Love songs have been around ever since people starting writing songs. After all, it’s a universal subject. But to make our list of amazing Love Songs, cuts had to, well, cut deep into our hearts, saying things that might be a bit difficult to put into our own words.

 

1. Something-The Beatles

 From: Abbey Road (1969)

The Beatles’ greatest love song, and one of their all-time best, Something wasn’t even written by the two guys responsible for most of their hits. George Harrison was inspired by fellow Apple Records’ artist James Taylor’s Something in the Way She Moves, which gave the Beatles’ song its opening line. Harrison claimed the song wasn’t written for his wife at the time, remaining cagey about its subject throughout his life. Whomever it’s about, Something remains one of the greatest declarations of love ever written, and one of the most covered love songs of the past 50 years.

 

2. Your Song-Elton John

From: Elton John (1970)

Even with a few lyrical bumps (“If I was a sculptor, but then again, no ...” — um, no), Your Song is one of the purest expressions of love ever committed to song. Reportedly, John and Bernie Taupin wrote the song in less than 30 minutes, but its timeless appeal makes it one of the era’s most enduring hits. It also became the first of John’s long string of Top 10 singles.

 

3. God Only Knows - The Beach Boys

From: Pet Sounds (1966)

Brian Wilson’s greatest ballad anchors Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys album that helped set the stage for both their creative rebirth and Wilson’s descent into madness. It’s a glorious love song that cascades over one of the most gorgeous melodies ever written. No wonder so many artists have covered God Only Knows over the years. It’s one of the 20th century’s most remarkable musical achievements.

 

4. Maybe I’m Amazed -Paul McCartney

From: McCartney (1970)

Paul McCartney’s debut solo album from 1970 is filled with weird, fractured moments. Recorded while the Beatles were still a band, McCartney plays more like a set of skeletal frames and early-stage song ideas than a collection of real tunes. The exception is this terrific ballad, which McCartney wrote for his wife Linda. Six years after its release, the song was issued as a single in a live version from the album ‘Wings Over America,’ becoming a Top 10 hit. One of McCartney’s greatest (and least silly) love songs.

 

5. Wild Horses - The Rolling Stones

From: Sticky Fingers (1971)

Even though it didn’t crack the Top 25 as a single, Wild Horses remains one of the Rolling Stones’ most popular songs. It’s certainly one of their greatest love songs, a mournful country-influenced number penned by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. The song showed up on the Stones’ 1971 album Sticky Fingers, but it wasn’t the first version released. Richards’ pal Gram Parsons covered the song on his band the Flying Burrito Brothers’ album a year earlier. It’s pretty good too.

 

6. Thank You - Led Zeppelin

From: Led Zeppelin II (1969)

The mere thought of a love song written by the guys who delivered the hammer of the gods to hundreds of groupies sounds ludicrous. But there, buried on their great second album, is Robert Plant’s lovely valentine to his wife. “If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you / When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me” — pretty heavy stuff, even if it’s not quite as epic as the Tolkien fantasy worlds he often got lost in.

 

7. In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel

 From: So (1986)

Even before John Cusack lifted that boombox over his head in Say Anything ..., Peter Gabriel’s In Your Eyes was a pretty great love song. On an album filled with sweeping, timeless tracks, So’s original side-two opener stands out for a number of reasons. It features one of Gabriel’s best-ever vocals, for starters, and its hook builds over a graceful five and a half minutes. Plus, Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour provides some soaring relief on the chorus. One of the ‘80s’ best love songs.

 

8. Just the Way You Are - Billy Joel

From: The Stranger (1977)

Billy Joel wrote Just the Way You Are for his wife, who was also his manager at the time. After they divorced, he resisted playing the song in concert and insisted he never really liked it. Hard to believe, since it helped break Joel commercially after he spent the first two-thirds of the ‘70s struggling as both a live performer and a recording artist. It ended up as one of the decade’s quintessential love songs.

 

9. You’re My Best Friend - Queen

From: ‘A Night at the Opera’ (1975)

Queen bassist John Deacon wrote You’re My Best Friend for his wife, but its heartfelt message of love makes it one of the band’s most enduring, and universal, songs. It’s also one of the most straightforward songs in the group’s catalog, featuring a winning vocal by Freddie Mercury and a bouncy Wurlitzer (played by Deacon) driving the melody. It followed Bohemian Rhapsody into the Top 20.

 

Source: ultimateclassicrock.com