Tonight on 40 for 40 (at 8:40), I’m playing some of the most memorable power ballads of the past 40 years. To quote Wikipedia, power ballads are “an emotional style of music that often deal with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, war (protest songs), loneliness, death, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Ballads are generally melodic enough to get the listener’s attention.” Seems like a lot of overthinking: Traditionally speaking, power ballads are songs that increase your chances of getting laid.

The old school way to celebrate a power ballad is to wave a lighter in the air. I’ll totally understand if you just use your Flashlight app tonight.

And yeah, count on hearing this one: