My Top 10 Love Songs

It's Valentine's week, which means I only have a few posts left in which to inundate you with all things pink, red, hearts, and love. Today, I decided to pick my favorite love songs of the happy, romantic variety, and much to my surprise, I found this to be quite a difficult task. At first, I couldn't think of any (turns out, most of my favorite love songs are the sad kind). Then, I could think only of Beatles songs (yes, they're awesome, but I felt I should diversify). Finally, when I did start thinking of love songs, a flood of songs came to me, and I had a difficult time narrowing them down to just 10. So without further ado, I present you with:

My 10 favorite Love Songs (for today):

10. "I Saw Her Standing There." Really, I could have picked any early Beatles love song; they all evoke that wonderful feeling of being young and in love for the first time, but for some reason, this is my favorite. It's not even the most interesting or complex of early Beatles songs; this one just makes me happy.

9. "When You Say Nothing At All": I'm most familiar with the Alison Krauss version of this beautiful classic.



8. "Brown-Eyed Girl," by Van Morrison. This one feels Bohemian and carefree and, again, evokes the feeling of young love, colored by the glow of memory.

7. "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard. Hansard recorded this with his band, "The Frames," but the mellower, more recent version from the film Once is more well-known. I like both versions, though my sentimental heart is most drawn to the simple piano driven duet from the film.


6. "Tree to Grow" by The Lone Bellow. Do yourself a favor and go listen to everything by this band, and try not to get emotional as the gorgeous harmonies swell during this song's declaration of faithful love in the midst of life's most difficult times.



5. "Sunshine of My Life" by Stevie Wonder. This is a great song, period. The words aren't super deep, but their expression of the joy and wonder of love is spot-on. And the music is insane. Just try to play it, I dare you. (One time, I was randomly singing the song at my parents' house, when my dad just started playing along, perfectly, with all the parts and the key changes; the man is brilliant.)

4. "For Emily, Wherever I may Find Her." This lesser-known Simon and Garfunkel gem is on their live "greatest hits" album. The song is about a beautiful dream filled with gauzy, ethereal imagery of a lover, but waking next to the real thing is even better: "When I awoke, and felt you warm and near, I kissed your honey hair with my grateful tears..."

3. "Thank You" by Led Zepplin. It's a little cheesy ("If the mountains crumble to the sea/It will still be you and me...) but the atmosphere of the song is so romantic to me, and the bluesy crackles in Robert Plant's voice make the line, "You, for me are the only one" seem profound, somehow.

2. "Maybe I'm Amazed." This Paul McCartney classic is too beautiful not to make the list.



1. "Something" by the Beatles. This one was a no-brainer because Adam and I danced our first husband and wife dance to this at our wedding. It also made a great wedding story as we attempted to explain to our friend who was running the music to "play something," as he looked at us in befuddlement. A wedding version of the "Who's on First" sketch followed, until we finally clarified that "Something" was the name of the song. George Harrison is the genius behind this classic, which is not only romantic and musically complex, but also contains a killer guitar solo.

What's your favorite love song?