I’ve been trying to think of ways to keep myself updating this a bit more frequently, and one of the easiest ways is to make lists! So today, I give you the top 10 love songs off the top of my head that aren’t schmaltzy power ballads that only Delilah ever gives air time.
10. “It Had to be You,” Frank Sinatra
When a song is the featured musical piece in my favorite romantic comedy of all time, it is actually a crime to leave it off the list.
For nobody else gave me the thrill / With all your faults I love you still / It had to be you
9. “All My Loving,” The Beatles
It’s the catchiest song on this list! I love the idea behind this song: two people are about to be separated for some time, so one is simply saying to the other that he’ll miss her.
Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you / Tomorrow I’ll miss you / Remember I’ll always be true
8. “A Littlepiece,” Neverending White Lights
This is one of the most beautiful songs I have probably ever heard in my life. When I listen to it, I hear a man telling his introverted, maybe a bit depressed girlfriend, that he is there for her even when she’s at her worst.
You don’t have to breathe / I will, I will breathe in for you, love
Coldplay has a lot of good songs, a few of them pretty romantic. But I think that this is by far their most romantic song. It speaks to the idea that everyone has a perfect mate out there, and that they’re worth waiting for.
For you I’d wait ’til Kingdom Come / Until my day, my day is done / And say you’ll come and set me free / Just say you’ll wait / You’ll wait for me
6. “Sarah’s Apartment,” Juliana Finch
This is one of the most uplifting songs ever. It’s about two people who are pretty different finding a life together in Atlanta. It’s actually my dad’s favorite of Juliana’s songs.
‘Cause when she says she wants children / He knows that they’ll have his eyes / That’s enough to make him compromise / In Sarah’s apartment
5. “Chasing Cars,” Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol, oh Snow Patrol. Wherefore art thou, Snow Patrol? This song is one of my favorite songs of all time. I like the sentiment behind it: you and me against the world.
We’ll do it all / Everything / On our own / We don’t need anything or anyone
It may be cheating to have the Beatles on the list twice, but I don’t care. I have the Beatles on the list twice. They’re my favorite band, after all. Might as well. I like this song because it’s about that spark that you feel when you meet the person you want to be with.
Somewhere in her smile, she knows / That I don’t need no other lover / Something in her style that shows me / I don’t want to leave her now / You know I believe, and how
3. “You and I,” Ingrid Michaelson
This is by far the cutesiest song on the list – it’s a twee girl with a ukelele, come on now – but it’s also super sweet. It’s very uplifting: you may not have a lot of money or be in the best place in life, but if you have each other, you can always dream big.
Let’s get rich and build a house on a mountain makin’ everybody look like ants / way up there / You and I
2. “Nothing Else Matters,” Metallica
What! Metallica? On a love songs list!? Yeah, that’s right. It never even says the word “love” in it anywhere, but it’s a love song. It’s about finding someone with whom you can be yourself, and I think that’s one of the most important things of all.
Trust I seek and I find in you / Every day for us, something new / Open mind for a different view / and nothing else matters
This is the number one most romantic song I have ever heard in my life. In it, Ben Folds tells three little vignettes, in which he is explaining how lucky he is to have met the person he’s met. The first is about how mistakes and failed relationships are the path that lead the road to the right one. The second is a story saying that he’s lucky to have been born in the right time period to be able to be with his love. And the third is the story of a couple that dies after a lifetime of happiness together. It’s gorgeous, it’s sweet, it’s romantic, and it makes me cry almost every time I hear it.
I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you