Top 10 Love Songs

Instead of writing about the phoniness (now that J.D. Salinger is dead that word is fair game, right?) of Valentine's day, I instead decided to embrace it. Sure I still think it's a chocolate-infested, fake holiday for couples who need a day on the calendar to act like they are romantic (as I wrote back in 2008), but what's wrong with celebrating love, even if it's commercialized?

Here are my Top 10 Love Songs:

(I've delibrately left off any of the songs that I included in my Guilty Pleasures post last June.)


10.) K-Ci and JoJo- All My Life (1998)

For everyone that swings and misses at these lyrics everytime they hear the song (and it's all of us), here they are.

Girl you are
Close to me you're like my mother
Close to me you're like my father
Close to me you're like my sister
Close to me you're like my brother
You are the only one my everything and for you this song I sing


9.) Journey- Open Arms (1982)

Journey's signature hit nowadays might be "Don't Stop Believin'", but "Open Arms" was without a doubt their most successful single. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and remained there for 6 consecutive weeks. Two of my other favorite 80's songs ("Centerfold" by The J. Geils Band for the first three weeks and "I Love Rock 'N Roll" by Joan Jett for the second three) kept it out of the top spot.

Of all the 80's hair bands, Journey was perhaps the most successful when it came to the power ballad and "Open Arms" was their best. In fact, on VH1's countdown of the Greatest 25 Power Ballads it was listed as #1.


8.) Edwin McCain- I’ll Be (1998)

Although this is probably the sappiest song on the list, McCain gets major bonus points for being a long time touring friend of Hootie and the Blowfish. "I'll Be" peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1998.

McCain also released another relatively famous love song, titled "I Could Not Ask for More", in 1999. I actually know a couple that got married last summer and chose this song to be their wedding song. Speaking of which, I should stipulate that even though the songs on this list are about love in some capacity, few of them would make great wedding songs. In fact, I have an entirely different list for that.


7.) Mr. Big- To Be with You (1991)

Nope not him, although speaking of which, I'd like to take this opportunity to politely state that I am not a fan of Sarah Jessica Parker. There's just something about her that annoys me. Also, I've long heard that Sex in the City is the female Seinfeld, but I never hear anyone reference the show. Now maybe that's because I don't get the references having never seen an episode or because I'm not around anyone that ever has. Either way, I don't think the shows should ever be mentioned in the same breath again.

Anyway, this song was so successful that it made it all the way to #1 on Billboard Hot 100 chart. And speaking of love songs, the song it replaced at the top of the chart was..... “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred


6.) Eric Clapton- Wonderful Tonight (1978)

Not only was this the song of my Junior Prom, but it also has quite the back story. Clapton wrote the song about Pattie Boyd, an English model and photogrpaher, who was married to Beatles guitarist George Harrison from 1966-1977.



Clapton became close friends with Harrison in the late 60's and the two began writing songs together. It was at this point that Clapton fell in love with Boyd. Shortly thereafter, Clapton also fell in love with Boyd's 17-year-old sister, Paula, who ended up moving in with him. Paula left Clapton when she heard "Layla" because it affirmed her long running suspicion that Clapton had been using her as a substitute for her sister.

Once Boyd's marriage with Harrison fell apart, Clapton swooped in. After denying Clapton's persistent advances during the early 70's, Boyd finally gave in and married him in 1979. Now you'd think that Clapton would be content with finally attaining the woman that he was virtually obsessed with for the better part of a decade, but he wasn't. Apparently he was all about the chase because in the course of his marriage to Boyd (1979-1988) he fathered two children out of wedlock (each with a different woman). Boyd knew about one of them, a boy named Conor who tragically died at the age of 5 by falling out of the window of a 53rd-floor apartment in NYC, but didn't find out about the other, a daughter named Ruth, until two years after she divorced him.

In 2007 Boyd wrote an autobiography titled, “Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me."


5.) Peter Gabriel- In Your Eyes (1986)

This song has become symbolic of love because of it's use in the Cameron Crowe film Say Anything (1989), which starred John Cusack. The iconic image of Cusack serenading Diane Court (played by Ione Skye) by hoisting a boombox over his head with this song playing has become representative of teenage romance.



The scene was referenced/parodied on a recent episode of ABC's Modern Family. (20:57 to 21:37)


4.) REO Speedwagon- Keep On Loving You (1981)



This classic love song/power ballad reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in March of 1981. It was also the 17th video played on the debut of MTV on August 1st, 1981.

I also enjoy another REO Speedwagon ballad, “Can’t Fight This Feeling”, especially because of its use in Not Another Teen Movie (2001). "Can't Fight This Feeling" is the song they play everytime the Jennifer Love Hewitt character Amanda Becker (played by Lacey Chabert) appears on screen. If you've seen the movie then you know that when she appears on screen everyone around her stops and stares until she moves.

3.) Lonestar- Amazed (1999)



I've long contended that Country songs tell the best stories. This song proves that the Country genre can also hang when it comes to songs about love. "Amazed" was #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks Chart for a record 8 consecutive weeks. The record of 8 weeks at #1 has been tied only once (by It's Five O'Clock Somewhere by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet in 2003) although that streak was not in consecutive weeks.


2.) Peter Frampton- Baby I Love Your Way (1975)



This song was first featured on Frampton's 1975 album Frampton, but a live version from his 1976 album Frampton Comes Alive! sparked it's popularity. The song peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

I became a fan of this song mainly because of the 1994 cover by American reggae band Big Mountain. Don't ask me why, but their cover and Jimmy Cliff's cover of Johnny Nash's song "I Can See Clearly" were my two favorite songs from age 7-10. Big Mountain's cover of "Baby I Love Your Way" reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and Jimmy Cliff's cover of "I Can See Clearly", which was featured on the Cool Runnings (1993) soundtrack, reached #18.

Fun fact- In the third season episode of Family Guy, "Death Lives", Peter reveals that "Baby I Love Your Way" is his and Lois's song, and Frampton guest stars as himself and sings it.


1.) Foreigner- I Want to Know What Love Is (1984)



Foreigner's most successful single reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1984 and remains a staple of adult contemporary radio stations to this day. "I Want to Know What Love Is" comes in at #57 on VH1's 2002 countdown of the Greatest Love Songs, but to me it's easily #1. It's slow, yes, but it's also poignant. There's a certain feeling of longing that connects with the listener.

Mariah Carey covered the song in 2009 and Foreigner lead guitarist Mick Jones (who wrote the song) had this to say about it:

"I think she's actually retained the integrity of the song. You know, the arrangement is very similar to the original. They haven't tampered with the song too much. She's captured a certain emotional thing, a feeling."