I love you like a love song baby
'Best Guess,' best venues and the best quote from Elizabeth Holmes's People profile
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. I’m single, in case you were wondering. Why do you think I have time to write this thing? Feel free to forward this to any potential suitors.
I love Valentine’s Day and pink and red and hearts. It’s the theme of this newsletter, after all. Clearly crushes are really important to me. My advice: always have three crushes, because if one disappoints you—one always disappoints you—there are two options to fall back on. I’ve considered writing New Crush about music and dating, but I already get into enough trouble oversharing with people I just met after one (1) glass of wine.
I also love a love song. Now when I think about love songs I think about this piece that FONC (Friend Of New Crush) Abbey shared with our Taylor Swift group chat last year. I won’t summarize the whole thing, which you can read below, but it basically argues that Taylor doesn’t have many true love songs. Most of them are pessimistic, viewing love as something that ruins her life or wrecks her plans. For her, love brings about mess, insecurity and instability.
This plagued the chat for weeks. It culminated the evening FONCs Lydia, Annabel and I deliberated for at least an hour on what the definition of a love song is. We should have recorded it for a podcast, truly.
I came to the conclusion that a real love song doesn’t need to be positive, hopeful or triumphant. In fact, a love song that lacks fear or anxiety is hard to find. Look at the lyrics of any love song and try not to find a hint of despair. That’s because—*earnest alert!*— love without fear or anxiety is hard to find! To quote Nazareth, as one does, love hurts.
The most intense love song I’ve heard in recent memory came out this week: Lucy Dacus’s “Best Guess.” A few weeks ago I mentioned that she was recruiting “hot mascs” for the song’s music video, and wow did she accomplish that… But don’t let them distract you from the lyrics!
Ok, fine. Watch it, decompress and come back here when you’re ready. I’ll still be here. Where else do I have to go? I’m single, remember?!
“Best Guess” is about the uncertainty of love. “You are my best guess at the future,” Lucy sings in the chorus, “If I were a gambling man and I am, you’d be my best bet.” Lucy won’t say that this person (*cough* Julien *cough*) is definitely the one. She can never know that—none of us can. But this person (ahem julien) is her best guess. She’s willing to embrace that precariousness and gamble everything she has in their favor.
Lucy never shies away from considering that her “guess” is wrong. In boygenius’s “We’re in Love” she imagines a day in her life without this person (JB). “Some October in the future, I'll run out of trash TV / And I'll be feeling lonely, so I'll walk to karaokе / Sing the song you wrote about me, nеver once checking the words / I hope that no one sings along, I hope that I'm not a regular.”
In “Best Guess,” she returns to the same vision. I relate to Lucy, because she thinks of the worst possible outcome to prepare herself. “If this doesn't work out / I would lose my mind / And after a while / I will be fine / But I don't wanna be fine.”
Falling in love can make people lose their minds, not be fine, break their hearts, sing alone at karaoke, wreck their plans, ruin their life. And we’re so lucky to have so many songs about all of it!
I try not to make these intros too long and yet here we are. How would you define a love song? What is the greatest love song? (Read to the end of this newsletter to find out my pick.) This reminds me—another1 FONC Jordan has a playlist called “february is for lovers,” and it contains over 19 hours of love songs. I’m sure there’s one out there that will feel true to you.
❤️ LOVE NOTES ❤️
Quick beats from the week:
Billboard put out their list of the top venues of 2025, calling the new Brooklyn Paramount the top East Coast club or theater and Forest Hills Stadium as the top East Coast amphitheater.
A lot of people have been wondering about Khruangbin ever since they had their teeny Grammys moment. That’s why I laughed at Travis Scott’s response to Billboard’s question about who he’d like to work with next:
“Yeah, it’s this band called Khruangbin I want to work with. This might be crazy, but I would love to get Taylor Swift or Sabrina Carpenter on a hook...Because I have some ill ideas.”
Speaking of surprising mentions of Taylor Swift: Elizabeth Holmes gave People her first interview from prison. Here’s an interesting tidbit about her husband, Billy Evans.
“Evans, whom she met at a rooftop charity event in Oct. 2017 during the Theranos scandal, presented a silver snake ring bought at a Taylor Swift Reputation Tour concert when he proposed to her a year later.”
Ayo Edebiri directed the music video for Clairo’s “Terrapin,” starring Al Yankovic.
Adult Mom put out their first song in four years, “Door Is Your Hand.” I’m so relieved to have Stevie’s music back in my life!
“Alibi,” the latest song from SPELLLING, rocks so so hard.
The Rock Hall of Fame nominees were announced. There are 14: Bad Company, The Black Crowes, Mariah Carey, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order (the members of Joy Division formed New Order after Ian Curtis died), Cyndi Lauper, Maná, Oasis, Outkast, Phish, Soundgarden and The White Stripes. The Rock Hall is rebuked every year for its absence of women among their honorees, so naturally there are only two women in this list.
🚨 VIBE CHECK 🚨
What the people are actually listening to:
“Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars has rebounded back to No. 1 on the Hot 100. Have you heard it recently? I haven’t! Travis Scott’s “4X4” fell from No. 1 to No. 57. Ouch. Debuting at No. 2 is Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem.” We know, Morgan. We know.
The Weeknd’s new album “Hurry Up Tomorrow” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard 200, and its songs are peppered throughout the Hot 100. Would you guys cancel me if I said it’s not bad?
These charts also reveal what people listened to right after the Grammys. When it comes to albums, Chappell Roan’s “The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess” jumped from No. 14 to No. 6 and Doechii’s “Alligator Bites Never Heal” jumped from No. 62 to No. 14 (its peak on the chart so far!!). Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter,” aka ALBUM OF THE YEAR, re-entered the chart at No. 19. “Abracadabra,” which Lady Gaga premiered during the Grammys, debuted on the Hot 100 at No. 29. This surprises me based on the amount of (gay) people who have told me they’ve been listening to it nonstop…
😘 Friday I’m in Love 😘
Tomorrow’s notable album releases are two of my favorite records of the year so far:
“Phonetics On and On” by Horsegirl
If you asked me where this band was from based on this record alone, I’d tell you they’re English. This album features the kinetic rhythms and playground chanting you’d hear from British post-punk bands like The Raincoats and The Slits. But they’re from Chicago! And they’re younger than me, whoa. My favorites: “2468,” “Well I Know You’re Shy” and “Information Content.”
“Horror” by Bartees Strange
Bartees has been on my radar since 2020, when he released a truly mind-blowing EP re-imagining songs by The National. (Listen to his cover of “Lemonworld” and you will understand.) This is his third album since then, and it’s his most ambitious yet. It includes production by the Jack Antonoff, as well as Yves and Lawrence Rothman (Lady Gaga, Yves Tumor). My favorites: “Sober,” “Lie 95” and “Wants Needs.”
There are only two things you actually need to know about me. My name is Natalia and my favorite podcast is Las Culturistas. They end every episode with a song. I end every newsletter with a song.
The ULTIMATE vulnerable love song! Anxiety is embedded within the song—Elton John performed it without gender pronouns.
“I hope you don't mind that I put down in words how wonderful life is while you're in the world.” So simple, yet so profound. I get chills whenever I hear it.
Isn’t it kind of beautiful that I’ve introduced a few FONCs in my newsletter about love and love songs? I love friendship!