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6 Gay Love Songs for Valentine's Day

[caption id="attachment_89392" align="aligncenter" width="601"]SWOON SWOON[/caption]

Happy Valentine's Day! Or if you hate this holiday, then Happy Stupid Fucking Product of the Corporate Machine That Crudely Co-Opts the Notion of Romance and Creates a Ritualized Annual Shame for Single People!

But not matter how you celebrate, the day needs a soundtrack. That's why I'm pleased to present 6 loves songs that are explicitly about gay relationships. Some are happy and some are sad, but they're all pink. Which one will be right for you?

(1) Puppy Love: "Forrest Gump" by Frank Ocean

Ocean performed a stripped-down version of this song at the Grammys, but the bouncy original is the best. A song about crushing hard on a dude who gives you butterflies, it conjures up the image of a guy cheering in the stands for a football player... and secretly hoping the football player notices.

(2) Long-Time Love: "At My Most Beautiful" by R.E.M.

The specificity of the lyrics, about how two lovers find ways to make each other smile, makes this song a soaringly romantic portrait of a long-term relationship. You have to really love someone and really know them to have tiny, pointless rituals like the ones described here. And somehow, the pointlessness is what makes them special. Because you and your partner are the only people in the world who do these things, you know? (And don't be fooled by the hetero-leaning video here. Michael Stipe is well out of the closet.)

(3) A Love You Want to Fight For: "End of the World" by Matt Alber

Sure, sometimes things get rough, but that doesn't mean they're over. Matt Alber's gorgeous torch song is one man's plea to another not to give up. Not yet. "If there's nothing left to fight for," he asks, "can you tell me why that it is you're holding on to me like it's the end of the world?" And if you haven't seen this music video, you've got to watch the whole thing. Big gay swoon, I promise.

(4) A Love That's a Perpetual Disappointment: "Perfect Man" by Rufus Wainwright

Can any man live up to a pre-determined vision of the "perfect guy?" Rufus Wainwright knows his fantasy man is impossible to find, but on this song from his 2012 album Out of the Game, the fantasy still controls him. "[That's] why I will never tell you, 'I love you,'" he sings. "And why there is just but a vision of the perfect man." That's a sad state, but it's very easy to think you're protecting yourself by holding out for an illusion.

(5) A Love That May Never Be Yours: "Jesse" by Ivri Lider

"I love a boy named Jesse, but Jesse doesn't love me back. He says he has a girl in Chelsea he wants so much." I mean... right?!?! What gay man hasn't had a doomed crush on some emotionally flexible straight man? As Lider goes on, we learn that Jesse flirts with him and hems and haws about what he wants, and that's why Lider can't give up hope. By the end of the song, he's even in love with another unavailable guy. Lord have mercy. I've been there.

(6) A Love That Says 'I Do:' "What a Beautiful Day" by Brett Every

I wrote about this amazing song last summer, when I was just a few weeks away from getting married to the man of my dreams. And even though my emotions have settled down, this sweet, funny story about a gay wedding day still makes me cry. No matter who you are and no matter how you feel about Valentine's Day, I hope you find the love that's perfect for you. It may not look or behave like the love in Every's song, but I hope it makes you feel the joy that Every describes.

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Mark Blankenship isn't even celebrating Valentine's Day with his husband because they both have to work late, but they'll probably have a nice dinner on Saturday. He tweets as @IAmBlankenship

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