# Overlooked love songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 4, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952 "2005-03-04T19:50:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Treviathan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@Treviathan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treviathan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/21 "2005-03-05T02:51:53Z")
“I Can Feel It” by Sloan. It’s sweet and innocent, and super catchy. I’m also partial to “Five Days in May” by Blue Rodeo: _Well, I know my past, You were there, Everything I’ve done…you are the one_. ---
**Author:** ![AveDementia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@AveDementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AveDementia)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/22 "2005-03-05T03:51:29Z")
[As I lay me down](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/sophie-b-hawkins/127780.html) by Sophie B. Hawkins Very sweet without crossing over into glurge. Also, Aaron Neville has a pretty good version of [You never can tell](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/a/aaron-neville/2347.html) The original version by Chuck Berry is also great. ---
**Author:** ![Dubious\_Sacrifice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f08c70/32.png) [@Dubious\_Sacrifice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dubious_Sacrifice)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/23 "2005-03-05T03:57:10Z")
> [@melondeca](#): > > What can you suggest? **Prince** - _Adore_ ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/24 "2005-03-05T04:07:39Z")
“You’re All I Need to Get By” by Marvin Gaye and Tammy Tyrell. “Love Song for a Vampire” by Annie Lennox. (OK, part of the second verse is a little maudlin, but it ends happily.) “I’ll Stand By You” by the Pretenders. “Power of Two” by the Indigo Girls. “Rebel Heart” by the Corrs - this is an instrumental, but it’s SO lovely it’s definitely appropriate for a wedding. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/25 "2005-03-05T10:04:11Z")
I strongly recommend “45 Years” by Stan Rogers. It’s folk music, not rock, but it could work for a slow dance. The version on his _Home in Halifax_ CD is particularly good. This is the CD of his last recorded live performance and you can quietly hear him say, “This is for my wife” at the beginning. Here’s the chorus: > [@](#): > > And I just want to hold you closer than I’ve ever held anyone before. > You say you’ve been twice a wife and you’re through with life, > Ah, but Honey, what the hell’s life for. > After 23 years you’d think I could find a way to let you know somehow > That I want to see your smiling face _45 Years_ from now. Mind you, I am biased about this song. A man I once loved dearly played it for me right before he proposed. Of course I said, “Yes.” CJ ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/26 "2005-03-05T12:20:02Z")
Nick Cave’s “Into My Arms” “I don’t believe in an interventionist God But I know, darling, that you do But if I did I would kneel down and ask Him Not to intervene when it came to you Not to touch a hair on your head To leave you as you are And if He felt He had to direct you Then direct you into my arms” It’s just lovely. I also like Drugstore’s “Sober” “Now that I don’t feel so lonesome anymore Now that I am not afraid at all If you put your arms around me I won’t fall Now that I am not afraid at all” “Fall In Love With Me”- Booth and The Bad Angel “You Belong to Me”- Bob Dylan or whoever you prefer on vocals. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/27 "2005-03-05T13:16:14Z")
_The Last Man in My Life_\* from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s **Song & Dance**. An exquiste love song In each other we find all we’re looking for and more. Found the rainbow I was after No more dreams with one face missing. I am certain you’re the last man in my life. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/28 "2005-03-05T15:31:13Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > _The Last Man in My Life_\* from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s **Song & Dance**. An exquiste love song > > In each other we find all we’re looking for and more. > Found the rainbow I was after > No more dreams with one face missing. > I am certain you’re the last man in my life. That’s not on my copy of Song & Dance! I have the Bernadette Peters one - which one do you have? But that brings to mind another good love song, from my copy: “Unexpected Song” (performed by Bernadette Peters): _“I have never felt like this for once I’m lost for words Your smile has really thrown me This is notlike me at all I never thought I’d know The kind of love you’ve shown me…”_ ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/29 "2005-03-05T15:42:36Z")
The original Marti Webb 2CD set, which is about a million times better than Bernadette, and also includes the “Dance” part. “Unexpected Song” was originally the Dance encore, a song called “When You Want to Fall in Love” Hands and faces whirl around A half remembered sound The dreaming heart is waking. When you want to fall in love you may find less than love But that’s a chance worth taking. I often thought the two versions would make a great male/female duet, and my Russian cousin did so (but in Russian) and sent me a CDR. The tune was originally used (and cut) in Jeeves as “Literary Men.” ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/30 "2005-03-05T15:54:22Z")
I seem to be the only person on earth who thinks thet Ben E King’s _Stand By Me_ is one of the all time great love songs: 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 Oh, I won’t be afraid Just as long as you stand Stand by me, so Darling darling stand by me Oh, stand by me Oh stand, stand by me, stand by me If the sky that we look upon Should tumble and fall Or the mountain Should crumble to the sea I won’t cry, I won’t cry No, I won’t shed a tear Just as long as you stand Stand by me… ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/31 "2005-03-05T19:42:31Z")
Oh, I’ll agree with you on that one. On the other hand, you may live to regret that in a moment. You see, I’m about to mention a couple of songs by Meatloaf, specifically, _Modern Girl_ and _Heaven Can Wait_. Both of them have the right sort of outlook for a wedding, especially _Heaven Can Wait_, which ends with “Let the altar shine”, the last line of the chorus. CJ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/32 "2005-03-05T20:04:23Z")
People tend to overlook any of Harry Warren’s songs. “I Only Have Eyes For You” is great in the original version; other singers tend to drag it out, making it sappier than it has to be. “Darling If” by Spirit “I Will” by the Beatles “Bargain” by the Who “I Married Her Just Because She Looks Like You” by Lyle Lovett (though not at a wedding, perhaps). “Corrina” by Taj Mahal “She’s Such a Beauty,” “Fresh as a Daisy,” and “You Take the Dark Out of Night,” by Emitt Rhodes, a truly great writer of love songs. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/33 "2005-03-05T22:40:42Z")
(Obscure musician fan hat ON) You might take a listen to this one by Happy Rhodes. She’s not usually an “I’m in love/I lack love/I loved, but got hurt so bad” artist (I searched through the lyrics of 11 albums, and could only find a few), so this kind of song is rare for her. It’s very simple, but it’s become one of my favorite love songs, and I usually dislike most love songs because they’re so lyrically sappy and/or musically crappy. Btw, she knows I share her music and is ok with it. [Happy Rhodes - Here and Hereafter](http://equipoise.teemingmillions.com/happy/HappyRhodes_FindMeSampler07_HereAndHereafter.mp3) Here are a comple of others from very early, when she was working at a recording studio as an apprentice engineer and recorded her own songs just to learn the equipment and techniques, like overdubs (all those voices are hers). [Happy Rhodes - Come Here](http://equipoise.teemingmillions.com/happy/HappyRhodes_RhodesII_ComeHere.mp3) (a waltz, from 1986) [Happy Rhodes - If Love Is A Game, I Win](http://equipoise.teemingmillions.com/happy/HappyRhodes_Ecto02_IfLoveIsAGameIWin.mp3) (from 1987) She has a few other “relationship” songs, but they’re not suitable for a wedding. She has a song about weddings (“The Chosen One”) but it’s more about being on the watching one end, rather than the being in one end. Congratulations! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/34 "2005-03-06T00:18:06Z")
Most of our list from our wedding (screened for wedding suitability and everything): Suddenly - Billy Ocean (our first dance song) Can I Have This Dance - Anne Murray (our parents’ dance song - a nice waltz) Unforgettable - Cole, Nat King & Natalie Something - The Beatles Something About You - Level 42 My Girl - Temptations Marry Me - Amanda Marshall Always a Woman - Joel, Billy When You Say Nothing At All - Krause, Alison & Union Station Take My Breath Away - Berlin Hold On, I’m Coming - Sam & Dave Love Me Do - The Beatles Emotion - Bee Gees You Sexy Thing - Hot Chocolate Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen Forever Man - Clapton, Eric Forever and Ever, Amen - Travis, Randy How Deep is Your Love - Bee Gees You’re The One That I Want - John, Olivia Newton & Travolta, John I Wanna Hold Your Hand - The Beatles Two Hearts Beat as One - U2 Sign Your Name - D’Arby, Terence Trent I Will Always Love You - Houston, Whitney When Something Is Wrong With My Baby - Sam & Dave Let’s Go All the Way - Sly Fox Smooth - Santana, Carlos & Thomas, Rob I Feel Love - Summer, Donna Loverboy - Ocean, Billy Open Arms - Journey Kiss - Prince Wild Thing (Funky Cold Medina) - Tone Loc Three Times a Lady - Commodores I Was Made For Loving You - Kiss Pride & Joy - Vaughan, Stevie Ray When a Man Loves a Woman - Sledge, Percy A Word in Spanish - John, Elton Let’s Get it On - Gaye, Marvin To be a Lover - Idol, Billy Enjoy Yourself - Jackson Five 100 % Pure Love - Crystal Waters Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers Sunshine of Your Love - Clapton, Eric I Wanna Rock With You - Jackson, Michael Givin’ Him Something He Can Feel - En Vogue Hold On - En Vogue Right Now - Van Halen You Make Lovin’ Fun - Fleetwood Mac Sugar Pie Honey Bunch - Four Tops All the Lovers in the World - Gowan, Lawrence Kiss On My List - Hall & Oates Everlasting Love - Jones, Howard Walkin’ On Sunshine - Katrina & the Waves ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/35 "2005-03-06T00:23:20Z")
> [@The Scrivener](#): > > A few unusual picks: > > “I Can’t Make You Love Me” – Bonnie Raitt > > Lovely and delicate, both musically and in its sentiments, and thus would make a good first dance song, even though it’s too sedate to be a standard dance number. I’ve always interpreted that as a song about heartbreak. In fact, really bad heartbreak. Have I been wrong all this time? I love the song, Thank You, by Dido. I think it’s played at every wedding reception, but it is a beautiful song. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/36 "2005-03-06T00:29:31Z")
Also, Sabbra Caddabra, by Black Sabbath. I don’t know how metal you guys are, but it’s a great song, and actually pretty romantic. ---
**Author:** ![Tenzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Tenzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenzin)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/37 "2005-03-06T01:14:48Z")
“If I Needed You”- Townes Van Zandt Two and a half minutes that will make sweet tears flow from the hardest of hearts. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/38 "2005-03-06T01:24:18Z")
Peter Gabriel - “In Your Eyes” Pete Townshend - “A Little Is Enough” Tom Waits - “San Diego Serenade” Richard Thompson - “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” “Hesitating Beauty”, from the Wilco / Billy Bragg CD “Mermaid Avenue” (the one where they put old Woody Guthrie lyrics to music). ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/39 "2005-03-06T01:40:22Z")
Frank Sinatra said _Someting_ (… in the way she moves …) by George Harrison was one of the best love songs of the second half of the last century. He may have been right. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952/40 "2005-03-06T02:11:40Z")
Hmmm…Well, here’s some of my suggestions. I tried not to put in any too “Celine Dion-y” ones, but some may still have gotten in. (You know the saying…“no song is too sappy when you’re in love.”) “Love Song for a Vampire”—Annie Lennox (From the _Bram Stoker’s Dracula_ soundtrack. It’s pretty.) “Brown Eyed Girl”—Van Morrison (This is, of course, only usable if at least one of you is a brown-eyed girl) “Accidentally in Love”—Counting Crows “Love Changes Everything”—Sarah Brightman “I Love You”—Sarah McLachlan “I Only Want to Be With You”—Vonda Shepherd “She Drives Me Crazy”—Fine Young Cannibals “That’s All I’ve Got to Say”—America “Wild Honey”—U2 “Island Home”—Christine Anu (Not really a love song, though, I guess.) “We Belong”—Pat Benatar “Someone to Watch Over Me”—(Any number of artists, I’m partial to Linda Ronstadt) “Rachel’s Song”—Vangelis (From the _Blade Runner_ soundtrack) “Kiss Me”—Sixpence None the Richer (But only if you’re getting married at a highschool prom, circa 1999.) “Across the Stars”—From the soundtrack to _Star Wars: Episode II_ “Because the Night”—Patti Smith or 10,000 Maniacs “All is Full of Love”—Bjork “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon”—Urge Overkill Well, those last three might be best for the honeymoon. 😉 Good luck, and tell us what you decide on! Ranchoth [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overlooked-love-songs/292952.md?page=3)