#100 - This Ain't A Love Song

Artist: Bon Jovi
Album: These Days
Other Versions: Como Yo Nadie te ha Amado
Era: 90s "moody rock"

Lyrics
Lyrics (Spanish)
Video

My favorite Bon Jovi song is "Como Yo". Actually it's probably my favorite song of all time. "This Ain't A Love Song" was my favorite until I heard the Spanish version.

I wish I could pinpoint one reason why I like this song so much. It's just everything about it fits together so well.

Usually, I like when every instrument is doing something unique and mildly complex, so it feels like you could listen to every instrument on its own and still be listening to a coherent, complete song. You couldn't do that with anything here but the guitar. It's quiet subdued drumming, it's piano that you can only hear in the chorus and during the guitar solo, it's guitar that shifts and changes with the changing tones of the song.

This sucked me right in from the first time I heard it. That was back when I was just familiarizing myself with Bon Jovi, somewhere between that first mix cd and the box set, and nothing's knocked it out of place yet.

The first line makes you want to hear more. It's excellent writing, but it's not just the words, it's Jon's voice. Should have seen what coming when the roses died? Why are you so sad? Oh, the end of summer in her eyes. This is about a relationship dying. And not dying well, either. This is a relationship that slowly wilted and faded away, a bit faster for one party than the other.

My favorite line in TAALS is also my favorite line in "Como Yo...". "Baby ain't it funny how we never ever learn to fall?" and "Dicen que la vida baby no es como la ves" (roughly, they say that life, baby, is not like you see it). It's probably my number one sing along line of all time.

I love how Jon is so quiet at the beginning, and then his voice intensifies, intensifies again, and then he just belts the chorus at you. It's the pain building, building, it's too much to bear. Goregously pulled off.

The guitar in this song is the stuff of legend. Richie is playing one thing during the verses, something totally different during the chorus, and something else for the solo. But it all fits together, it all meshes with Jon's voice to create even more emotion. And the intro...quiet, meandering, you have no idea what you're in for, how intense this gets and how punched in the face with your own emotion you'll be.

The piano is simple and subtle and you only hear it a couple times, but it pushes me right over the edge. The cool thing about the piano is you can go simple and still make something that's lush and thick and real, it's intense. I hope, despite the almost non-existence, David considers this song among his best piano work because it really is. He takes this limited space he has to work with, fills it right to the brim, underscores Jon and Richie perfectly and just about kills me.

The drumming is much like the piano - subtle. You know it's there, because you always know the drums are there, but barely. But they're an excellent backbone - they build when the song's about to build, they mellow out when the song needs to mellow out, they hold each and every aspect of it up. This would fall right through if it weren't for the drums.

I can't listen to this without singing it, and singing it EXACTLY how Jon does - quiet when he's quiet, louder as he gets louder, and then BELT "I cried and I cried, there were nights that I died for you baby" (some of my favorite lyrics ever) with him. This isn't just a song for me, it's an experience. I'm at a point now where I can sing along with the Spanish version too, because I needed to be, because I need to take this as an experience and not just a song.

My Rating: 10/10

I used to love Nancy Drew books

• Mystery Train
• She's A Mystery

Wow. 100 songs. And this was something I started because I was bored over Christmas vacation. I hope you like reading this as much as I like writing it (except those nights I have to force it out. Then I hope you like it more). Actually, I'm so thrilled people actually read this I could eat my hat. I think I mixed up two expressions there. Anyway, cheers!