Perhaps you too are “marked by the imaginative or emotional appeal of what is heroic, adventurous, remote, mysterious…” which is how one dictionary defines one who is a “Romantic.” If so, you no doubt realize that Romanticism (which came in part as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution) is only a few hundred years old.
But what may surprise you is that the concept of romantic love itself (i.e. romance) isn’t much older, dating back only as far as the late Middle Ages, when “of the Roman style” referred to the advent of chivalry, which eventually incorporated the notion of courtly love. Prior to that there were fertility rites.
There may have been complex forms of courtship (and the ever-ready libido), but feelings of emotional intimacy and attraction, aka the “sweet new style” (as 14th century troubadours called it) is something rather new to our species. So take heart you dreamers, you idealists, you modern romantics with your heads stuck in the clouds. You’re living in the right age and this song’s for you.
Written and sung by Tim Lopez of Chicago-based Plain White T’s, “Rhythm of Love” was included on the band’s six album “Wonders of the Younger” in 2010 and has since sold over a million copies. It marks Lopez’s first solo lead with the group.
Formed by high school friends Tom Higgenson (who normally sings lead) and Ken Fletcher in 1997, Plain White T’s spent much of their first decade generating an underground pop punk following. All that changed in 2007 with the release of their Number 1 hit, “Hey There Delilah,” which Higgenson wrote as a romantic paean to nationally ranked steeplechase runner, Delilah DiCrescenzo… And the “sweet new style” soldiers on.
LISTEN TO THIS SONG – Saturday 23 February
Rhythm of love
My head is stuck in the clouds
She begs me to come down
Says, “Boy, quit foolin’ around”
I told her, “I love the view from up here
Warm sun and wind in my ear
We’ll watch the world from above
As it turns to the rhythm of love”
We may only have tonight
But ’til the morning sun
You’re mine, all mine
Play the music low
And sway to the rhythm of love
Well, my heart beats like a drum
Guitar string to the strum
A beautiful song to be sung
She’s got blue eyes, deep like the sea
That roll back when she’s laughin’ at me
She rises up like the tide
The moment her lips meet mine
We may only have tonight
But ’til the morning sun
You’re mine, all mine
Play the music low
And sway to the rhythm of love
When the moon is low
We can dance in slow motion
And all your tears will subside
All your tears will dry
And long after I’ve gone,
You’ll still be humming along
And I will keep you in my mind,
The way to make love so fine
We may only have tonight
But ’til the morning sun
You’re mine, all mine
Play the music low
And sway to the rhythm of love
Play the music low
And sway to the music of love
Yeah, sway to the music of love
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