I’ve given this some thought recently because it was played at my brother-in-law’s wedding last month. You may be correct, and that’s certainly how a cynic would look at it, but another way to interpret it is just the funny way that couples who’ve been together for a long time talk to each other. Kind of like “To the moon, Alice!”
It’s fun to dance to either way, and I don’t even like to dance :).
“All I Want To Do Is Make Love To You” by Heart isn’t quite what the OP is after, but it’s close and it’s interesting.
At first it sounds as if the meaning is, “You’re so wonderful that all I want to do in life is make love to you”, ie a fairly standard if extravagant nicey-nice love song lyric. Upon closer listening, the actual meaning turns out to be, “I don’t want to be in love with you, have any involvement or relationship with you at all - I just want the ‘making love’ part, that and nothing else”. Not quite what most people want to express with a supposedly romantic ‘love’ song.
Morris Day and the Time - Jungle Love
It’s not really about “love”.
Not “for their careers”, for them. Which until not so far ago was the way people looked at marriage, it was a matter of “convenience”, not of passion or even necessarily of companionship. It’s still a normal way to look at it for many people nowadays, just not the one we’re sold as normal.
And it was a play way before it was a movie 
I still remember the scandal over the political leanings of some of the cast members…
That said, it’s most definitely not a song of “romantic love,” if by that you mean pink hearts and angels playing the fiddle.
There is a song beloved of all New Zealanders, called Loyal by Dave Dobbyn. The chorus can get everyone in a pub singing at once:
And call me loyal, I’ll say you’re loyal too.
I know you’re loyal, I feel your loyal truth,
Call me loyal, I’ll hold you loyal too,
And we are loyal, keep it that way…
But the song is really about a couple who have broken up - the first verse:
I can’t remember last time I thanked you,
Keeping my distance unintentionally.
Too close for comfort, just ain’t close enough.
If I could have more time we would brainstorm.
And I love you tender, but we must walk away,
Keeping you on my greeting card file.
And if it were different - did you know it ain’t?
Let’s get on with it love…
Hey, loyal is a really stupid looking word when you type it over and over again!
The First Cut Is the Deepest.
More to the point - I just want want you as a sperm donor. Wham, bam, thank you Sam.
Si
Once, a group of us made a friend very irritated when we forced him to listen to and acknowledge the meaning of the lyrics to this song.
I have to say, I first heard this as a naive 17 year old and didn’t think even then that there was any other conclusion apart from a horny guy’s desire to sleep with his gf led him into a nightmareish lifelong commitment…! Hell, Meat Loaf’s hardly the subtle type!
:dubious:
Or maybe it was all the vitriol he was receiving?
-FrL-
Another popular one (that I’m surprised has not been mentioned yet) is John Mayer’s execrable “Daughters.”
In short: “I’ve dated some fucked up chicks, and it’s their dads’ faults. Dads, stop being assholes and turning your little girls into basket cases.”
Oasis’ “Wonderwall” would fall into this category, I think. Everybody thinks it’s a love song, but by the writer’s own admission it’s not. If I remember properly “Wonderwall” was a film before it was a song, and the film was about a man peering through a hole in a wall and obsessively spying on everyone. So the song is more about distraction and fixation than romantic love.
From the Wiki:
"It is often claimed that “Wonderwall” was written for Gallagher’s then-girlfriend, Meg Mathews. Noel married Mathews, but they were divorced in 2001. Gallagher now claims that the song was not about Mathews at all, but he felt he had to go along with the rumour, saying “The meaning of that song was taken away from me by the media who jumped on it. How do you tell your missus it’s not about her once she’s read it is? It’s a song about an imaginary friend who’s gonna come and save you from yourself.”
I’d argue that “You’re Beautiful” is a love song. Sure, James’s love is unrequited but unlike some of the other songs mentioned in this topic he still longs for his ex/the listener rather than being bitter or pointing out flaws.
I agree that this or “One” would be weird to dedicate at a wedding, but better than the Macarena. 
“Come On Eileen” is a bit of a let-down. On the surface, it seems like a happy little upbeat tune a fella is singing to his lady. The lyrics, though, are basically a guy trying to talk a girl out of her clothes, begging for sex.
OOOOOoooo bad joke but I’ll tell it anyway:
What’s worse than spit on Sally and mud on Mary?
Punchline = Dexy’s Midnight Runners song title.
I’ll add to the list “Amy” by Pure Prairie League.
Amy, whatcha gonna do?
I think I could stay with you
for a while
maybe longer if I do.
I keep fallin’ in and outa luv w/ u
ummm… don’t do me any favors :dubious:
In the Air Tonight
…when you told me you were drowning
I did not lend a hand…
I guess as long as the “I can feel it coming in the air tonight” line is yanked out of context, and the meaning of the lyrics is completely ignored, it is pretty “romantic.”
Even more to the point, I picked you up off the side of the road, took you to a cheap motel and we had sex all night. By the way, you were a sperm donor and that’s all I wanted you for. Don’t tell my husband that the kid isn’t his.
Is it wrong that I still really like this song? 
I wasn’t implying that Meatloaf is subtle, just that people are stupid, like the person who wanted “Better Man” by Pearl Jam as their wedding song… 
Joe
If the lyrics of “One” don’t suggest unity, the circumstances surrounding the writing of the song certainly do. U2 was on the verge of breaking up, and working on “One” helped the guys rally around the flag.