Song of the Day: February 14

Take one guess at today's theme.

There's no shortage of love songs, ballads and romantic references in classic rock. In fact, there are so many good ones that I can't pick a single one, so I'll list off my favorites for the rest of the week.

Which one to pick for V-Day itself?

It wasn't recorded in the hey-day of classic rock, but one of my favorite ballads is Chicago's "You're The Inspiration."

Truth is, it's probably more of a power ballad typical of the mid-80s hair bands of the era than a true classic rock song. I'll have some of those later as the week goes on.

Recorded in November 1984, the song reached No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1985 and climbed atop the adult contemporary chart.

The lyrics make it a true Valentine's classic:

You know our love was meant to be
The kind of love that lasts forever
And I need you here with me
From tonight until the end of time
You should know, everywhere I go
You're always on my mind, in my heart
In my soul

[CHORUS:]
You're the meaning in my life
You're the inspiration
You bring feeling to my life
You're the inspiration
Wanna have you near me
I wanna have you hear me sayin'
No one needs you more that I need you
And I know, yes I know that it's plain to see
We're so in love when we're together
And I know that I need you here with me
From tonight until the end of time
You should know, everywhere I go
Always on my mind, in my heart in my soul

[CHORUS]

Interestingly, lead vocalist Peter Cetera said in 2004 that the song was initially written for Kenny Rogers and was inspired by a trip he took to Italy at the time. However, Rogers opted to not record the song and Cetera recorded it for his band's album, Chicago 17, far and away the band's most popular album, having gone seven times platinum in the US and a Grammy winner that included four Top 20 hit singles: "Stay the Night," "Hard Habit to Break" and "Along Comes a Woman," along with "You're The Inspiration."