Three More Love Songs from People Named Tyler

It was one of those mornings again. One where you roll over, see the news update and feel your guts ripped out again. It’s hard to post fun stuff on a morning like that. On top of the atrocities reported, an opinion piece in USA Today claimed that schadenfreude, that feeling of pleasure at the suffering of another, is at the core of human nature. I disagree.

I recommend reading a book called Humankind: A Hopeful History. Dutch historian Rutger Bregman makes the argument that the reason we have survived as a species is not because of our selfishness, but because at our core, in the majority, we are kind. We have learned to work together. I contend that the reason we are so shocked at what we see on the news is precisely because this isn’t natural, this cruelty toward each other. And though violent crime statistics continue to drop, we are fixated by the darkness on the news. We are so saturated with what-bleeds-leads reporting, 24/7, that it has distorted a larger picture.

But this is Jeff’s Song of the Day, and I’m going off on a tangent. I think I’m more realist than optimist, and yet, I still firmly believe there is reason for hope. Hope fits with the song of the day, and today’s songs in particular.

---

The Tyler Love Song Finale!

After the red hearts and chocolates, let’s go out with a party and make this a three-for-Thursday. Tylers aren’t just guys, by the way, nor is Tyler only a first name. We have a classic today by Bonnie Tyler from 1978 and a more recent tune from Stephen Tyler from 2016.

And wrapping up the Valentine parade of music is a young country start named Tyler Braden with a song from 2020 that uses a twist of phrase that turns out far more positive and hopeful than its title implies. I love a good, positive twist. Speaking of hope, hang in there, friend. You’ve got people who love you. Reach out and don’t try to do it alone all the time. Okay?

In Your Love by Tyler Childers

Love Songs by People Named Tyler, Part Four

Taylor Swift not only crashed the Super Bowl, she recently crashed Tyler Childers’ table at the Grammy’s. Apparently, by the time she arrived, all the numbers had been removed from the tables and people didn’t know where to sit. She was nominated for six Grammy’s and walked away with two that night, and though Tyler was not a winner, he did have the honor of being nominated five times this year.

While the focus has been on Swift and Kelce at the Super Bowl this week, the love story I want to tell is in this video that Tyler Childers released six months ago for his song “In Your Love.” Childers has gained a reputation in country music for not only pushing back against “sh*tty country music,” but also for standing up against racism and discrimination of all sorts. In this case, Childers decided he wanted the music video to highlight a rural love story that isn’t usually represented in the genre.

In August, the Rolling Stone talked to author Silas House, who wrote the storyline for the video:

“He said he would like to have it be a gay love story, mainly because his first cousin who’s like a brother to him is gay, and he wanted him to see himself in a country music video,” House tells Rolling Stone. “When he said that, I just thought, ‘So many other people have never seen themselves in a country music video. This would be pretty incredible, to have that kind of representation.’”

You may recognize actor Tyler Haynes from TV shows like Arrow and Teen Wolf, and you may know James Scully from the recent series You. Scully and Haynes play the lead parts in the music video, and I have to say I was really moved when my son Micah sent this to me this past fall.

Whatever your story is, loving another or, as my mother preached to me, learning to love yourself, I hope you have a beautiful Valentine’s Day, and I hope you enjoy the music with Tyler Childers and the Food Stamps. If you do, please consider liking and sharing this. I’d love to be able to tell my brother that he’s got even more viewers, listeners, and readers on Jeff’s Song of the Day.

Two Tylers, Two Styles

Love Songs by People Named Tyler, part three

Had I been thinking, I would have not told you the theme for this week, and just let you guess it. Don’t worry, if you don’t know any of the Tylers so far, there’s a better chance you’ll know the one tomorrow, and a 100% you’ll know at least two of the three featured on our Three-for-Thursday, post Valentine’s Day wrap up. On with today’s Two-for-Tuesday special!

Tyler Hilton might not be a name you don’t recognize, but you may know the “You’ll Ask for Me” from the teen, evening soap story One Tree Hill, which ran for almost a decade in the early 2000’s. And if you’re a Swifty, you’ll likely remember him from Taylor Swift’s 2007 music video “Teardrops on My Guitar” in which he played her crush and, of course, played the song with her on the single.

Country singer Tyler Rich is totally new to me, and while it at first seems this seems to be a modern tear-in-my-beer tune, it has a delightful and heart-tugging twist. I like when the meaning of a phrase gets turned upside down and defies my expectations. “Thinking We’re In Love” is only two year’s old and features Marie-Mai. They even perform a version in French! How’s that for romantic?

Happy Valentine’s Eve, folks! Watch out for that little guy with the bow and arrow.