In 1993, Whitney Houston’s rendition of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” became the best-selling single in the history of popular music and earned the number-one spot on Billboard’s “Hot 100” chart for that year. And of course, Houston’s performance of this song is certainly an indelible part of the canon of great woeful love songs. I mean, who doesn’t love a good modulation? 

But a little bit lower on that same Billboard chart at number 27 lies an entirely different kind of love song—one that is neither eloquent nor pretty. In fact, this song is actually quite jarring, gruff, and simplistic. But it also effortlessly claims the elusive holy grail of contemporary songwriting: authenticity. And that is why “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” is one of the most underrated love songs of all time.

 “I’m Gonna Be” originally appeared in 1988 on “Sunshine on Leith,” the second album by the Proclaimers, a Scottish duo of identical twins Craig and Charlie Reid. While the song found marginal success upon its original release, it reached a new height of popularity in 1993 as a result of appearing on the soundtrack of “Benny & Joon,” a movie starring a young and surprisingly uncreepy Johnny Depp. 

Now, chances are you’ve heard this song and perhaps by now have sung the chorus to yourself, masterfully executing the harsh emphasis on each individual syllable. And sure, it’s fun to enjoy this song as a cute little pop ditty like Peter Griffin does when cartoon versions of the Proclaimers make a cameo appearance in an episode of “Family Guy.” But it’s also more than just a catchy tune. It’s one of the better songs I know of that deals with subjects of romantic love and commitment—especially for someone who has grown up in an era overrun by Seinfeldian cynicism.

We, who belong to the generation born in the 80s, are naturally skeptical of the messages we receive from our environment—and for good reason, given that we are constantly bombarded by advertisements that encourage us to find our identity in things like cell phones and cans of Sprite. For me, this disillusioned worldview means that love songs have to break through an all-but-impenetrable barrier of cynicism before they can resonate with me. This is why traditional love songs like “I Will Always Love You” come across as mawkish to me. I simply can’t trust statements like the song’s title at face value just because the singer gives a moving performance of them. Even up-to-date, hipster-friendly love songs like Ben Gibbard’s “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” fall short of excellence for me. Don’t get me wrong, I like a good Deathcab song as much as the next Belmont student. I love those lines about neon signs outside of heaven and hell and I’ll openly admit that the melody is beautiful. But I just don’t know if I can trust a songsmith just because he has written a great song. 

“I’m Gonna Be,” on the other hand, while much less poetic than Gibbard’s handiwork, somehow cuts through my cynicism and gives me a picture of the authenticity that I long for when I think about love.

It’s hard to put my finger on exactly why “I’m Gonna Be” strikes me as especially authentic. Maybe it’s the overall feel of the music - the constant, staccato pulsing in the guitar and the simple melody - that make the song sound like something between a military march and a post-punk bar song. Maybe it’s the way the brothers Reid wear their Scottish identity on their sleeves, letting their accents ring out triumphantly. And maybe it’s the way they break out into brilliantly nonsensical “dadala da da’s” when words fail to adequately express their emotions.     

But mostly, I think it’s the unabashedly forward approach singer Craig Reid takes to communicate his commitment to his beloved. While he acknowledges that he may “get drunk,” “haver” (Scottish for ‘to talk out of one’s hindquarters’), and “grow old,” he assures his beloved that he intends to enjoy and/or tolerate all of these stations of life by her side. Reid’s promise in the chorus to walk 1,000 miles to fall down at his beloved’s door thus becomes trustworthy because it is grounded in a sober mindset that acknowledges that their relationship will not always look like a romantic comedy.

The Proclaimers may lack Whitney Houston’s vocal chops and Ben Gibbard’s songwriting mastery—but maybe that’s the point. “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” is an excellent love song precisely because it isn’t a masterful song. We know from experience that good performances and clever wording can deceive us, so a song that smacks us in the face with good, old-fashioned, sloppy honesty may be just what the doctor ordered to show cynical people that it is indeed possible to fall in and stay in love. 

That is why I want “I’m Gonna Be” played at my wedding. My bride-to-be (a position for which I’m still accepting applications, by the way) may protest at first.  But after I shout “dadala da da!” at the top of my lungs a few times, I’m sure she’ll come around.

Jason is a junior English writing major with a music minor. E-mail: hardyj@pop.belmont.edu