[I know it might not be very 2024 of me to say, but love is in the air, and not just because it’s Valentine’s week. If you’re feeling it too, or maybe if you need a little help getting into the V-Day spirit, this week I’ll quickly highlight the AmericanStudies stories behind a handful of our great past love songs, leading to a special post on current ones that have hit my heart. Add your Valentine’s tunes in comments, please!]
Every
corner of American popular music has produced a shit-ton of love songs—maybe if
you’re lucky (or cursed?) I’ll devote a future weeklong series to boy bands,
for example; don’t even front, you know you want it that way—but I’m not sure
any community did so more consistently and more successfully than Motown.
The artists and groups signed by Barry Gordy’s Motown Records released a laundry
list of phenomenal love songs, and any and all of them could work for today’s post
(I’ve definitely got more Marvin Gaye
Studying to do, to name just one example). But I don’t think any artists better
embody Motown than did The
Supremes, especially during their decade with the legendary Diana Ross before she left the group in
1970 to pursue her solo career; and among their many hit love songs (and hits
period) I would single out for this Valentine’s Day the beautiful and wise “You Can’t Hurry Love”
(1966). What I especially love about “You Can’t Hurry Love” is that it reminds
us that love songs aren’t simply or at least not necessarily about romantic
love, but also about the other forms and expressions of love in our lives—such as
the speaker’s mother in this song, and they her advice represents a loving
legacy she has left with the speaker as she navigates her own life and quest
for companionship. May we remember all those we love and who love us on this
V-Day!
Next love
song tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What
do you think? Other love songs you’d AmericanStudy?
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