Gratitude. This song is about being thankful and expressing that gratitude with the three words every human wants to hear: I love you. I spoke about Roberta, when I wrote about Sara by Fleetwood Mac, as being someone from whom I drew strength and confidence in a pivotal, impressionable time of early adulthood when all I could think about myself was that I was a mistake of God. When she and I would sit in her basement playing cards and daydreaming, we’d listen to soft rock radio and talk about each of the songs we’d hear. This song was one we couldn’t agree on; she found it to be way over-schmaltzy, and I heard it as a tribute to the appreciation I had no idea how to express. If not for her, I don’t know what kinds of stupid things I’d have done to escape the fear of my future reality. Granted, I Love You is a love song written about a woman by a man, best utilized as perhaps a wedding song, a first dance. I hear the lyrics as magnified through my own lens: Thank you, babe, for being a friend and shinin' your light in my life… I wish I could find her and let her know how instrumental she was in saving my life. If not for Roberta Kannewischer, you might not be reading this daily music blog by Nicholas Marino. Thirty-five years later, I hear this song and picture her face and remember how she’d laugh at me for liking this song and she’d tell me how she couldn’t stand the weepy guitar riffs. And I’d laugh back and say, Whatever you say, Birdie. Since then I hear this song of gratitude and it works for so many people who have come into my life to help guide me and keep me grounded. Not an easy feat. A lot of you are here on Facebook and I hope you’re reading this. Some are not, and I hope they always know how grateful I am to them.
From the historical writing archive. Original date: December 4, 2016. Recovered from local source material; editorial review is still in progress.