Californian singer-songwriter and guitarist Kina Grannis' 2010 song "Valentine" might be a relatively old song, but it's still one that manages to celebrate love without being overly clichéd or cheesy. Grannis alludes to the fact that Valentine's Day has become a highly commercialised phenomenon ('And I know some say this day is arbitrary'), but concedes that 'it's a good excuse/ Put our love to use, baby'. Grannis dismisses the material props associated with courtship ('Love, I don't need those things/ I don't need no ring/ I don't need anything'), and wishfully requests that the listener be her Valentine and 'honeybee', and to give her 'kisses all the time'.
"Valentine" isn't an extraordinary song - it wears its lyricism lightly, with Grannis' breezily graceful vocals being backed by light percussion and acoustic guitar chords. The love that Grannis evokes is 'pretty neat', a mutual delight in each other's company that is noteworthy, but not made out to be anything particularly grandiose or epic. As AllMusic's Andrew Leahey notes, Grannis' Stairwells (2010) is strongly reminiscent of Vanessa Carlton and Michelle Branch, mixing "Top 40 melodies with a sense of coffee house ambiance ...[that] still sounds overwhelmingly familiar".
The song's appeal thus lies in its insistence on championing love's daily pleasures and hiccups - instead of its potentiality for spectacular theatrics and cinematic melodrama. In an age where many people have grand, possibly unrealistic expectations of love and romance, Grannis' ability to bask in the simple delights of the small, quiet and private romantic moment should be cherished. The accompanying Ross Ching-directed music video complements the song's message in a beautifully understated manner.
