As much as Valentine’s Day seems like a greeting-card-company holiday in modern times (it was actually a religious holiday originally, only later becoming linked to romance — but even that was several hundred years ago, so it’s been around for a while), I still think that sure, what the heck, there might as well be at least a day a year when people give some extra thought to expressing their romantic feelings to their significant others. And those expressions are usually even more romantic when separated from the cards and gifts and come straight from the heart. So I think Steve Earle had the right idea with “Valentine’s Day,” from his 1996 album, I Feel Alright — whether you remembered to get a card or not, it’s the love that counts (do I sound sappy or what?):

So if you’ll take my IOU
I could make it up to you
Until then I hope my heart will do
For Valentine’s Day

[As much as I love my wife, I’m actually dedicating this Valentine song to our cat Calvin, who had to be put to sleep this past Sunday. As you may remember, I posted about him back in October when things looked bleak, but he was a fighter and bounced back, hanging in there for nearly 4 extra months, but his time finally came. We’ll miss him.]