Music Friday: Billie Marten Loves When You Give Her Things, Especially Wedding Rings

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you wonderful songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, British songstress Billie Marten delivers her enchanting acoustic cover of "The Book of Love."

In the song, Marten explains how love is unnecessarily complicated and frequently irrational. In fact, if someone could write The Book of Love, it would be a mammoth volume — long, boring and overwrought with "flowers and heart-shaped boxes and instructions for dancing." Love, she contends, is spending special moments together, and expressing one's love with a time-honored symbol of jewelry.

At the end of the song, she concludes, "And I / I love it when you give me things / And you / You can give me wedding rings / You can give me... You can give me wedding rings."

Written by Stephin Merritt and originally released by American indie pop group The Magnetic Fields in 1999, "The Book of Love" was covered by British rocker Peter Gabriel, whose version appeared in the soundtrack of the 2004 flick, Shall We Dance. The song earned a cult following in 2010 when Gabriel's "Book of Love" was used during the series finale of the hit show Scrubs.

Born Isabella Sophie Tweddle in Ripon, England, in 1999, Marten began playing the guitar and singing when she was just seven years old. In 2008, she established a channel on YouTube, where she posted covers of pop songs, mostly for the benefit of her grandparents who lived in France.

When she was 12, Marten was invited to do a few sessions for a local YouTube channel called "Ont' Sofa." Immersed in a studio filled with Fender guitars, the young lady performed a number of popular songs, including her beautiful, effortless rendition of "The Book of Love." The videos went viral and her singing career was set in motion. She was signed to Chess Club Records, a division of Sony Music, in 2015, and was nominated for Britain's Sound of 2016 Award.

Please check out the video of Marten's "Ont' Sofa" performance of "The Book of Love." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"The Book of Love"
Written by Stephin Merritt. Performed by Billie Marten.

The book of love is long and boring
No one can lift the damn thing
It's full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes
And instructions for dancing

And I
I love it when you read to me
And you
You can read me anything

The book of love has music in it
In fact that's where music comes from
Some of it is just transcendental
Some of it is just really dumb

And I
I love it when you sing to me
And you
You can sing me anything

The book of love is long and boring
And written very long ago
It's full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes
Things we're all too young to know

But I
I love it when you read to me
And you
You can read me anything

And I
I love it when you sing to me
And you
You can sing me anything

And I
I love it when you give me things
And you
You can give me wedding rings
You can give me... You can give me wedding rings

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com/Ont' Sofa.

Role Reversal: Will Single Ladies Propose to Their Guys on Leap Day, Feb. 29?

For more than 1,500 years, February 29 has been reserved for single ladies who have waited far too long for their guys to pop the question. Leap Day, which hits the calendar every four years, is a time when traditional roles are reversed and women are encouraged to pop the question.

Leap Day marriage proposals have their roots in 5th century Ireland, where St. Brigid of Kildare forged a deal with St. Patrick to permit women to propose to men every four years. In Ireland, Leap Day is also called Bachelor’s Day.

This Irish tradition was then brought to Scotland by Irish monks. Legend states that in 1288, the Scotts passed a law that allowed women to propose on Leap Day. If the man refused the proposal, he would have to pay a fine, ranging from a kiss to a silk dress or a pair of gloves. In upper-class circles, the fine would be 12 pairs of gloves. Presumably, the gloves would hide the shame of not wearing an engagement ring.

In English law, the day February 29 had no legal status, so some Brits believed that traditional customs held no status on that day either. Hence, women were free to reverse the unfair custom that permitted only men to propose marriage.

This theme was celebrated in the 2010 romance/comedy Leap Year. Amy Adams plays the part of Anna, who is frustrated when another anniversary passes without a marriage proposal from her boyfriend. When she learns about the Irish tradition that allows women to pop the question on Leap Day, she rushes to Dublin to track down the boyfriend at a convention just in time to deliver a marriage proposal on February 29.

There is some evidence that more women are considering the idea of popping the question — any day of the year. Pinterest reported in December 2018 that searches on its site for the phrase “women proposing to men” had skyrocketed 336% compared to 2017.

On Christmas Day, Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn shook up the Internet when she proposed to her NHL pro boyfriend P.K. Subban, stating, "Men deserve engagement rings, too." Vonn's proposal needs an asterisk, however. You see, Subban had already proposed to her in August with an emerald ring (because green is her favorite color).

In the fall of 2018, The Knot's sister site — which covers unique proposals — changed its name from "How He Asked" to "How They Asked."

“We are strong believers that inclusivity is not optional," noted Meghan Brown, site director of How They Asked, "and it was about time our name reflected that. How They Asked is a site for everyone."

A recent survey of 500 men by Glamour found that 70% of men would be "psyched" if their female partner popped the question.

Will Leap Day 2020 mark a turning point for traditional gender roles? Only time will tell.

Credit: Image by BigStockPhoto.com

Fairytale Proposal: Animated Couple Star as the Prince and Princess in 'Sleeping Beauty'

A romantic Massachusetts man worked with an illustrator for six months to pull off an epic, fairytale marriage proposal that has gone viral on social media.

In filmmaker Lee Loechler's ambitious plan, animated versions of he and his girlfriend, Sthuthi David, would take starring roles in her favorite movie, Sleeping Beauty. During the pivotal scene, when Prince Phillip wakes Princess Aurora with a kiss, the characters on the screen would transform into cartoon lookalikes of Loechler and David and set the stage for the real-life proposal. Loechler contracted Australian illustrator Kayla Coombs to make it happen.

On December 30, Loechler and David attended what she thought was a special private screening of Sleeping Beauty at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in the couple's hometown of Brookline. Since all this was a surprise for David, hidden in the back of the screening room were the couple's friends and family. Surrounding the couple were Reddit volunteers, who were incentivized to attend the free screening with a pizza-and-beer afterparty.

A YouTube.com video that has been viewed more than six million times shows David's reaction as the hair and skin colors of the iconic Disney characters start to change and there's the realization that she and her boyfriend are now in the movie.

After the prince awakens the princess, he pulls out an open ring box revealing a glistening diamond engagement ring. The animated Loechler flips the box into the air, and the in-the-flesh version pretends to make the catch.

Standing in front of the screen, with the ring in hand, the real Loechler went down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend.

"I love you with my whole heart, including all of its ventricles, atriums, valves," Loechler joked, before clarifying for the audience that David is a cardiologist.

"Oh my God, these poor people!" David responded, not knowing that the audience was made up of her friends, relatives and Reddit volunteers.

“Will you live happily ever after with me?” Loechler asked. David answered, "Yes."

"It's not every day you get to propose to your high school sweetheart," Loechler wrote on his Instagram page. "The only thing better than seeing the smartest person I know completely dumbfounded was knowing we'd get to live happily ever after together."

As the movie came to a close, the title "The End" changed to "The Beginning."

Then, in a cute touch, the screen transitioned to a bold-color test pattern, and then a title appeared that said, "Alt 2 'Sthuthi Says No.'" In this version of the ending, there is a scene of crying dwarfs.

"Hey Riley," Loechler yelled to the film operator. "Can you kill it? She said, 'Yes.'"

Please check out the Loechler's video here...

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.com.