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Percy Sledge's What Is Love

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Percy Sledge's What Is Love
The age old question is what is love? The Oxford English Dictionary defines love as “ An intense feeling of deep affection” . Love is a universal topic. When people hear the word “love” many things can come to mind. It is unique because everyone loves differently. Love can be pleasant or torturous. In my opinion, love may be the most powerful thing a person will ever come across. Over the decades artists have tried to articulate what love is through music. In the late 1950's the Playmates released a song called “What is Love?”. They thought love was “five feet of heaven in a ponytail, the cutest ponytail that sways with a wiggle when she walks”. In 1966 one of the most popular love songs of all time was released by Percy Sledge. Sledge’s hit song was “When a Man Loves a Woman”. He expresses throughout the song that love is essentially blind. …show more content…
In 1975 ABBA released “SOS”, which depicts a different side of love. The lyrics say “When you’re gone, how can I even try to go on?” This shows the type of emotional toll a heartbreak can take on someone. It can make someone feel like they cannot live without their loved one. In 1988 Bon Jovi released another famous love song– “I’ll Be There For You”. The lyrics of this song are very powerful. In the first verse true love is compared to suicide. Similarly to Percy Sledge’s song “When A Man Loves A Woman”, Bon Jovi is expressing that he would do anything to get the girl back, e.g., “I’d live and I’d die for you”, “I’d steal the sun from the sky for you”, “words can’t say what love can do”. In 1992 a very famous and talented singer released a love song that just about everyone has heard. “ I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston– an emotionally moving song that

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