Yeah, baby. Hey, everyone. Anthony Fantano here, Internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for another episode of Let's Argue. Yeah, we're going to be arguing, baby. Yeah. Okay, look, I know I'm in a bit of a weird position for this video. That's because I needed to slowly, gently introduce you to a concept for this video. And no, I don't mean the theme of the video, which is love songs. Yes, what you think the best, and I guess also the worst love songs are and why? Because Valentine's Day and all that. Wink.

No, I have to very gradually introduce you guys to a visual concept for this video, which I didn't want to hit you with frame one. All right, I'm going to stand up. Just make sure your mind is open, okay? That mind better be open, baby. Make sure that mind is wide open. All right, I'm getting up. Okay?

Yeah. Oh, yeah. We're wearing the Xiu Xiu Meshy. That's right. The Xiu Xiu Meshy is on the torso. That's right. That's right. A clip of this is going to end up on the wrong part of Twitter, and I'm looking forward to seeing the results of that.

All right, let's get into this shit.

"The live version of 'This Must Be the Place' from Talking Heads. I love Burns's idiosyncratic lyrics and the way he yelps lines like, 'I can't tell one from the other. Did I find you? Or, You find me?' It's definitely more singular and personal than most diamond dozen romantic ballads, and the live performance especially pushes it over the edge."

Seems many of you in the comments agree. I would echo that, too. It's also just such a nice, light, playful, sweet little groove, the way those super tiny little airy synth cords bounce on the beat, too. It's like a really lovely groovy song, even if you're not fully tuned into the romantic nature of it. And just a beautiful, instantly recognizable track, too, that, honestly, I'm always in the mood for whenever it comes on.

Speaking of "in the mood."

"'Lover You Should Have Come Over'" by Jeff Buckley is definitely the best one. That song has so many peaks emotionally. The lyrics are super well written, and the climax at the end where Jeff lets out one of his best vocal parts is so satisfying and a perfect way to end an already perfect song."

Yeah, even as somebody who's not a huge Jeff Buckley fan, but still simultaneously could recognize his immense influence on modern rock music and also recognize his incredible vocal talent. Even when he's not writing a love song, his vocals tend to be so expressive, and youthful, and bright, and full of life that people constantly just are already reading everything he does as instantaneously beautiful and maybe even romance-coated, anyway. So, when he is leaning in that direction, you really do truly feel it. I don't know if it's anywhere near my favorite, but talking about rock music that feels like it's getting you in the mood or going in that way. Yeah, Jeff Buckley is a given.

"'Kiss from a Rose' by Seal, made even better by the fact that it's an original song for a Batman movie."

Yeah, when I'm with my lover, I like to put this song on and lean over close into their ear and say, 'This was in the Batman movie, you know?'And that really gets them going. I've had dates where the other person has been like, 'I don't know about this.' But then I put on this track, and I give that Batman fun fact, and they just go absolutely crazy, like ripping my Xiu Xiu Meshy off. I'm kidding. This is glued onto my body. The Meshy stays on.

I don't know. That is a beautiful song. I would like to think it is made better, though, by its very unique piano passages, and, also, Seal's incomparable great vocals. "Don't you know that when it snows / My eyes become large..."

Seal, truly an underrated talent. A shout out to Emily Harpist, who is my number one enemy on the internet, and I one day do have to team up with Seal to destroy her, unfortunately.

"'Pagan Poetry' by by Björk because the repeated 'I love him's near the end, tear my eyes up every time."

It's really intense. It's actually underrated in terms of how intense it is, frankly. You really feel it. It's a mantra. It's an ear worm. It's a moment that's digging itself into your brain and driving you crazy, which in a lot of ways is how love feels. I would actually say this is probably in my top 10 of love songs, for sure, because it feels magical production-wise, which to me, that's always ringing true of love as a feeling. You have the intensity, you have the desperation of the vocal performance, which is also just incredible.

"For me, 'God Only Knows' has to be the best love song of all time. I think if you're the most casual music listener or complete music nerd, this one hits different."

No, it does. Brian Wilson was really smashing it on that one in terms of really putting very simply, very directly the feeling that you have when you've been with someone for a certain amount of time, either romantically or platonically, in such a way where they've had just a really huge impact on your trajectory.

It leaves you fearful or questioning, like, 'What exactly would my life be if this person had not entered it at any point?' Which I feel like romantically speaking, again, at least in a long-term sense, this is not the shit you want to pull on somebody when you're first meeting them. But, at least in a long term sense, I feel like it's one of the greatest compliments you could pay to a significant other. 'Your impact on my life has been so massive, has been so great, I am fearful of or can barely even imagine what my life would be if you were actually not there.'

Some based shit.

"Sade's "Kiss of Life". My God, so warm and soothing. If anyone doesn't love it, they're a monster who doesn't believe in love."

Okay, maybe a little hyperbolic there, but I will say there is something infinitely sensual, and warm ,and sweet, and wonderful about nearly all of Sade's music. So having the opinion that she's panned one of the best love songs ever, it is not even a surprise.

"'In My Life' - Beatles. The sentiment of respecting and fondly remembering old love while embracing new love is really special and touching."

Yeah, not a personal favorite of mine, but not really a balance that many songwriters are able to effectively hit when writing a love song of any sort. Often when writing a love song, we are obsessed and blinded by the one love that we're feeling right now and sometimes lose sight of the experiences of love that have brought us to this point. Which, while maybe they didn't work out, are no less important in terms of informing your experience or teaching you about what love is or could be. At least philosophically, the Beatles were, in fact, cooking there.

"I will stand on this opinion. 'I Will Follow You Into The Dark' by Death Cab for Cutie is and will be my favorite love song because of the way it captures the essence of a long-lived romance. The tender, acoustic strings, and Ben's isolated vocals give this song such a bitter sweet feeling. Melancholic, yet beautiful."

I mean, that's the vibe for most of Death Cab's catalog. And I mean, really their main selling point, their greatest talent is giving you that bitter sweet, emo-tinged indie rock. However, I will say when it does come to loved themed tracks from the GOAT — Ben Gilbert, himself — I'm a bit more favorable toward the various highlights on The Postal Services's Give Up, even if there is a bit of darkness to some of those moments. Ben is provably a great lyricist, regardless of which act he's attached to.

"'Take Me Back' by Yuno Miles and Anthony Fantano, one of the best."

Yeah, it's definitely one of the songs of all time. I mean, there's so much wonderful intent there behind that Anthony Fantano's lyrics on that track, which is why he did a whole video explaining the lyrics. That's the whole deal. "Talk through what I do / I'm a podcaster / You'll be telling all your girls 'bout my stamin-ner / Did I sta-mm-mer?"

"'Love Song' by The Cure is the peak driving at night with your significant other song."

Are you sure about that? I don't know, man. Are you sure about that? I mean, as far as I know, historically as a music expert myself, it is a one Aubrey "Drake" Graham, who has produced the best Drake and Drive anthems of all time. That's truly peak music in the car with your lover music.

I mean, the boomer generation probably would have been three-to-four times larger if Drake had come decades before during their coming-of-age years. Because, while all of them were necking in their cars at Makeout Creek, if only Drake were playing in the car then and only then would they have all had triplets, quadruplets, so on and so forth.

Instead, what they did was they just produced the millennial generation, and look how we turned out. Because of that, I'm sadly not able to endorse your Cure recommendation here. I apologize.

"'Never Too Much' by Luther Vandross is one I return to often and think it should be in the running for best love song. For one thing, it's funky as hell, which is always a good starting point, and I love all the hyperbolic situations Vandross uses to illustrate how there's no chance he will ever stop loving his lover."

Luther on that track, funky for sure. I think one of the best little guitar licks that you could hear on a love song ever. And for an old song, it's refreshing to go back to, considering how Luther describes the fear in his heart of coming out with his love, describing it, communicating it to the person he had feelings for. I feel like that's the rawness and also vulnerability you don't hear a lot of guys engage in these days. Maybe because younger music fans would be worried, 'It's cringe, it's performative, it's whatever.' Very cool of Luther Vandross to drop that banger.

Also, speaking on things that ride a funkier line, I would also throw in Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do For Love". "I guess you wonder where I've been." Banger. Absolute banger. I'd also say Sophie's "It's Okay to Cry", as it's a song about loving yourself, which is the best love. I mean, after all, they do say you can't love someone else if you don't love yourself. And for this Valentine's Day, we probably should remember self-love, as well.

"The worst love song is definitely 'Hey Soul Sister' by Train."

I hate that song. Yeah, "Hey Soul Sister" by Train is a really annoying track, generally. I feel like that song could be a really good eject button when it comes to trying to get out of having someone with good music taste be interested in you. You're like, 'Hey, I made you this playlist,' and it's just like, "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train 12 times.

"'Close to You' by the Carpenters. It's a perfect song, honestly. So sweet without being cloying. Extremely tender... And I love how close to the mic Karen is really singing. It adds to it. And I love just how it's not a love song about a relationship, but it's also about how much the person makes the world around them better. So lovely, honestly! (RIP Karen.)"

My favorite types of love songs are the ones that I think are a little bit more lyrical and read almost like a love letter. What you ideally, had you the perfect words, had you the right words, would write another person in a love letter. And I feel like that song perfectly personifies that vibe. It just feels not just like a song, it's a message.

"'Blueish' by Animal Collective."

There actually are some very lovely moments on Merriweather Post Pavilion, given the points in their lives, respectively, the boys in AnCo were when they made that album. So that's actually a very lovely song. I love the watery, trippy, very idyllic effects and textures and sounds surrounding that ballad as well.

"A song about being infatuated with all the little details of a person and how everything they do just sticks out in a special way."

Yeah, and just a totally killer melody, as well. It just perfectly speaks to this amazing quality of Animal Collectives's best music, some of their best music. Where you just hear all of these strange, squishy sounds that are so beautiful and so musical, but they are also simultaneously difficult to recognize as anything familiar. So much of what they were making during this era in their career was so sweet and poppy, but simultaneously difficult to decipher, but Marriweather was really that record where I think they hit a perfect balance between this is legible, but simultaneously feels like it's coming out of this weird alternate dimension. But also in that alternate dimension, there's love doing the winking thing again.

"'The Louvre' by Lorde. The lyrics are a beautiful and clever reflection of what a the young, obsessive summer love feels like. From the tenderness and passion of just existing next to a person, to the urge and violence that comes with wanting that person so much. The music has a way of transmitting a particular summer-y, dream-like scenario that I just love. And the production and structure choices are genius, too. And the way that the course enters the outro that feels like a fading sunset."

I do love that song, but, even though this track is a lot darker, I think it also signifies a lot of love off of that record, and it's liability. Your pick is probably better. I love how that track communicates an immense amount of love. So much love that you fear how the way your life is is going to impact this other person, and you care about them to such a degree you're concerned about that.

"I love Jeff Rosenstock's 'HEALMODE', really captures the pandemic era (and post-pandemic) feeling of dread being overtaken by love for the person you spend most of your time with. It's really hopeful at a time when hope is a challenge."

You know, true, especially since the pandemic, it was not a lovely time. It was not a lovely love-soaked time. There were a lot of people who could not love each other, who wanted to. There were a lot of people who were supposed to be in love with each other, but very much were not. But you know what? That's just the magic of disease. That got weird. Okay, let's move on.

"'The Moon' by the Microphones. Genuinely one of the most beautiful songs ever made. Fantastic instrumentation, the horns always get me. And the lyricism on the song is so interesting, too, with Phil trying to forget a failed relationship by going to places they went this time alone and failing to do so. Stellar song."

Great song. I love it. But if there are some people who are first-time listeners to that track from this video, you're really going to need to be digging into a lyrics sheet to catch what's going on there. The sound of that track is very dense. It's very thick. You're going to get lost in that lo-fi sauce. Phil's lyrics were top tier at that point in his career, though.

"'Cbat' by Hudson Mohawke takes the cake for me. How an instrumental song like that is able to radiate so much love energy is an achievement."

Yeah, there's just something about the groove that gets my hips moving. I just want to move my hips exactly to the melody of that production. The production just drives my hips wild. I just start thrusting.

"'Everlong' by Foo fighters. It's such a hard, rocking song, but it also manages to be intimate and vulnerable at the same time."

Isn't Dave roll going crazy about how he's eating box on that song? I'm all for it.

"'Eye Know' by De La Soul is one of hip hop's best, most charming, and most lovable sweetest love songs of all time. It's so fun and catchy and transcendent. R. I. P. Trugoy."

De La Soul being in the position that they were in terms of their attitudes and their writing styles at the time, I feel like that gave them the unique opportunity to speak on this topic as a group that maybe other rappers didn't have the opportunity who were maybe putting up more of a front. De La Soul, they've always just famously been chill dudes who artistically, lyrically are super approachable, relatable, down to Earth. And they were even speaking on topics such as love in the afterlife on their latest record, too.

And of course, over the years, there have been tons of love-themed rap songs. I mean, goddamn, Biz Markie, "Just A Friend". I mean, obviously, it's a song of heartbreak. But, still, one of my favorites in recent years has actually been Navy Blues's "To Fall in Love".

The way he describes the progression of this long term, very personal, intimate, romantic relationship, getting to know each other and getting to know different parts of each other's families and so on and so forth. It's a pretty great song.

"'Layla' by Derek and the Dominos remains one of my favorite love songs. The production depicting intense love and switching to heartbreak in the middle of the song is one of the coolest things I've heard when I first listened to it."

Damn, "Layla", as far as love songs go, is one that I have a bit of a complicated series of feelings about. I wouldn't even just say heartbreak, but just desperation. It's a very odd song as far as love songs go, because it's not a lovey-dovey type song. Even in the way the performance is being laid out, like the guitars, the drums, the shouty vocals, it's all very chaotic but reads very true and accurate to, again, I'll just say the desperation that's coming off in the lyrics. "Tell me my love not in vain," so on and so forth. I mean, not my go-to pick when it comes to a love song for sure. But it's definitely a track that signifies a certain level of love sickness. You can most definitely say that.

All right, guys, I think I'm going to leave it there. That's it. That's really, truly, it in the Xiu Xiu Meshy.

Anthony Fantano, Best and Worst Love Songs, forever.