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Ten Valentine's Day Love Songs
Popular music is, of course, littered with love songs. It is the most common theme in music, because it's the most relatable. Some are slushy, some are naff, but some hit you right in the feels, and there is no doubting the raw power and effectiveness of a well-crafted love song.
And so we've rounded up 10 beautiful songs of love - plus 3 hours of Spotify bonuses - to soundtrack your Valentine's evening. After all, love and music is our business!
Gerry Rafferty - Right Down the Line
A beautiful and understated love song from 1978, notable for the fact that Rafferty never once mentions the woman's appearance in the song. No bull, no sap - just a man to a woman laying his declaration of love 'right down the line' as he delivers perfect line after perfect line. There can't be a human being on earth who wouldn't want to hear words like this. Magical.
Minnie Riperton - Lovin' You
Famed for the utterly insane high note at the end of the choruses, 'Lovin' You' has a purity that is hard to find in music - underpinned by the birds chirping away in the background. Riperton's goosebumps-inducing vocal is flawless, and perfectly conveys the sweetness of being madly and hopelessly in love.
Paul McCartney - Maybe I'm Amazed
Given Macca wrote an almost bottomless pit of incredible love songs, the fact many rate 'Maybe I'm Amazed' as his best bears testament to its stunning quality. In terms of the vocal, we get both Pauls, two for the price of one - the sweet cooing Macca and the famous McCartney howl. One of several paeans from Paul to Linda, it oozes passion from its every pore.
Stevie Wonder - I Was Made To Love Her
Speaking of passion - sheesh! We reckon this one is the most passionate of the lot, and one of the most passionate love songs of all-time. It is scarcely believable that Stevie was just 17 years old when he recorded this. The vocal is blistering stuff, with joyous raw feeling positively bursting out of it, ad-libbed lines here and there, and young Stevie pumping his passion directly into your veins. Simply remarkable.
Vashti Bunyan - Love Song
From Stevie Wonder's throbbing 60s r&b, we take a step down for a moment. Love songs don't have to be euphoric to give you all the feels. This beautiful little folk lament from Vashti Bunyan starts out as a haunting declaration of love, before the gut punch of the final verse when we discover her love is unrequited. Ooof.
I love you now as you don't love me
I can't let you know you're too far away
But I wonder now just what did you see
When you looked at me in that loveless way
Roberta Flack - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Originally written by old Salford folkie Ewan MacColl in 1957, Roberta Flack's breathtaking cover took Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the Grammy's in 1972 and it's easy to see why. An enchanting record that stops you in your tracks: whatever you're doing when this song comes on, you stop and listen until it's over. Heart-swelling words - 'I thought the sun rose in your eyes / And the moon and the stars were the gifts you gave / to the dark and the endless skies, my love' - delivered with an improbable beauty.
Robert Wyatt - Sea Song
Robert Wyatt's masterpiece is one of the most unusual and unique love songs ever written. Wyatt's incredibly poetic turn of phrase - using the sea as a metaphor for his lover's changing moods - sits perfectly alongside a highly unusual but heart-rending melody. His distinctive and idiosyncratic voice - seemingly always on the brink of cracking - breaks your heart as he sings lines that you would think had no place in a love song.
The Beach Boys - Our Sweet Love
It would have been easy to include 'God Only Knows' - arguably the most special love song of them all - but instead we've turned to this overlooked little gem of a love song. It has all the hallmarks of Brian Wilson at his brilliant best - romantic but tinged with a sense of melancholy and a melody that makes you want to cry.
The Divine Comedy - Charmed Life
A special love song, and different to others on this list for it is about and dedicated to singer Neil Hannon's daughter, and that unbeatable love we have for our children. The song swells with love from start to finish, incorporating his lover, too, as they celebrate their shared loves.
Well the course of true love never ran smooth
They broke my heart and I broke theirs too,
And breaking up is so very hard to do
But I knew I'd find the one,
And sure enough she came along,
And not long after that along came you
A charmed life, indeed.
Paul Mauriat - Love is Blue
Can a wordless song be considered a love song? Well, yes, because here is the evidence! A timeless, sweeping melody that everybody knows, often without realising it. The original, with lyrics, described both the pleasure and the pain of love through colours ('red, red, my eyes are red'). In this easy listening cover version, the feeling is conveyed without words, as it sweeps romantically along on a bed of gorgeous orchestral strings and whimsical harpsichord. You are left in no doubt that this is the sound of love.
And there we have it! Is that enough love for you? Check out our Spotify playlist where'll you find these 10 plus an additional 40 timeless gems - and sink into these sensational songs of love!