Top 3 Romantic Craps

When I say "crap" I mean things that cynical bitches like moi would rather get away from, but they're so lovely and so catchy that not even the strongest and the most bitter of spirits can help. Here are three of my favorite things to do when this romantic wave gets me by the knees.

3. Romantic Flicks

Whether just cute melodramas like The Lake House or cute comedies like Never Been Kissed I can't resist their power. Truth be told even the most convicted of quirkyalones daydream about "the one" and these pieces of manipulative media touch us on the wound. It's not like I die in desperation every time I watch a romantic flick, but yeah I get emotive, I cry like a Madeleine Wallace, I curse the world and myself and others more for being alone etc etc.

When things are really dark I get the Hollywood conservative you're-nothing-till-you-have-a-man films like Never Been Kissed, Notting Hill, Love Actually, wrap myself in a blanket, have a pan of brigadeiro and cry my insides out when they end. When I'm optmistic and wanting to feel good I get things like Pride And Prejudice and Bridget Jones with lighter and deeper approaches.

Today I rented Moulin Rouge, let's see if I'll survive.

2. Kylie Minogue's Put Yourself In My Place*

What is it that even if we're not heartbroken we feel drowned by broken-hearted songs?

Kylie Minogue is a marvel; she's known for her dance beats and the hipnotic states her music brings to us on clubs, or even at home when we put her cds or listen to her songs on the radio. But only the attentive listeners and the fans know that her lyrics are the saddest lyrics from Pop Music; get some of her dance classics like Can't Get You Out Of My Head, On A Night Like This, Please Stay and I Should Be So Lucky and you'll find a want of reciprocity in love that is heartbreaking when you notice that it's combined with those wild beats that makes you forget everything to follow your body's desire to dance.

And, if you get to the ballads, then you die. As one of the most underrated performers she delivers song renditions full of feeling and emotion. Listen to Dangerous Game and you feel disappointed with love, Finer Feelings [an upbeat ballad] and you want a good life. But the one that touches me to the bone, chills me to the spirit is the once-ignored [by me] Put Yourself In My Place.

I'm not gonna ramble about the lyrics 'cause they obviously summarize what I'm talking about. But her performance, uhg it's heavenly! Few pop divas I know transmit so much of what the lyrics mean in their voices without sounding cheesy and exaggerating [read: Beyoncé and Christina Aguilera]; Kylie gives to this song the desolation and sadness it brings and when you're feeling romantically self-destructive it's just like chocolate.

1. Madonna's Crazy For You**

I don't know if it's the sense of freshness or the hope, but this song is pure diamond. Madge's vocals are heartfelt and mostly sad; they sound like a desperate call that everyone should be oblidged to listen to. The lyrics are like Put Yourself In My Place before the cheating, therefore it's hopeful. Who wouldn't love to hear an honest and emotive "I'm crazy for you"? And that's what and how Madonna tell us whenever she sings this song.

Recently I downloaded Re-Invention Tour's studio tests, like the tests they do on studio with new arrangements for rehearsals and dance routines creation. When it comes to Crazy For You feels like the whole world goes silent and all you listen is the song with her lovely slips on the lyrics and the little jokes. It feels like she's singing just for you. Crazy For You resembles to those times when you were a teenager waiting for "the one" to fall from the sky just to say such words. And guess what, in the romantically self-destructive state of mind that's exactly what you become again.

Call me silly but whenever I go to a party I can't help dreaming that what this song describes happens to me that night.

*Showgirl Tour's version: the best live performance I've heard of it so far.
**RIT's studio version.

[Song: Put Yourself In My Place - Kylie Minogue]
[Song 2: Crazy For You - Madonna]