# Love Is... (song)

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This article is about the King Missile song. For other songs, see [Love Is](/source/Love_Is_(disambiguation)).

"**Love Is...**" is a [song](/source/Song) by [avant-garde](/source/Experimental_music) [band](/source/Band_(music)) [King Missile](/source/King_Missile). It was the only [single](/source/Single_(music)) from the band's [1994](/source/1994_in_music) [album](/source/Album) *[King Missile](/source/King_Missile_(album)).*

## Content

In "Love Is...," a [dirge](/source/Dirge)-like track with elements of [doom metal](/source/Doom_metal), [frontman](/source/Lead_vocalist) [John S. Hall](/source/John_S._Hall) [dryly](/source/Deadpan) recites several examples of what [love](/source/Love) is ("[beautiful](/source/Beauty) / Like [birds](/source/Bird) that [sing](/source/Singing)") and is not ("ugly / Like [rats](/source/Rat) / In a [puddle](/source/Puddle) of [vomit](/source/Vomiting)"). The [chorus](/source/Refrain) consists of Hall [ominously](/source/Omen) [chanting](/source/Chant), "Love is beautiful."[1]

## Maxi-single

The "Love Is..." [maxi-single](/source/Maxi_single) was intended for [promotional](/source/Promotion_(marketing)) use only, and not supposed to be [sold](/source/Sales); nonetheless, copies are sometimes available in "used" sections of [record stores](/source/Record_shop), because some people who received the maxi-single sold it anyway.[2]

### Track listing

All [lyrics](/source/Lyrics) by Hall. All music by [Roger Murdock](/source/Roger_Murdock_(musician)), [Dave Rick](/source/Dave_Rick), and [Chris Xefos](/source/Chris_Xefos).

1. "Love Is..." [clean version] – 3:38 - This ["clean" version](/source/Radio_edit#A_version_of_a_song_being_wiped_over) is identical to the album version except for the partial [muting](/source/Bleep_censor) of a word that the *King Missile* [liner notes](/source/Liner_notes) claim is "[shipload](/source/Ship)" but may actually be "[shitload](/source/Shit)." (According to Hall, "on the [*King Missile*] lyric sheet we [the band] submitted to [Atlantic](/source/Atlantic_Records), we changed all the [curse words](/source/Profanity) to acceptable words, figuring nobody would listen to the record, and we [would] get away with not having a [warning label](/source/Parental_Advisory). This actually worked!")[3]
1. "These People" – 4:26 - This track also appears on *King Missile.*
1. "Lost Land" – 4:32 - This track appears exclusively on the maxi-single.
1. "What If" [alternate version] – 2:24 - This track, which appears exclusively on the maxi-single, differs from the *King Missile* version of "What If" in that the lyrics are [spoken](/source/Spoken_word) throughout rather than both spoken and sung.
1. "Love Is..." [album version] – 3:38

## Music video

The [video](/source/Music_video) for "Love Is..." was directed by [Richard Kern](/source/Richard_Kern).[4] The video contrasts [shots](/source/Shot_(film)) of the band performing in a [white](/source/White) [room](/source/Room) with shots of a [dark](/source/Darkness), sordid [party](/source/Party) at which attendees engage in [heterosexual](/source/Heterosexuality), [homosexual](/source/Homosexuality), [interracial](/source/Interracial) and [zoophilic](/source/Zoophilia) [partnerships](/source/Romance_(love)).[5]

[MTV](/source/MTV) refused to air the video. Hall believes this rejection was motivated by the shots of [multi-instrumentalist](/source/Multi-instrumentalist) Xefos [kissing](/source/Kiss) another [man](/source/Man).[4]

## References

1. ["Lyrics: Love Is..."](http://www.i-mockery.com/kingmissile/loveis.html). Farmboy's King Missile. Retrieved 2008-05-29.

1. ["Discography"](http://www.uptoolate.com/rick/km/discog.html). Laundry Lists of Nonsense. Retrieved 2008-06-06.

1. ["Interview w/ John"](http://www.i-mockery.com/kingmissile). Farmboy's King Missile. Retrieved 2008-06-06.

1. ["Videography"](http://www.uptoolate.com/rick/km/video.html). Laundry Lists of Nonsense. Retrieved 2008-05-29.

1. ["Video: Love Is..."](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1HiklY3UWQ). [YouTube](/source/YouTube). 2006-11-12. Retrieved 2008-05-29.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Love Is... (song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Is..._(song)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Is..._(song)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.