Love is such a strange and complex emotion, it’s the thing that can break your heart, and open it up in the same moment.
Millions of songs have been written about the crazy emotion known as love, both really crappy, as well as really beautiful. It’s a known fact that I am not really the biggest fan of love songs, most are just too sappy and annoying for me and make me want to commit crimes that I can’t speak of, but thankfully there are a lot of creative artistic musicians out there that have written some gorgeous love songs that I happen to adore. So, I decided to make a list of some of my most hated love themed songs, as well as my most loved. I meant to post this on Valentine’s Day (aka “I didn’t murder my boyfriend, he just happened to fall on my knife after not buying me a teddy bear that sings Elvis love songs” day) but I was busy and didn’t get to, so I’m posting it now…cuz I rock like that. Hope you enjoy! Feel free to share your lists here as well :)
Love songs that make me want to be violent
1. Lucky – Colbie Caillat and Jason Mraz (“I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend, Lucky to have been where I have been, Lucky to be coming home again, I'm lucky we're in love in every way” . Come on, no one is really that happy…ever. Yes, while you are all smitten as a fluffy white kitten about your Significant other in the beginning, trust me the feeling will wear off soon enough when they start neglecting you, lying to you, and taking you for granted, and then the only thing you’ll feel “lucky” about, is that you have a best friend who knows how to get rid of a body.)
2. ANYTHING by the Plain White T’s (“Hey there Delilah” makes me want to murder boys in skinny jeans. For heaven’s freaking sake Plain White T’s, get another emotion other than love! You are not girls! Stop being so flipping lovey dovey, your band makes me very uncomfortable and squirmy on the inside.)
3. Bubbly – Colbie Caillat (I don’t even really remember how this one goes anymore…err, something about her toes and something on her nose…it makes me want to sneeze.)
4. Anything by Vanessa Carlton (does she ever sing anymore? I hope not. I do like “Noltia Fairytale” though. Sadly though, Miss Carlton’s songs have become every googly eyed girly girl’s anthem.)
5. Truly, Madly, Deeply – Savage Garden (one word; GAY. No real man wants to stand with a girl on a mountain unless they are getting some action on that mountain…yeah, we all knew Darren Hayes was playing for the other team)
6. Anything by Sara Bareilles (excluding her song “King of Anything”, that’s actually good).
7. Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing – Aerosmith (Good Lord, how we were all tortured in ’98 with this, err, power balled??? Aerosmith is cool, but they went so wrong with this over dramatic song about wanting to basically stalk your lover…and not in that sexy hot way either, but in the “oh my, you have nothing else to live for but to watch me…creepy!!!” way. Not cool.)
8. Gardenia – Mandy Moore (“I'm the one who likes Gardenia; I'm the one who likes to make love on the floor” Awkward!!! Thank you Mandy Moore for disclosing way more info than we wanted to ever know about you. Please stop torturing us with your squeaky voice and go enjoy life with your hot husband, Ryan Adams, instead of singing about sex with him….then again, if I had a husband as hot as yours I might sing about it too…)
9. Your Body Is A Wonderland – John Mayer (“One thing I've left to do, discover me discovering you. One mile to every inch of your skin like porcelain, one pair of candy lips, and your bubble gum tongue” Ah John, you never cease to make things awkward. I got what you were going for, but you just made whatever girl (or guy?) you were writing about sound like the amazon or something. Tip to guys, if you’re going to sing about a gals body, do it in a less creepy way.)
10. Forever love (Dígame )– Anna Nalike (“Forever love, Say you'll love, Dígame, Dígame, Tell me so…” I really love Anna, she’s awesome, but this song is dumb!)
11. Haven’t Met you Yet – Michel Bubble (I hate songs that talk about being in love with someone you’ve yet to meet…it’s so cheesy and almost desperate. Do yourself a favor and wait to write a “love song” until you are actually in love with a real person, eh?)
12 . Kiss me - SixPence None The Richer (Don’t talk about kissing…just freaking do it already ;) And what’s bearded barley anyway???! Really though, cute idea for a song, and I’ll admit on like one or two days of my life I have enjoyed it, but it’s just too sappy for me. Listen to New Found Glory’s version, it’s more fun.)
13. Barlow girls – Superchick (Good song, great heart behind it. OVER PLAYED!!!)
14. Wait For Me – Rebecca St. James (I’m all for Virginity until marriage…but freakin’ please don’t sing about it, eh? Christians are famous for playing this song at EVERY WEDDING they have, no matter if the couple getting married already have 5 kids and they just strolled down the aisle with your mother in law, “what kids?” we say, “we see nothing! In fact God didn’t even see anything! You’re a VIRGIN!!!! I mean really, Christians got to stop that.)
15. Falling for you – Colbie Caillat (“I've been spending all my time Just thinking about ya, I don't know what to do, I think I'm fallin' for you”, yes Colbie freakin’ Caillat strikes again, ugh, is this girl always so freakin’ in love and happy? “Oh I just can't take it, My heart is racing, The emotions keep spinning out” ..yeah, someone needs to check her meds! )
16. God gave me you – Dave Barns (“God gave me you for the up’s and down’s, God gave me you for the days of doubt”. Blah! This song is so sappy and thankful it makes me want to throw up.)
17. Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop – Landon Pigg (Been there and done that Landon, it was hell, and your song only reminds me of that hell. Thanks.)
18. Brightly Wound – Eisley (at one point I loved this song, then a dumb boy came, along with a really bad two months of being stuck at my grandparents’ house, and now I will forever fully hate it. And that sucks because it’s actually a great song. If I hear it though, I end up wanting want to punch people.)
Love songs that make me all happy and melty in my little strange heart
1. Closer – Nine Inch Nails (Don’t listen if you get offended easily! Lol. Basically, in nicer terms, this song is all about wanting to sleep with someone. I don’t endorse the message, but dang, the music makes me hella melt! Mmmm, soo sweetly and horribly amazing!)
2. Does This Inspire You? – Dies (“Dies” is the industrial side project of Josh Dies, lead vocalist of Showbread. This song is pretty much the moral version of “Closer”, in that it is a “wedding night song” written from a husband to his wife. Think Songs of Solomon. Seriously, this is how you write a love song guys! Take note! The lyrics are not smutty, but steamy and beautiful, filled with love and respect. Just listen and be swooned. “Your heart, it palpitates and spins, your organs dance and sing within, your ribs, they spread like ivory towers, my bride, my love, this night is ours”)
3. Oh! Emetophobia – Showbread (“Dance with me baby, I want to hear your voice, if I didn’t want to fall for you I never had a choice”. This is the song I will play at my wedding someday! A rockin’ and dancy tune about finding the person you love and how they make you feel alive…and Josh screams in it…*swoons* I love boys who can scream me a gritty love song )
4. There Is A Light That Never goes out – The Smiths or Anberlin (a morbid song about how you love being with someone so much that dying together would be beautiful. I love how peacefully morbid and dark this song is, sung by Anberlin, or by The Smiths, it is sure to make you want to find a truck to run into with your lover…don’t do that please, I am kidding. Suicide is not romantic kids…:)
5. I Will Possess Your Heart – Death Cab For Cutie (Ah, a song that makes me feel like stalking my crush and tying him to a chair in my basement and keeping him there until he realizes he loves me…oh, how romantic am i )
6. Not Alone – Sanctus Real (this song has a lot of meaning to me…”You are not alone; know that I will fight the tide to be together”. Real love does not run when it sees danger, it fights.)
7. Everlong - Foo Fighters (Who doesn’t think this song is one FF’s best songs ever?!?! When this song comes on I go to another place, it’s just so intense, and brings a flood of emotions…I love it)
8. Silver Springs – by Stevie Nicks, covered by Stacey Dupree, Jeremy Larson, and Darin King (this one is sad and somber…written about a lost love, and how you could have been loved them and been their everything, but they wouldn’t let you. And since you can’t be with them, you will haunt them and follow them forever, “you will never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you”.)
9. We Mapped The World – Joy Williams (a whimsy tune that will make you want to be whisked away with the one you love to beautiful adventures.)
10. Drumming Song – Florence and the Machine (I adore this song! The intensity and urgency in Florence’s voice, as well as the music, makes this one epic! “There’s a drumming noise inside my head and starts when you’re around, I swear that you can hear it, it makes such an almighty sound”)
11. Simple As It Should Be – Tristan Prettyman (“Put your hands to my hands, put your knees to my knees, put your eyes to my eyes, come on baby complement me” This song embodies my philosophy on love….when true, love is not all confusing and dramatic, it’s easy and free flowing, it’s “Simple as it should be”)
12. Volcano – Damien Rice (Oh Damien Rice, how your voice and music swoon me! This song can make you feel, I mean really feel. It’s oh so sultry and tortured…love it! “Don't throw yourself like that In front of me, I kissed your mouth your back, Is that all you need. Don't drag my love around, Volcanoes melt me down”)
13. This Will Make You Love Again – IAMX (I was introduced to this song by a friend back in December, and from the second I heard it, it became one of my most favorite songs. There’s a point in all our lives where we need something to make us love again, this song expresses that in a very emotional and deep, sultry way. “Every touch is sacred, when they leave the room, If have to switch the lights off, I wanna switch them off with you. This will make you love again. This will make you love again”)
14. Sweet and Low – Augustana (“…But no one’s giving up quite yet, we've got too much to lose. Hold me down, sweet and low little girl, Hold me down, sweet and low and I will carry you home” This song makes me feel so happy and relaxed, Dan Layus’s voice is just so sexy and gorgeous, and the lyrics are full of so much meaning… )
15. # 1 Crush – Garbage (“I will burn for you, feel pain for you, I will twist the knife and bleed my aching heart, I'll tear it apart” Hells yeah baby, morbid dark love is so hot and romantic…*swoon, purr*)
16. Goodnight and Go –Imogen Heap (“Why’d you have to be so cute, it’s impossible to ignore you, must you make me laugh so much…” this song makes me so happy :)
17. Love Fool – The Cardigans (“Love me, love me, say that you love me. Fool me, fool me, go on and fool me” Such a fun little tune to go around singing at the top of your lungs)
18. Reflecting Light – Sam Philips (“Looking through the night, and the moon's never seen me before, But I'm reflecting light” I sweetly beautiful song that makes you feel all warm and happy inside…it just feels special)
19. George Romero Will Be At Our Wedding – Showbread (Showbread’s tribute to George Romero’s horror movies, this song is about love that does not die; “I don’t believe that love can rot away , so first aim for the heart then aim for the head. If true love lasts forever then love doesn’t die, it just becomes the living dead”)
20. Heart Shaped Box – Nirvana (“She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak, I've been locked inside your heart-shaped box for a week. I was drawn into your magnet tar-pit trap; I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black” ‘nuff said yo )
21. Poison and Wine – The Civil Wars (“You only know what I want you to. I know everything you don't want me to. Oh your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine. You think your dreams are the same as mine. Oh I don't love you, but I always will.” This song pretty much describes my past relationship, but fortunately I love it for better reasons lol, like the fact that it is so enchanting and mysterious. )
22. One Fine Day – The Chiffons (“One fine day you'll look at me, and then you'll know our love was meant to be. One fine day you're gonna want me for your girl” Who doesn’t love this fun and happy song??! )
Honorable mentions:
Follow You Into The Dark – Death Cab For Cutie
Follow Through – Gavin Degraw
Heart Beats – Hose Gonzalez
Flightless Bird, American Mouth – Iron and Wine
~Cecily Priscilla