Otherwise, I would look into Don McLean, Dire Straights (Romeo and Juliet), Poco (Crazy Love, Rose of Cimmaron), The Shins (Pink Bullets), or maybe something by Ben Kweller. Sorry, I can’t look them up at the moment!
I would like to second the nominations for John Lennon’s “Grow Old With Me” and also “I Will” by the Beatles. The chorus to “I Will” is so pretty and simple:
Love you forever and forever
Love you with all my heart
Love you whenever we’re together
Love you when we’re apart
It’s on the White album. Do check it out. I recommended it to my sister and her fiancé. (And FYI: I got married Catholic, and we were allowed to have “Grow Old With Me” sung in church, so that’s pretty “appropriate” for all occasions.)
You were better to me than I was to myself
For me, there’s you and there ain’t nobody else
I want to stop and thank you baby
I just want to stop and thank you baby
If you don’t mind Country, how about Amazed by Lonestar? It was our first dance as Husband and Wife.
The chorus goes:
I don’t know how you do what you do, I’m so in love with you,
It just keeps gettin’ better, I want to spend the rest of my life,
With you by my side, forever and ever, Every little thing that you do,
Baby I’m amazed by you. *
Congrats, BTW.
Fun reception dance suggestion: The Hokey Pokey or The Chicken Dance. We did both at our reception, and it was blast!
Well, in te vein of amazingly beautiful songs with innapropriate lyrics, may I recomend “My Immortal” by Evanesence. Amy Lee has a hauntingly seductive voice, and the song itself flows good for slow dancing, but…well…the lyrics are either about a lover leaving the singer, or (more likely) dying.
The current free track on their website is called “Love Is Eternity”, written for a friend’s wedding.
Go here, click on ‘Free MP3’s’.
Won’t really fit unless your names are Dan and Lisa, though.
Try a song from the Smokey Robinson album Quiet Storm which is unimaginatively called Wedding Song. Its a very nice slow dance kinda number that Smokey wrote for Jermaine Jackson’s wedding. The whole album’s great, btw.
Happy Rhodes - Hold Me (original album, somewhat funky version)
Here’s a nice simple love song that she wrote and recorded when she was very young. It’s not suitable for dancing but it’s very lovely: Friend You’ll Be (lyrics)
And (evil gleam) here’s a song for your bridemaids. I don’t have the full song up but here’s a snippet and some of the lyrics. (written long ago, before her sweetie asked her to marry him)
(disclaimer: I’m not associated professionally or financially with this artist. I’m just a friend and long-time fan)
When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we see
No I won’t be afraid
No I won’t be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darling, darling stand by me
Oh, now, now, stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me
When the road gets dark
And you can no longer see
Just let my love throw a spark
And have a little faith in me
And when the tears you cry
Are all you can believe
Just give these loving arms a try
And have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
And when your secret heart
Cannot speak so easily
Come here darling, from a whisper start
And have a little faith in me
And when your back’s against the wall
Just turn around and you, you will see
I will catch you, I will catch your fall
Just have a little faith in me
-or-
I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
When I wake up
Yeah, I know Im gonna be Im gonna be the man
Who wakes up next to you
When I go out, yeah
I know Im gonna be Im gonna be the man
Who goes along with you
Dan Fogelberg’s song “Longer” has a lot of stuff like this:
Longer than there’ve been stars up in the heaven
I’ve been in love with you
I’ve always loved that. We had a magistrate marry us, followed by a lunch in a restaurant, so no dancing - but I played that tape in the car as Papa Zappa and I drove off on our honeymoon. It would be great for a slow dance.
I bartend weddings part time, so I see a lot of the same old slow songs again and again with the bride and groom sort of just swaying there on the dance floor… That said, I worked a wedding last weekend and it rocked. They must have taken some lessons because they did a fast one – Jump Jive Wail by Brian Setzer. If you know how to dance (or could learn in a few months!) maybe consider doing something fun like that. It was something to remember.
Mine was “Maybe I’m Amazed” by Paul McCartney. A beautiful song, but we stood there and swayed. Yawn
