Songs of bittersweet love

MANILA, Philippines - We really need to get away from the cheesy “I just called to say I love you” and Air Supply choruses, people. There are a million ways to say you care, after all. From the imminent auto-destruction of Morrissey or Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart to the heartbreaking shift from “major to minor” in Cole Porter, love is all around.

• “And if a double-decker bus/crashes in to us/ To die by your side/ Is such a heavenly way to die/ And if a ten-ton truck/ kills the both of us/ To die by your side/ Well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine.” — There Is a Light That Never Goes Out, The Smiths

• “There was a time when you let me know/ what really goes on down below/ but now you never show that to me, do ya? / But remember when I moved in you/ and the holy dove was moving too / and every breath we drew was hallelujah?” — Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen

• “Just a perfect day/ you made me forget myself / I thought I was someone else/ someone good.” — Perfect Day, Lou Reed

• “I like the smile on your fingertips/ I like the way that you move your hips/ I like the cool way you look at me/ Everything about you is bringing me misery.” — Buckets of Rain, Bob Dylan

• “There’s no love song finer/ but how strange the change from major to minor/every time we say goodbye.” — Every Time We Say Goodbye by Cole Porter