pop songs

Love and Pop Songs

Posted on by Wendy Kennar

My husband and I have shared a lot in our almost twenty-six years of marriage. 

Music has always been a part of our life together — whether in the car, or in the kitchen, or in the form of a family “Thriller” dance in our living room. We’ve seen Sade at the Hollywood Bowl and Prince at the arena formerly known as the Staples Center.

But we’ve never had just one song that was ours. 

Though, there is one song that served as writing inspiration.

Back in 2016, my personal essay, “A Blue Jeans Type of Marriage,” was published in the anthology, Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned From Pop Songs.

The title of my essay was inspired by Neil Diamond’s “Forever in Blue Jeans.”

My husband and I have never been super fancy people; mainly because for years, we couldn’t afford to be super fancy. Like we tell our son, the “what” you eat or the “where” you eat should never matter as much as the “who” you are eating with.

And with Valentine’s Day just a few days away, it felt like the perfect time to highlight this charming little book. (It’s a short book, just under 60 pages.)

Wishing you all a sweet Valentine’s Day! 

Please note: I am including a link to buy the book that I’m highlighting this week. If you use my link, I do make a small commission on your purchase at no additional cost to you. I am working with Bookshop.org which also sends a portion of the profit to support local, independent bookstores.

Life, Love, and Pop Songs

Posted on by Wendy Kennar

During some of my high school and college years, I worked in a flower shop.  Those years gave me a whole new way of looking at Valentine’s Day, or in shop lingo, “V. Day.”

V. Day meant at least twelve-hour shifts at minimum wage (at that time, $4.25/hour), tired feet, swollen fingers that were cut by thorns.  Valentine’s Day meant standing at the counter creating one arrangement after the other of one dozen long-stem red roses in a vase. 

Later on, after I left the flower shop, Valentine’s Day again became a day I could look forward to.  (Though from the beginning of our relationship, I asked my husband never to buy me red roses for Valentine’s Day).

Valentine’s Day is the day of love.  But, where do we learn about love?  From our parents?  The movies?  Books?  Our friends?  Probably a mix of all of those.

But also from music.  My husband and I don’t have one song that we consider “ours.”  We have multiple songs that each have a special meaning for us. 

A few years ago, one of my personal essays, “A Blue-Jeans Type of Marriage,” was included in a special anthology.  (The title for my essay was inspired by Neil Diamond’s “Forever in Blue Jeans.”)  Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned From Pop Songs, edited by Laura Roberts, includes a variety of stories that, as said in the book’s introduction, are “all about love.  Love hard won, love lost, love unrequited, love that lasts, and love that’s just a fading dream.”

And now readers, it’s your turn.  Feel free to share any favorite love songs in the comments section.  

Wishing you all a Valentine’s Day filled with sweetness, feel-good tunes, and smiles!