Tuesday Tunes: Nat King Cole’s “When I Fall In Love”

Editor’s Note: Song lyrics denoted in bold italics.

For our first Tuesday Tunes in nearly a month, you know that I just had to bust out one of my favorite love ballads of all time; I mean, it wouldn’t be my blog without it, right? Of course not!

Anyway, my mom has been listening to a lot of the Norah Jones station on Pandora lately and they’ve been playing SO MANY of these American standard classics — think the music of the ’40s and the Big Band/jazz era. It’s the music of my grandparents’ generation, during a time when life was much simpler and singers of the day sang of ideals, dreams and hopes for the future, and you can’t help but get wrapped up in the words and melodies.

That’s sort of how it was the first time I heard this song. Like most of my favorite songs, it wasn’t some fancy melody or crazy vocal acrobatics that made me stop and go, “OK, I need to stop everything I’m doing and listen to this AMAZING song right now!” It had nothing to do with those things. On the contrary, actually — I was drawn to the words. The sweet, romantic words. It stood out like a beacon of hope — a tall lighthouse shining in the distance when you’re surrounded by miles and miles of ocean…

Nat King Cole’s “When I Fall In Love”
From Love Is the Thing

The thing about this song? Never in my life have I heard such pure, honest words. I mean, that’s a pretty rare thing, isn’t it? Words and conversations are so often loaded with hidden meanings and open to a number of interpretations. It’s quite refreshing to come across words that can be taken at face value — you don’t have to constantly wonder what exactly it means.

Plus, the words are simple. They’re not dressed up in flowery language; they get right to the point, which is something I can really appreciate!

When I fall in love it will be forever
Or I’ll never fall in love
In a restless world like this is
Love is ended before it’s begun
And too many moonlight kisses
Seem to cool in the warmth of the sun

I feel like this sentiment is one of the running themes in all the Letters To My Future Husband — this idea of not compromising, of not settling, of not selling yourself short when it comes to love. And especially when it comes to marriage and the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. That can be a scary prospect, can’t it? The idea that soulmates could actually exist and it’s up to us to know when we’ve found ours.

When I give my heart it will be completely
Or I’ll never give my heart
And the moment I can feel that you feel that way too
Is when I fall in love with you

And yet, it can also be a pretty empowering feeling. It’s so easy to feel like everything about love is out of our control and we’re just hopeless romantic saps (or wait, maybe that’s just me?), so maybe we become lazy and complacent, but this song made me realize something pretty amazing: We’re in control of our love destiny.

So I’m going to be all in or not at all. It’s going to be one of the other — or, really, where’s the point at all? I don’t see the point of doing something only a little bit or being “ehh” about something as important and cosmic as love.

Translation: With me, that’s how it’s going to be. As the old saying goes, “go big or go home.” Yes, that’s going to be my new life and love philosophy. Maybe you feel that way too, friends! What do you think? Can you ever really do love “halfheartedly” and actually have things work out in the long-run? I’m really curious to hear your thoughts! xoxo