” is a perfect encapsulation of The Beach Boys’ sentiment in this incredibly touching song. —Sophie Parrish

“You are Every Girl To Me” by MJ Lenderman

MJ Lenderman songs are littered with witty quips and grisly riffs. Moments of clarity and love appear through stories of beer cans and wristwatches as flashes in the pan. “You Are Every Girl To Me” opens with a few clicks, a thumping bass drum and in three quick vignettes where Lenderman barely glances to love. He shows drained out swimming pools, birds pecking at seed, and dinnertime conversations. “Jackass if funny / like the earth is round,” he asserts as the band pummels downward in big waterfalls. In a final line he tells us one more truth, describing a gift for a lover: “Gave it to you and screamed / ‘You are every girl to me.’” The band crashes back one final time and practically radiates heat. —Nathan Hilyard

“Lady Fantasy” by Camel

“...a lady I’ve seen but never could hold” is one of the few and piercing lines of the 12-minute progressive-rock epic. “The lady,” only seen in this man's dreams, is described through an odyssey of guitar and keyboard solos rather than verses. When words are used, they go beyond material description. The man’s vision of “The Lady” transcends reality as she is caught “riding on a moon cloud” and “sitting on a sunbeam.” The man’s final words ring out in the middle of the track before being taken home in a raging instrumental outro. “Oh, My Lady Fantasy / I love you.” —Sam Shipman

“First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes​​

Songs that I will listen to on my wedding day: “Trouble” by Connie Converse when I wake up, “Sea of Love” by Cat Power when I’m getting ready, “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star to calm me down, “Turn Me On” by Nina Simone to hype me up, “Ruined” by Adrianne Lenker, and “Truth” by Asha Puthli for before I go out to face whatever it is my wedding will look like (and to remember who I’m doing this all for), “Don’t Disturb This Groove” by Meshell Ndegeocello playing in my head when she walks down the aisle (“Excuse me for a moment / I’m at a loss for words”), and finally, “First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes. “Your’s is the first face that I saw / I think I was blind before I met you.” And my future wife can add her songs too, of course. Maybe we’ll have songs in common. Maybe we won’t. Regardless, Crate nation, you’re all invited. —Monika Krueger

“My Sex” by Elastica

Sexy, sad, romantic, and sweetly reflective all in one, Justine Frichmann pours her heart out. “My Sex” contemplates her breakup with Damon Albarn (of Blur & Gorillaz), yet she chooses to highlight the happier moments over anything else; it makes it all the more sad. “What I want” is repeated throughout, followed by direct references to their relationship (“What I want / A lover who loves me when others have loved me not”), but also to the way the world is viewed around you when you are in love (“What I want / To be in the park in the morning / The long shadows on the grass and the swans still asleep”). She really brings you into their world, through the wavering keys, and the pick up of the drums. Damon Albarn supposedly broke down in tears when he heard it…makes sense. —Adelaide Russell

“E-mail more” by Tommy february6

Tommy february6 is the queen of love songs. From “Bloomin’!” to “ChOOSe mE or Die,” her pop sound and unique lyrics are the perfect soundtrack to Valentine’s Day. “E-mail more” is the epitome of her distinct style. The synths throughout the track are emphasised by the thirty second introduction that sets the tone for what is to follow. Tommy begins the song with the lyrics, “The shining cotton candy love comes / Suddenly, it's sugary sensation / Like a bubble gum popped… / What a passion.” You don’t often hear love described as “shining cotton candy,” but it is the perfect metaphor. She goes on to describe waiting on her love’s emails, hoping to be asked on a date. Slowly she realizes they will not e-mail her more, and she has found herself in an unrequited love: “I'm waiting your e-mail always / The shining cotton candy love comes / It's like a bubble gum popped.” Despite the sad ending, “E-mail more” is an upbeat and fitting song for Valentine's Day. —Lily Suckow Ziemer

“As” by Stevie Wonder

Forever my favorite love song and one that makes my heart soar. Seven minutes of passionate devotion from Stevie Wonder’s masterpiece of an album, Songs In The Key of Life. Supported by a glorious choir of voices, Wonder presents a soundscape that full-heartedly brings the beauty of love to life. The soul of the keyboard, the easy-going beat of the drums, the rich and steady hums of the choir; this is love. Wonder opens with a poetic verse: “As around the sun the earth knows she's revolving / And the rosebuds know to bloom in early May / Just as hate knows love's the cure / You can rest your mind assure / That I'll be loving you always.” Everyone deserves to be thought of in this way, to constantly receive strong and passionate love. As the tune continues to build, Wonder’s passion does as well. He lets go and riffs until there’s no tomorrow, repeating the key word–“always.” There is strength in this word, and Wonder lets his soul fly free with every repetition. “As” is about the love that is never-ending and pushes through the test of time, and this is the kind of love that heals the world. We always need that Stevie Wonder type of love in our lives. —Izzie Claudio