The love song is timeless. From its beginnings, it has been shaped by bohemians and renegades, slaves and oppressed minorities, prostitutes, immigrants and other excluded groups. But what do we really know about the origins of these intimate expressions of the heart? And how have our changing perceptions about topics such as sexuality and gender roles changed our attitudes towards these songs? In Love Songs: The Hidden History, Ted Gioia uncovers the unexplored story of the love song for the first time. Drawing on two decades of research, Gioia presents the full range of love songs, from the fertility rites of ancient cultures to the sexualized YouTube videos of the present day. The book traces the battles over each new insurgency in the music of love--whether spurred by wandering scholars of medieval days or by four lads from Liverpool in more recent times. In these pages, Gioia reveals that the tenderest music has, in different eras, driven many of the most heated cultural conflicts, and how the humble love song has played a key role in expanding the sphere of individualism and personal autonomy in societies around the world. Gioia forefronts the conflicts, controversies, and the battles over censorship and suppression spurred by such music, revealing the outsiders and marginalized groups that have played a decisive role in shaping our songs of romance and courtship, and the ways their innovations have led to reprisals and strife. And he describes the surprising paths by which the love song has triumphed over these obstacles, and emerged as the dominant form of musical expression in modern society.

An intimate account of everyday life in Somaliland, explored through an ever-evolving musical genre of love songs. At first listen, both music and talk about love are conspicuously absent from Somaliland’s public soundscapes. The lingering effects of war, the contested place of music in Islam, and gendered norms of emotional expression limit opportunities for making music and sharing personal feelings. But while Christina J. Woolner was researching peacebuilding in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeysa, she kept hearing snippets of songs. Almost all of these, she learned, were about love. In these songs, poets, musicians, and singers collaborate to give voice to personal love aspirations and often painful experiences of love-suffering. Once in circulation, the intimate and heartfelt voices of love songs provide rare and deeply therapeutic opportunities for dareen-wadaag (feeling-sharing). In a region of political instability, these songs also work to powerfully unite listeners on the basis of shared vulnerability, transcending social and political divisions and opening space for a different kind of politics. Taking us from 1950s recordings preserved on dusty cassettes to new releases on YouTube and live performances at Somaliland’s first postwar music venue—where the author herself eventually takes the stage—Woolner offers an account of love songs in motion that reveals the capacity of music to connect people and feelings across time and space, creating new possibilities for relating to oneself and others.

Falling in love is a complicated, messy, mad endeavour - and staying in love is even worse. All too often our hopes end in heartbreak and our dreams in tatters, but there is a rational alternative to romantic despair. Drawing on her own experience as a psychoanalyst, and the combined wisdom of philosophers, poets, scientists and singers, Anouchka Grose offers some serious solutions to the conundrums of love.

This collection of 97 Cantonese love songs aims to give a wider audience the opportunity of reading these songs in English. The author investigates the language and social background of the songs and provides cross-references to Chinese and Western literature.The Chinese text of the poems is also included.

In this commentary Longman unpacks what this ancient love poem reveals about the male-female relationship and about God's love for His people. Beginning with an extensive introduction to the book and its background, the author discusses Song of Songs' authorship, date, literary style, language, structure, and theological content.

If you’ve ever heard a song in your head and wanted to be able to write it, the Quickstart Guide to Songwriting will lead the way. Starting with choosing a subject to write your song about, then writing a lyric, a memorable hook, a singable melody, and then adding harmony and rhythm, you will write a song of your own. Even if you might think you are not musical or lyrical, you can write a song. The Quickstart Guide to Songwriting is an easy step-by-step introduction in teaching you how to create your own song. Write a song today!

A Love Song Just for You highlights GodaEUR(tm)s supernatural and transformative love for his beloveds, as revealed through the Song of Solomon, a love song written by God just for His beloveds. Not everyone is a aEURoebeloved,aEUR but everyone can become a aEURoebelovedaEUR son or daughter of God. A Love Song Just for You leads you on a personal journey of introspection and sings out to you to aEURoeinternalize the love.aEUR Do you know what it means to be one of GodaEUR(tm)s belovedsaEUR"the love and the relationship? Do you really love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strengthaEUR"what should this love look like? Do you really know how to love yourself and othersaEUR"aEURoethe BibleaEUR way? A heart wholly surrendered to our heavenly Father in Christ Jesus is all He seeks! Walking in His love in the power of the Holy Spirit will do the rest! Oh, how He loves His beloveds! Finally, you can check your aEURoeLevel of LovingaEUR (LoL) by using the creative tools in the section aEURoeEncouraging GodaEUR(tm)s Beloveds in the Things of God.aEUR Enjoy the journey!

The Essential Reference Guide to America’s Most Popular Songs and Artists Spanning More than Fifty Years of Music Beginning with Bill Haley & His Comets’ seminal “Rock Around the Clock” all the way up to Lady Gaga and her glammed-out “Poker face,” this updated and unparalleled resource contains the most complete chart information on every artist and song to hit Billboard’s Top 40 pop singles chart all the way back to 1955. Inside, you’ll find all of the biggest-selling, most-played hits for the past six decades. Each alphabetized artist entry includes biographical info, the date their single reached the Top 40, the song’s highest position, and the number of weeks on the charts, as well as the original record label and catalog number. Other sections—such as “Record Holders,” “Top Artists by Decade,” and “#1 Singles 1955-2009”—make The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits the handiest and most indispensable music reference for record collectors, trivia enthusiasts, industry professionals and pop music fans alike. Did you know? • Beyoncé’s 2003 hit “Crazy in Love” spent 24 weeks in the Top 40 and eight of them in the #1 spot. • Billy Idol has had a total of nine Top 40 hits over his career, the last being “Cradle of Love” in 1990. • Of Madonna’s twelve #1 hits, her 1994 single “Take a Bow” held the spot the longest, for seven weeks—one week longer than her 1984 smash “Like a Virgin.” • Marvin Gaye’s song “Sexual Healing” spent 15 weeks at #3 in 1982, while the same song was #1 on the R&B chart for 10 weeks. • Male vocal group Boyz II Men had three of the biggest chart hits of all time during the 1990s. • The Grateful Dead finally enjoyed a Top 10 single in 1987 after 20 years of touring. • Janet Jackson has scored an impressive 39 Top 40 hits—one more than her megastar brother Michael!