Everlasting Love

So a bit ago I went to a smallish Howard Jones concert at the Velvet Room in SLC. The white blob is Howard Jones in the pic over to the left yonder. My buddies mentioned that is was a great concert last year. So I went. Almost didn't, Tickets.com is wacked. But I'm glad I did. My friends are really into 80's bands, Depeche Mode, Erazure, Duran Duran, and while I don't really share their fervor for it, I like the spunkiness and the hip beats. Well I've heard Howard Jones over the years, Like to Get to Know you Well, No one is to Blame, What is Love, but he's on the map for me now. His sound now is like this new age blend of kickin' techno and classic 80's. It's sounds really fresh but still has a sort of oldish familiarity. Check out his upcoming album when it hits our shores. Go and listen to some of his new stuff at www.howardjones.com

So anyway, the other thing I wanted to talk about was something that one of the songs I heard got me thinking about. The song is Everlasting Love, hence the title. (lyrics enclosed) It's about holding out for love. Now I'm 25 years old, livin' in the heart of marriage drenched Mormondom. I have a buddy who is my age who is really letting the pressure of getting married kinda get to him. I don't really feel it as much, but I do feel the slight tuggings. Tonight I'm going to one of my buddies bachelor parties, the guy we all thought would take years and years to get hitched. I had a friend call me about a month ago out of nowhere and tell me he went off to Vegas and eloped. My little core group is slipping into the other side of society, we're dwindling, succuming to rest of our lives.

My thing is that I've always believed love was something that you cannot stop when it happens. It's why they call it falling in love. You meet a girl and no matter the plans, your intentions, you start slipping down toward her. It happens naturally. I've been in love before. I know what the fireworks feel like. I've stood at the edge of bachelordom and peeked across the wide spread valley of matrimony. (Almost got married). And all I can say about it all is that it's worth it. Waiting, holding out for something spectacular, searching, dating, playing those silly games we tend to play, dealing with rejection, being intrigued by someone new, all of it. Dating ultimately ends up being 99 percent failure, one percent success. That sounds drab, but it does have bursts of incredible moments, months, perhaps years where you learn more about yourself than you could by yourself. It ends up being like life. Long stretches of the mundane, with vistas that are absolutely beautiful. It keeps you going, keeps you looking for what's around that next bend.

And so here's to everyone that is still looking, still working for that priceless stuff called love. I hear ya, and I just wanted to reinforce the need to keep at it (especially for myself), to keep holding out for something spectacular, something everlasting. Remember, an adoring smile is far greater than a meaningless kiss. There really is true love. So, like the song says, I need an everlasting love, I need a friend and a lover divine, An everlasting precious love, wait for it, wait for it, give it some time.

Lyrics:

He wasn't looking for a pretty face
She wasn't searching for the lastest style
He didn't want someone who walked straight off the TV
She need someone with an interior smile

She wasn't looking for a cuddle in the back seat
He wasn't looking for a five minute thrill
She wasn't thinking of tomorrow or of next week
This vacancy he meant to permanently fill

Chorus:
I need an everlasting love
I need a friend and a lover divine
An everlasting precious love
Wait for it, wait for it, give it some time

Back in the world of disposable emotion
In the climate of temporary dreams
He wasn't looking for a notch in his bedpost
A love to push, pull, and burst at the seams

Is this love worth waiting for
Something special, something pure

Is this love worth waiting for
Bitterness will die for sure
Something special, something pure
Is this love worth waiting for