Guilty Pleasures: Love Songs

As always, I am several days late and many dollars short with this post, which I wanted to do before Valentine's day. However, I won't let a little thing like lateness and poor timing stop me. In belated honor of Valentine's day, I wanted to write about some of the love songs I like (but only in secret). Yes, these songs are cheesy and, in some cases, badly performed and poorly written. Nevertheless, there is something about them that is so addicting that I will listen to them over and over again.

"Far Away" by Nickelback
Nickelback seems to be the requisite punchline for music and pop culture at the moment (a pickle has more fans on Facebook than the band does). I have a strong aversion to most of their songs, with "Photograph" being perhaps the stupidest song I have ever heard. However, the over-the-top angst makes this power ballad wannabe a very satisfying song (just ignore the music video, which features a stupid plot and really bad acting by everyone involved).

"You and Me" by Lifehouse
I have a serious Lifehouse addiction, and I know that I should get help. However, I've decided that nothing can stop my love of this song. It is cheesetastic, in a junior high dance sort of way, but that is part of its charm. Trust me, if being featured on Smallville can't convince me that this song is awful, then nothing will.

"Accidentally in Love" by Counting Crows
Unlike the other songs on this list, at least this one is cheery. Unfortunately, the infectious quality of this song is what makes it so damn annoying. Counting Crows, a band that isn't exactly known for being uplifting, apparently decided to go all out with this song to make up for their other, more depressing fare. If you hear this song once, it will haunt you for days. And don't get me started on the uber-creepy video, which features a CGI rabbit. Now, if you will excuse me, I must listen to this song at least five more times tonight before I can get it out of my head long enough to fall asleep.

"Love Story" by Taylor Swift
This may be the most embarrassing song that I like. Even when you stop to consider that much of my musical library is made up of 80s songs and original cast recordings, this is easily the nadir in terms of my musical tastes. In addition to Taylor Swift's questionable vocal chops (let's face it - Auto-Tune was made for voices like hers), there is also the little matter of The Scarlet Letter. For reasons unknown to me (and most English majors), Swift dropkicks The Scarlet Letter into the song. What does she even mean when she says, "You were Romeo, I was the scarlet letter"? How does this begin to make sense? I've spent many a night thinking about this before I go to sleep. I even googled the song lyric to see if other people can make a convincing argument that makes sense (I didn't find any of these answers convincing).

Despite the fact that I chide myself over the fact that this is the most played song on my iPod (no, I am not exaggerating), I can't help but listen to it and even sing along once in a while. Even more damning: I had to decide whether I wanted to include this song or "You Belong with Me," another trite but catchy number from Ms. Swift.

Please feel free to talk about your own cheesy song choices in the comments section!