Love Can Conquer Hate Every Time, Give Out Some Love and You’ll Find Peace Sublime

Tuesday. It's been an ok day so far, I guess. I spent the morning finally cleaning up the year-and-a-half of mess that our faulty summary billing process caused on one of my accounts, and then I put together a spreadsheet of items ready to upload to the receivables website on Thursday. Other than that, there's not much going on here except hearing other people's plans for Valentine's Day. I'm just waiting for someone to tell the truth for once. When asked what a person is doing tonight, instead of a drawn-out answer involving romantic dinners and long walks in the moonlight, etc, I want someone to answer "oh, you know, the same old annual ritual: buy some chocolates, get drunk and fornicate." Now that would be some refreshing honesty around here.

I'm kidding of course, I know it is all about the romance and the lead up to that point, but really, what is so romantic about a forced holiday in which single women feel ostracized and spoken-for men are obligated to unspontaneously show their love by buying overpriced candies and floral arrangements? I know that this is a tired argument, but wouldn't a surprise reading of Robert Burns' poetry on any other day be far more romantic than a culturally mandated annual date night? If there are any attached men out there willing to test this theory by forgoing Valentine's Day this year please leave a comment below (it may be your last written words...).

However, since it is Valentine's Day, I decided to pick out some music to go along with today's theme. Whose sound signifies Valentines Day the most... Barry White? Al Green? Cannibal Corpse? I chose Marvin Gaye. I originally picked this artist for his famous tune Let's Get it On, which ties back to the line I wrote above. There is no discussion of preliminary hoops to jump through. Mr. Gaye makes his intentions clear and comes straight to the point. Sexual Healing spends no less time avoiding obfuscation. But, Marvin Gaye didn't just focus his work on the art of seduction. He actually released several records with deep social messages and calls for change. What's Going On, Mercy Mercy Me, and Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) are all excellent soul records with conscience. Gaye actually had to fight to get What's Going On released, and not from "the man," but curiously from Motown itself. Gaye would end up fighting the Motown label on several issues until the end of his life when his father tragically shot him to death.

Ok, that wasn't very romantic, but Marvin Gaye's music definitely is. I highly recommend his What's Going On album for anyone's collection. Good stuff.