Get ready cause there’s a lot of lovin’ goin’ on in this one…
Happy Valentine’s Day! Love is in the air. While I make it a point in my life to celebrate love and chocolate 365 days a year, there’s nothing I love more than a day dedicated to showing a little extra lovin’ to your S.O., family, friends and, of course, yourself! What better way to celebrate this year than to crank up the love tunes and dance with the people you love most? So… my gift to you this year (as you can probably assume from the title) is a playlist full of love songs. No, unfortunately, I’m not gonna go all out and sing “My Funny Valentine” over a tape (only Janice can do that), but I have to say this playlist is for anyone and everyone who needs a little extra love in their life.
So, without further adieu, let’s get it on…. (I’m sorry I had to!)
Romantic Love Songs
Over the years, love songs have been keeping up with the times and evolving into ones that encourage inclusivity and have come to embrace and celebrate all kinds of love. In the past, love songs were singing about love in a one-dimensional, rose-colored, simple and sweet manner. Sometimes we all need a blast from the past, in fact, some of my favorite love songs are songs like, “La Vie En Rose,” Paul Simon’s “Still Crazy After All These Years” and Elvis’“I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You.” These songs came out in the late 60’s early 70’s and are still covered over and over again because they are that good! In fact, the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians featured Kina Grannis’s cover of it in the most beautiful wedding scene, and if you haven’t seen it, prepare to cry like a baby!
Nat King Cole’s “L-O-V-E.” comes to mind as one of the staple love songs. If you don’t know this one, it’s pretty much the only reason I know how to spell “love” in the first place. Of course, Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me To the Moon” fills your heart with all kinds of goodness-–pretty much any Sinatra song does that. Feel good tunes like Bruno Mars’ “Just The Way You Are”, “Love on the Weekend,” (and just about every John Mayer song) make my heart flutter, and come on, “She Will Be Loved” by Maroon 5 is so freaking good. But I’m a girl who fancies the cliché love songs. My dad and I still sing together in the car, songs about love-at-first-sight like Prince’s “Raspberry Beret,” ballads like “Endless Love” by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, “Your Song,” by Elton John and Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called To Say I Love You.” And it’s because of songs like these that I expect nothing less than a man who stands outside my window with a boombox to tell me he loves me. (Thank you, John Cusack, for setting my expectations ridiculously high.)
Music over the years has become more inclusive when it comes to love, and artists are coming from all backgrounds, singing songs about love in the way they know it. You are hearing more songs that are using interchangeable pronouns, like Frank Ocean (possibly one of the greatest artists of our time) using male pronouns when singing about unrequited love in “Forrest Gump,” and Mary Lambert’s “She Keeps Me Warm” which was later featured on Macklemore’s hit, “Same Love.” Other younger and current artists like King Princess, Sam Smith, Kehlani, Hayley Kiyoko, and Troye Sivan are all making incredible love songs, and pop albums that stand apart from the traditional mold.
And it’s not just this recent generation that has been writing music that includes the LGBTQ+ community. “Somebody to Love” by ‘70’s band Queen acts as a call for tolerance and celebration of all kinds of love. It’s amazing how over time, music has become a method for people to express love no matter the details.
Love Songs for Your Friends and Family
Back home, every year on February 14th my mom would decorate the dining room with “be mine” and “kiss me” candy hearts on the table, flowers, and a fancy breakfast to show her love. In elementary school, you gave valentines to all your schoolmates, and even though we don’t do that in college, I still like to make little valentines for my friends. Love songs exist for platonic and familial relationships as well! Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” was written to celebrate his love for his newborn daughter, and Taylor Swift’s “Best Day” is written for her mother. Some of my favorite love songs to sing with my friends are: Jackson 5’s, “I’ll be There”; The Spice Girls’ “Wannabe”; and “Stand By Me” (my roommate and I actually sing this one together a lot!). So if you are feeling like you’re spending another Valentine’s Day solo (I feel ya), don’t forget to tell the ones around you how much you love them! Better yet–sing it!
Universal / Worldly Love Songs
Some of the greatest songs out there aren’t even about a specific person, but for all people! In the ’60s, The Beatles released probably one of the greatest records of all time, Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and on it was the sensational, “All You Need is Love.” The band sang of love as a necessity for humankind, “it’s easy..love is all you need!” Around the same time, Bob Marley released, “One Love,” a song that to this day inspires people from all walks of life to love each other. Along the same lines are songs that are almost a call for love to save the world, some being, “Where is the Love?” by the Black Eyed Peas and Michael Jackson’s “Heal the World.” Stevie Wonder released “If It’s Magic” in the ‘70s, which gives love this transcending power that,“holds the key to every heart,” uniting all people in the world. Even the ‘90s musical Rent, famous for many of its songs, released “Seasons of Love” which is all about measuring your life in (you guessed it), LOVE.
Love Songs for Netflix and Chill
There are some songs that are straight up about sex… and they’re f*cking awesome.
On her 1961 album, At Last! Etta James’ bluesy, “I Just Want to Make Love To You” made it clear that she was a woman who knew what she wanted, and shot right to the top of the charts. In the ’70s and ‘80s, (hell, today even), Madonna was huge. Her song “Crazy for You” is a smash hit and is one of many that made her the icon she is today. Not only was she singing about physical attraction in love, but Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”, Boyz II Men “I’ll Make Love To You”, Beyoncé’s “Drunk in Love”, and of course “Despacito”–the song that took over the world this past summer–are all just about as straightforward as you can get.
Love Songs About Lovin’ Yourself
Self-Love, self-care, and self-confidence are major aspects of Valentine’s Day in the 21st century. Valentine’s day is a time to treat yo’ self and to show yourself some extra love! Some of these songs are just too good not to mention, like ‘90s R&B artist Ms. Lauryn Hill who sings about self-respect and self-actualization in “Doo Wop (That Thing),” Lizzo’s “Good as Hell,” Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On,” (which is on my rotation every morning) and I don’t even have to explain the importance of Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next.” Troye Sivan’s “My My My!” a pop anthem that feels as good as it sounds is all about “liberation, freedom and love.” In his interview with Nylon, Sivan expressed how important it is to “be present in your body, love wholeheartedly, move the way you’ve always wanted to, and dance the way you feel.” Whatever song you sing in the shower, the song you dance to when you’re brushing your teeth, or any song that is your way of telling yourself, “I love you,” sing it loud, proud and dance like nobody’s watching!
So this Valentine’s Day, whoever you are sharing it with, be it your best friends, a special someone, your family or yourself, make it all about love. Love comes in all shapes and sizes, and music wonderfully encompasses all kinds of relationships and tells all sorts of love stories. Coldplay’s “Yellow” takes you to the stars, Camila Cabello sings about her love of her home in “Havana,” and of course, Mac Miller and Ariana Grande’s duet “Favorite Part” makes you want a special someone to sing with. So, whoever you’re lovin’ on this year, let ‘em know and make it a point to remind yourself and those you love of just how much they mean to you; it’s easy as Do, Re, Mi! After all, what’s life without music? And what’s music without a little L.OV.E?