Submitted by Don Graham
Valentine’s Day, the day we celebrate love, is around the corner. It’s time to talk about love songs. “ I heard it in a love song, can’t be wrong.” Thus spoke the Marshall Tucker Band. Jim Croce said “Everytime I try to tell you the words just come out wrong. So I’ll have to say I love you in a song.” And Paul McCartney said “You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs I look around me and I see it isn't so. Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs, what's wrong with that I'd like to know.” Well Sir Paul, nothing! Nothing is wrong with that.
Love songs have been around forever and are in every society in some form or other. Heck, even birds sing each other love songs. Love songs go back to the early troubadours singing airs to their romantic interests. Scottish poet and songwriter Robbie Burns sang of his love being like a red, red rose. The cowboys sang of love in The Red River Valley or Cowboy Love Song. Legend has it that sitting around the fire at night as they strummed guitars and sang after a hard day on the range, the cowboys would sing what they knew of the song and make up new verses that would be passed on at the next roundup. As the song moved from year to year and camp to camp more verses were added. I once heard it said there were over a hundred verses to the song.