Spotify recently released a playlist titled “What Love Sounds Like”. It’s a nice mixture of old and new, with a lot of different genres.
But, it’s not what love sounds like to me. The list is a little generic. So, I decided to share what love sounds like to me, a college senior in a new relationship. Love is going to sound different to everyone, but maybe my take on what love sounds like will ring true with you, too.
What Love Sounds Like (To Me), in no particular order:
“Mess is Mine” by Vance Joy
This is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard in a while and it hit me square in the chest when I first heard it. You ever have that experience where you realize, “This describes everything”? It was the song I was looking for. The idea of taking on someone else’s mess sums up what love is.
“Sleeping with a Friend” by Neon Trees
Love is messy and you find it in the strangest places.
“More Than This” by Vanessa Carlton
When you are in love, you really don’t need anything else. When you sit next to that person, nothing else matters. Time fades away. Problems float to the back of your mind. This doesn’t even apply to just a significant other. Do you have that group of friends that just comfort you? Maybe it’s a place; somewhere you can go and be at peace with the world. You always come away refreshed.
“Fell in Love Without You (Acoustic)” by Motion City Soundtrack
Sometimes love doesn’t last forever and it’s heartbreaking. This reminds me that it’s ok to remember the good times and it reminds me that everything happens for a reason.
“Partition” by Beyonce
Love isn’t all rainbows and butterflies and purity. Like I said, love is messy. It’s sexy. Beyonce wrote these lyrics thinking about her husband Jay-Z. She loves her man and wants to please him. This song makes me feel powerful and sexy, but at the same time it means something deeper when you feel that way with someone who means something to you.
“The Gambler” by Fun.
I cry every time I hear this song. It tells the story of one couple’s life together. But that’s not why it hits me close to home. It’s about family and there isn’t a greater love. “And even though she moved away we still get calls from our daughter. She has eyes just like her father, they are blue when skies are grey. And just like him she never stops…”, those lines make me cry every time because they make me think of my father and my family back home. I just get overwhelmed by love.
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“The Riff” by Dave Matthews Band
Love is work. People change, grow, and reveal pieces of themselves as time goes on. Sometimes you outgrow each other. When I heard this song live for the first time over the summer, I cried. It hit me. I know I keep using that phrase, but that’s what music like this does to you. That’s what love does to you. It hits you hard and leaves you gasping for your breath. After the impact, though, you see a little clearer.
“Forever My Father” by Go Radio
This songs means something to me in a whole different way, even more than what the lyrics might have you believe. This song takes me back to a specific place where I truly learned what love was. Friends sang this song and for a while it became our anthem. It will always remind me of them and the love I have for them and the place that brought us together. If you don’t have a significant, please don’t ever say you will never find love. Think about that. Think about friends, family, and places. Think about the feeling you have with the people who make you feel safe, comforted, strong. That’s where you will find your love.
“Inevitable” by Anberlin
“I wanna be your last first kiss that you’ll ever have“. Does that sum it up or what? There are moments in life that go too fast, but you know in that moment you wish it would last forever. Maybe it’s your first dance. Maybe its the first time you cook dinner together. Maybe it’s laying in your bed at 3 in the morning, delirious from sleep deprivation, laughing your butts off. This song is also a reminder that sometimes life gets in the way, but just remember those moments.
“Three Cheers for Five Years” by Mayday Parade
I hope love never feels like this for you. I truly do. But I can’t express enough how messy love is. And just because a relationship comes to an end doesn’t mean love is over for you. Love can hurt you. Something that makes you feel so amazing always has the potential to hurt you the most.
“Dance Inside” by All-American Rejects
Go ahead and laugh at me. You’re probably thinking “Really? Mayday Parade and then All-American Rejects?”. You start learning about love early on. I loved this song in middle school. I didn’t understand it one bit though. Now I do, and I love it even more. What is more beautiful than becoming one with someone? Sure, you can take it as sex, but it can be something more than that. Entering a relationship with someone is a scary, wonderful thing. You join your lives together.
“It’s You” by Michelle Branch
This song is a total throwback (as is most of this list, I’m realizing) but it’s so simple. For me, love is complex, but this song brings me down to just pure love. The butterflies. The kisses on your forehead. Reaching for your hand in a crowded room. Those little, simple acts that make you feel like the only girl in the world.
“Home” by Vanessa Carlton
In the end, home is where the heart is. The heart is where love is. Whoever/wherever that may be.
If you like my list, you can check it out on Spotify, plus more songs I’ve added. I’ll probably continue to update it.
Just remember love is a journey. You don’t know where it will lead you, or who will be there. Enjoy the ride.