We have nothing against Valentine’s Day. In fact, we aren’t ashamed to admit that we’ve been known to make a mushy mixtape or ten for that special someone. (Hey, it’s a cheap gift.) But by the time February 15 rolls around, we’ve just had enough. If we have to see one more conversation heart, red rose, or sweet-faced teddy bear clutching a plush heart, we’ll throw up. It almost goes without saying that we’re also burned out on love songs.
Too bad that about 75 percent of the tracks on our iPod have something to do with romance: having it, longing for it, ending it, regretting it. And that’s why we’ve sought refuge from Cupid and his minions by scanning our music library for songs that evoke emotions other than love. After the jump, listen to our exhaustive playlist of tunes that make us feel everything from masochistic and medicated to rebellious and voyeuristic.
Acquisitive: Jane’s Addiction — “Been Caught Stealing”
Activist: L7 — “Pretend We’re Dead”
Agoraphobic: Deerhunter — “Agoraphobia”
Alienated, Marxist-style: The Clash — “Lost in the Supermarket”
Alienated, socially: Tears for Fears — “Mad World”
Ambitious: Kurt Vile — “Don’t Get Cute”
Ambivalent: Animal Collective — “Who Could Win a Rabbit?”
Apathetic: Dinosaur Jr. — “Feel the Pain”
Bipolar: Nirvana — “Lithium”
Confident: Santigold — “Unstoppable”
Confused: New Order — “Confusion”
Crazy: Girls — “Lust for Life”
Deceptive: Lady Gaga — “Poker Face”
Desperate: The Mountain Goats — “Palmcorder Yajna”
Destructive: Iggy Pop — “Search & Destroy”
Determined: Raekwon feat. Inspectah Deck — “Black Mozart”
Disappointed: The Dandy Warhols — “Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth”
Disenfranchised: Leadbelly — “Jim Crow Blues”
Doomed: The Mae Shi — “Pwnd”
Effeminate: T. Rex — “Cosmic Dancer”
Evolved: Tim Booth — “Monkey God”
Fearsome: Madvillain — “The Illest Villains”
Feminist: Le Tigre — “Hot Topic”
Friendly: Dan Deacon — “Wham City”
Frustrated, socially: Danielson — “Did I Step on Your Trumpet?”
Independent: Salt-n-Pepa — “None of Your Business”
Inspired: Art Brut — “Modern Art”
Insecure: LCD Soundsystem — “Losing My Edge”
Irreligious: A Perfect Circle — “Judith”
Liberated: The Modern Lovers — “Roadrunner”
Lonely: Gang of Four — “We Live As We Dream (Alone)”
Marytyred: The Smiths — “Bigmouth Strikes Again”
Masochistic: of Montreal — “Suffer for Fashion”
Medicated: Rolling Stones — “Mother’s Little Helper”
Nihilistic: Elvis Costello — “Less Than Zero”
Numb: Eels — “Novocaine for the Soul”
Oblivious: Galaxie 500 — “Oblivious”
Panicky: Liars — “Mr You’re on Fire Mr”
Paranoid: Radiohead — “Idioteque”
Populist: Pulp — “Common People”
Post-apocalyptic: Bob Dylan — “Desolation Row”
Rebellious: NWA — “Fuck tha Police”
Regretful: David Bowie — “The Man Who Sold the World”
Responsible: The Flaming Lips — “Fight Test”
Self-loathing: Beck — “Loser”
Strung out: Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers — “Chinese Rocks”
Teen angsty: Buzzcocks — “Autonomy”
Unimpressed: Pavement — “Cut Your Hair”
Uninspired: Times New Viking — “Drop-Out”
Voyeuristic: Spoon — “I Turn My Camera On”
Image via bored-now on Flickr