Valentine’s Day has come and gone, leaving people talking a lot about love songs, romantic playlists and other wishy-washy goodness. Now is my turn to analyze one of my favorite love songs, its significance and its performers.

“Fly By Night‰” by Loma Prieta is the first song from this four-piece melodic hardcore band I ever had the pleasure of hearing, and to this day it remains one of my favorites of theirs. This song is important for multiple reasons, the first of which is how I think most people interpret it. As I said before, “Fly By Night‰” is a love song. Plain and simple. Interestingly, people don‰’t hear it as such, which I believe demonstrates the prejudices held by many toward hardcore music as a whole.

Many people I‰’ve spoken with succumb to one of the most inaccurate and close-minded myths about music: if it‰’s loud, it‰’s negative in some way. Loma Prieta‰’s anthem of love and passion transcends this myth on a multitude of levels. Though they may be hard to understand in the song, the lyrics are truly uplifting. Starting from “Together. Together or separate.‰” This song speaks to the true nature of love all the way to the end. It can almost be compared to Shakespeare‰’s “Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer‰’s Day?‰” in that it is about an honest and realistic affection rather than a romanticized fictional one.

The song is loud. Very loud. Loma Prieta is probably the most abrasive title in my list of favorite bands and I understand when the title turns off people. By the end of this song, the melodies and attitude of the song have shifted so much to the tune of an anthem that I find it impossible to believe people cannot hear the beauty in it. Hardcore music captures emotion in a way that is too intense for most, but in my opinion, more appropriate and accurate than any other form of music.

Relationships are not pristine, flawless and quiet. They are full of explosions of emotion alongside streams of raw, relentless passion. “Fly By Night‰” is one of my favorite love songs because it captures that very essence and energy. If you can listen to this song and still claim that hardcore music is “feel bad music.‰” Then you could say I “feel bad‰” for you.