9 alternative love songs
So, who doesn’t love a love song? But people who keep hearing the same ballad over and over again reduce the potency of the most positive feeling in the universe to a mall cliché. For your consideration, here are a few tunes that are not “I Will Always Love You” or “Can’t Fight This Feeling” in no particular order.
1. Alkaline Trio, “Mercy Me”
Can a punk band write a love song? Yes. Key line: “I used to long for time alone, I used to long for a place of my own / And I’ve lost faith in everything. I’m lost, so lost, I’m lost without you.”
2. Daft Punk, “Digital Love”
Sure, the vocals sound robotic filtered through a vocoder; it IS Daft Punk. But when they sing, “But suddenly, I feel the shining sun / Before I knew it, this dream was all gone / Oh I don’t know what to do about this dream and you,” the robots remind you of that feeling you had for your first mad crush.
3. Dashboard Confessional, “Hands Down”
Remember that first date you had that may have led to a great relationship? “My hopes are so high that your kiss might kill me. So won’t you kill me, so I die happy?” There it is, that day.
4. Rooney, “Stay Away”
You want to play it cool, but confess anyway. “Stay away from me tonight, I’ve made other plans and you’ll just be distracting me… in a good way… (Chorus: ‘She doesn’t know that I love her’)”
5. Fleetwood Mac, “Everywhere”
“You know that I’m proud and I can’t get the words out… I wanna be with you everywhere.” This could be borderline obsessive behavior though…
6. Jeff Buckley, “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over”
This one is rather sensual. And hopefully you won’t be playing this alone. With scented candles. By yourself. Please no. “It’s never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder.”
7. XTC, “The Mayor of Simpleton”
Love is dumb. And that’s perfectly okay. “If depth of feeling is a currency / Then I’m the man who grew the money tree / Some of your friends are too brainy to see, that they’re paupers and that’s how they’ll stay…And I may be the mayor of Simpleton but I know one thing and that’s I love you.”
8. The Dillinger Escape Plan, “Black Bubblegum”
Just kidding.
9. John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, “My One and Only Love”
Because really, jazz ballads set the bar high and hopefully our crummy date plans meet those standards.
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