If you know me well enough, you know I’m not one for lovey-dovey stuff.
My fic writing may suggest otherwise, but I assure you I’m not one for romance. In fact, my feelings about relationships/marriage can be summed up with Whoopi Goldberg’s thoughts on the matter: “I don’t want somebody in my house!”
Whoopi’s feelings about romance mirror my own.
That said, I am a sucker for a good love song. There are so many songs about love, and it’s hard to pick a handful for a list such as this. However, this is a list of some great love songs and with Valentine’s Day coming up, this is a great playlist for your loved ones.
Good Enough — Evanescence
Good Enough was the fourth and final single off Evanescence’s sophomore album, The Open Door. It was also the only song solely written and performed by co-founder Amy Lee.
The song was written for her longtime friend (and husband of nearly 16 years), Josh, as revealed in booklet of The Open Door, where Amy wrote, “Josh, you are my muse. Nothing inspires me the way you do. Thank you for all my missing pieces. Thank you for your strength and love. Thank you for letting me see myself through your eyes, because only then could I know that I am good enough for you.
Good Enough is all about accepting that you are good enough as you are, flaws and all. It’s about loving yourself and loving someone else because you are enough. And with Amy Lee’s beautiful vocals and piano, it makes for a fantastic love song.
Love Will Light the Day — The Fosters
This song is featured during season three of Freeform’s The Fosters. It is performed by cast members Mariana and her on/off boyfriend, Mat, as they play Romeo and Juliet in a musical based on the Shakespeare tragedy.
While Romeo and Juliet’s story is not an ideal one for love, this song is a great one for describing love. It features both Romeo and Juliet each singing a verse about their affection for each other and finishes with a duet where the two characters almost compete for vocal dominance.
The chorus, initially performed by Romeo, then performed in a duet during the closing moments, sum up a powerful love: “This love could be great, but they say it would be wrong. I don’t care, cause I’d be lost without you. We live because we love, we love ‘cause we belong. Yes I swear, oh you’ll hear the scars that never felt a wound. And we’ll never need their rules to guide the way. Love will light the day.”
I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You — Marc Anthony & Tina Arena
This song is the love theme of the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro. It is heard in instrumental fragments during the film and the full performance is saved for the end credits.
Marc Anthony and Tina Arena make a powerful singing duo in this song. They play well off each other and you can hear both of them singing when they duet, though Arena is arguably a bit louder during the chorus of the song.
This song sums up with love story between Alejandro Murrieta/Zorra and Elene Montero, and Anthony and Arena sing from both their perspectives. In fact, the two singers could easily be the characters singing the song as it closes the movie.
Across the Stars (Attack of the Clones love theme) — John Williams
Across the Stars represents the forbidden love between Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala that is depicted in the prequel trilogy, particularly the latter two films. It starts soft and nearly silent, similar to the way their love begins. Later, the song gets increasingly louder, just as the feelings of love grow between the characters.
The song also seemingly takes on a more tragic tone late in the song, a hint of what’s to come of the doomed romance between these two characters.
In addition to representing Anakin and Padme, the song represents the film as a whole and is heard numerous time throughout the film, most prominently when Padme declares her love for Anakin before they are sent into the arena to be executed during the film’s climax.
Where You Belong — Kari Kimmel
This song is about familial love rather than romantic. It’s used as the opening theme of Freeform’s The Fosters, and sums up the theme of finding a family that is present throughout the show.
Where You Belong is literally all about finding where you belong, particularly when it comes to family. The message of the song is summed up with the chorus: “It’s not where you come from, it’s where you belong. Nothing I would change. I wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re surrounded by love and you’re wanted. So never feel alone. You are home with me, right where you belong.”
Open Arms — Journey
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One of Journey’s most recognizable songs, Open Arms is a power ballad with lyrics attempting to renew a drifting relationship.
The song is a little slow in tempo and features Steve Perry’s powerful vocals as the main instrument, though other musical elements are certainly present. It is written in the ¾ time signature, much less commonly used than other songs.
Open Arms is often described as one of the greatest love songs ever written and has been covered numerous times, including by contestants on reality talent shows, by Mariah Carey and by Celine Dion.
Be My Lover—La Bouche
A fast-paced song, Be My Lover could be described as the precursor to the Spice Girls song Wannabe.
Like Wannabe, Be My Lover tells the lover of the narrator what they must do to be the lover. In the first verse, Melanie Thornton sings, “Go ahead and take your time, boy you gotta feel secure. Before I make you mine, baby, you have to be sure you wanna be my lover, wanna be my lover, wanna be my lover.”
With the song’s fast pace, it also serves as a great dance song. Indeed, there is a lot of dancing in the song’s music video and this song would be a hit at weddings and other celebrations where couples are doing a lot of dancing.
I Will Always Love You — Whitney Houston
Although originally written and performed by Dolly Parton, arguably the best known version of I Will Always Love You is Whitney Houston’s version, recorded for the film The Bodyguard, Houston’s film debut.
I Will Always Love You contains Houston’s signature vocals that dominate the song, but in a perfect way. Houston never misses a beat during the song and it becomes a powerful love ballad as she sings.
The song played numerous times following Houston’s death in 2012 in the tributes to the singer’s life. The song could be described as Houston’s signature song and is a major part of her legacy.
Can You Feel the Love Tonight (End Credits Version) — Elton John
Although Elton John wrote all of the songs for The Lion King, he was not featured in any of the songs until the end credits. John sings a version of Can You Feel the Love Tonight that shows his vocal prowess.
While the version in the movie (which is also a duet) is more specific to the love between Simba and Nala, the end credits version with John’s singing is more generic to any kind of love.
John truly shines during his performance of the song and it’s a shame the song wasn’t used during the film. This version is more powerful and epic than the duet version, though both songs do have their place.
Love Exists — Amy Lee
My all-time favorite love song is Amy Lee’s Love Exists. This is an English language cover of Francesca Michielin’s “L’amore esiste” (Love Exists) and is Lee’s interpretation of the song.
Lee’s vocal dominance shine through this song like no other. The song is mainly her voice, which serves it well in getting the message across.
When the song released, Lee described it as a passion project, with everyone involved in the song having no particular end goal other than recording the song. This certainly comes through during the song, with it arguably being the song where Amy’s talent shines through the most of all her songs.
The song could be seen as a description of multiple types of love. During the song, Lee sings about the many ways love can form. The chorus also describes love as something that has no end goal, other than to exist: “Love makes no sense, love has no name, love drowns you in tears and then sets your heart on fire. Love has no fear, love has no reason.”
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