Okay, I know this is a blog about music but I HAVE to say it:

Hating Valentine’s Day is absolutely right but people do it for the wrong reasons.

Personally, I’m a fan of holidays – the more the better. Give me a reason to celebrate and watch me go! But Valentine’s Day is different. It tinkers with our deepest emotions in the dark primordial places of our souls where we are most vulnerable. It mercilessly plays with our feelings of security and belonging and threatens our social nature in the most demanding way. Too much? Read on.

First, let’s quickly go through the main reasons people usually hate Valentine’s Day:
 

1. Annoying heart-shaped balloons and toys, and candy, and everything, everywhere.

Shut up. It’s the same with pumpkins on Halloween, Christmas stuff on Christmas, balloons on birthdays and so on. If you’re okay with one of them, you shouldn’t hate people for liking the rest. If it’s too girly for you, join the military. In essence:

2. The shopping, always with the shopping!

OF COURSE “they”are going to turn it into an industry, that’s what “they”do. You buy a tree for
Christmas, you buy a turkey for Thanksgiving, you buy a costume for Halloween. Valentine’s Day is no
different, deal with it. Besides, presents are nice, admit it. If you like receiving them, you shouldn’t
complain about having to give them. If you hate Valentine’s Day because you have to spend money but
you still buy presents for other holidays because “everybody’s doing it”, I’m sorry but:

3. People showing their appreciation for their significant other ONLY on Valentine’s Day.

Come on. NO ONE does that and you know it. Of course you don’t need a special occasion to buy flowers
and if you feel like doing it on a random day NO ONE is stopping you, seriously. Besides, no one seems to mind Mother’s Day and Father’s Day happen only once a year. Guilt much? Therefore:

4. You’re single.

OR your partner hates V-day and you’re just playing along. Either one will inevitably make you feel bad, alone and neglected. This is sad and everything but it’s not a solid reason to hate a holiday. So…

Now that we’ve sorted that out, let me explain why I think Valentine’s Day should be banned for all eternity.
 

1. THE GUILT!

The goddamn guilt. You don’t buy chocolate, you’re guilty. You don’t give flowers, you’re guilty. You don’t say “I love you”, you’re guilty. And I’m not talking about blame. I’m not addressing the demanding bitch syndrome. It’s the FEELING that really makes me want to punch something. Even if your partner is the very definition of understanding, you’re still cursed to feel self-induced guilt every time you fail to follow the rules of Valentine’s Day.

 
2. The great expectations

Same thing, but put yourself on the receiving end. You don’t get a present for Valentine’s Day, you get sad. You don’t hear “I love you”, it’s the end of the world. I’m sure you can picture your great-great-great-grandmother not celebrating Valentine’s Day and still living just fine with no excessive drama in her life. Well, she was also probably killed by a cavity but that’s not the point. We basically made up a new reason to be sad. A bunch of reasons in fact. Good job humanity.

 
3. The Rules

Who made the rules? We did. Why? To make ourselves feel miserable, unworthy, dependable and weak. Our greatest mistake has always been that, in our egocentric universe, we often tend to forget we’re a part of a whole and that whole has a huge influence on the way we think, act, feel and live. This same mistake seems to be causing a lot of major problems for humanity. It’s like saying “I don’t litter, so why is there trash everywhere?”, “I’m not a racist, so why are there so many?”, “I don’t listen to Justin Bieber, so how come he’s so successful?”, “I’m in love with the Drooble blog, so why aren’t these guys billionaires yet?”. You tell me.
 
Anyway, fiscalizing the holiday has surely helped turn Valentine’s Day into an obligatory fest of guilt and blame. And so have peer pressure, Hollywood and the possibility of getting laid by pleasing a female. Even so, go look in a mirror – you have a head on your shoulders.
 
Manu Chao believes in “thousands of small revolutions”. I don’t. If I start recycling, my friends are not going to. Something more is needed. Well, at least you KNOW about the problem, right? No. Observation is the first step but it does nothing but make a condescending asshole. If you feel oppressed by what society has brought upon itself like I do, just do something about it. I wrote this article.
 
This is not a rant about a stupid holiday. It’s a reminder that society is not just the sum of its parts. Human culture is not a passive given but very much alive and it dictates everything you do. Realizing your place in the process is what will give you the freedom to make choices.
 
In short: Less drama, more fun. Holidays are nice. All we have to do is weed out the bad ones.

Sorry about getting all deep on your butts again. Here’s a dog singing Josh Groban: