Thanks to Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson for the nice mention in the Courier-Mail. And welcome Aussies!

Well kids, here we are approaching once again that Hallmark holiday that cynically makes people feel the need to express their affection through the purchase of cards, flowers and chocolates. Since Valentine’s Day can make the dateless feel bad about themselves, I present songs to make you feel better about love.

The Impossibles “Ben” (Michael Jackson)
The warning signs are always so easy to see in retrospect. Why did nobody try to help Michael Jackson when he was singing love songs to rats?

Special thanks to Dylan for letting me know about this song.

Pansy Division “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other” (Willie Nelson)
This song should have been on the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack but it wasn’t. Willie Nelson released it to cash in on the popularity of the movie. The song was written by somebody else years before the movie came out.

The Motels “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)” (Crystals)
My wife is very disturbed that I’m posting a cover of this song on Valentine’s Day two years in a row.

The Holmes Brothers “I Want You To Want Me” (Cheap Trick)
This has to be one of the most soulful covers of a pop tune ever. It’s beautiful and mines emotion that Cheap Trick never even hinted at.

Special thanks to Dan G for sending me this one.

Poi Dog Pondering “Lay My Love” (Brian Eno and John Cale)
Brian Eno has said that he hates songs that are written in the first person. So as a joke he wrote this song that starts every verse with the word “I.”

The singer describes himself as the “termite of temptation” and the “crow of desperation.” Would you really want a guy like that to lay his love around you?