Songs about being in love for a long time
March 12, 2024 10:45 AM Subscribe
What are your favorite songs about long-term relationships? Can be about people going through it (Can We Hang On) or unrepentant fluff (Ten Years), but should NOT be about people who remain together through sheer force of loathing (No Children etc.)
45 Years by Stan Rogers.
After twenty-three years, you'd think I could find a way to let you know somehow
That I want to see your smiling face forty-five years from now
posted by darchildre at 10:58 AM on March 12 [3 favorites]
After twenty-three years, you'd think I could find a way to let you know somehow
That I want to see your smiling face forty-five years from now
posted by darchildre at 10:58 AM on March 12 [3 favorites]
Still Into You by Paramore is a great song about a long-term relationship and still getting butterflies after all these years.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:58 AM on March 12 [4 favorites]
posted by Rock Steady at 10:58 AM on March 12 [4 favorites]
Stand Inside by Kurt Vile is about his relationship with his wife, and I put it on every wedding playlist I make.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:59 AM on March 12
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:59 AM on March 12
Darling Lorraine by Paul Simon
posted by shadygrove at 11:05 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
posted by shadygrove at 11:05 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
This will be - Natalie Cole
Higher and Higher - Jackie Wilson
Still the One - Orleans
When a Man Loves a Woman - Bolton
Have I Told You Lately - Rod Stewart
Wonderful Night - Eric Clapton
Everlasting Love - Carl Carlton
Funny enough I have a Google Music Playlist on this theme, definitely some laughably cheesy songs. I'll try to link it later.
posted by rubatan at 11:11 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
Higher and Higher - Jackie Wilson
Still the One - Orleans
When a Man Loves a Woman - Bolton
Have I Told You Lately - Rod Stewart
Wonderful Night - Eric Clapton
Everlasting Love - Carl Carlton
Funny enough I have a Google Music Playlist on this theme, definitely some laughably cheesy songs. I'll try to link it later.
posted by rubatan at 11:11 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
If We Were Vampires by Jason Isbell is about realizing that even a successful long term relationship generally ends with one person being widowed. The song isn't about vampires, btw. It just uses them as an example of what it would be like to be in a relationship that could not be ended by death. In the end, the narrator takes the position that this is what makes his and his partner's time together so precious: it is limited.
It's knowing that this can't go on forever
Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone
Maybe we'll get forty years together
But one day I'll be gone
Or one day you'll be gone
Sad footnote: Isbell wrote this for/about Amanda Shires. They're getting divorced now.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:14 AM on March 12 [11 favorites]
It's knowing that this can't go on forever
Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone
Maybe we'll get forty years together
But one day I'll be gone
Or one day you'll be gone
Sad footnote: Isbell wrote this for/about Amanda Shires. They're getting divorced now.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:14 AM on March 12 [11 favorites]
Through the Years, Kenny Rogers
posted by Melismata at 11:14 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 11:14 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
The Oscar-nominated song "It Never Went Away" by Jon Batiste could suit, and it's lovely.
I'm still having warm fuzzies after seeing him do it on the Oscars on Sunday - at some point he points into the audience and sings "every time I see your face," and he's pointing at his wife Suleika then. She's who he wrote it for, to comfort her when she was going through chemo; they met when they were teenagers at a band camp, and at during his Oscar performance, they show a clip of the pair at their own wedding mixed in with clips from movies like SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:15 AM on March 12
I'm still having warm fuzzies after seeing him do it on the Oscars on Sunday - at some point he points into the audience and sings "every time I see your face," and he's pointing at his wife Suleika then. She's who he wrote it for, to comfort her when she was going through chemo; they met when they were teenagers at a band camp, and at during his Oscar performance, they show a clip of the pair at their own wedding mixed in with clips from movies like SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:15 AM on March 12
"Two Sparrows in a Hurricane" by Tanya Tucker. I can barely think about it without crying but it's a beautiful song about long-time love.
posted by Wylie Kyoto at 11:36 AM on March 12 [4 favorites]
posted by Wylie Kyoto at 11:36 AM on March 12 [4 favorites]
I love this question!
My favorites in this genre are:
* The obvious choice of When I'm 64;
* The Idea of Growing Old.
posted by yankeefog at 11:43 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
My favorites in this genre are:
* The obvious choice of When I'm 64;
* The Idea of Growing Old.
posted by yankeefog at 11:43 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
Woody Guthrie/Wilco's "Hesitating Beauty," which is from the perspective of a young man proposing marriage and envisaging a home full of children and love.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:56 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:56 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
Statler Brothers: “I’ll go to my grave loving you.”
posted by serendipityrules at 12:09 PM on March 12 [2 favorites]
posted by serendipityrules at 12:09 PM on March 12 [2 favorites]
The Magnetic Fields, Papa Was a Rodeo
The Beautiful South, Prettiest Eyes
posted by eirias at 12:12 PM on March 12 [4 favorites]
The Beautiful South, Prettiest Eyes
posted by eirias at 12:12 PM on March 12 [4 favorites]
Dance me to the end of love - Leonard Cohen
posted by warriorqueen at 12:18 PM on March 12 [3 favorites]
posted by warriorqueen at 12:18 PM on March 12 [3 favorites]
There are probably just maybes (FWIW):
- Endless Love (Glee Cast)
- (I've Had) The Time of My Life
- Because You Live (Jesse McCartney)
- Your Smiling Face (James Taylor)
posted by forthright at 12:22 PM on March 12 [1 favorite]
- Endless Love (Glee Cast)
- (I've Had) The Time of My Life
- Because You Live (Jesse McCartney)
- Your Smiling Face (James Taylor)
posted by forthright at 12:22 PM on March 12 [1 favorite]
Indigo Girls, "Power of Two."
"And if we leave a legacy
It's that we loved each other well."
Full lyrics.
posted by humbug at 12:40 PM on March 12
"And if we leave a legacy
It's that we loved each other well."
Full lyrics.
posted by humbug at 12:40 PM on March 12
What Comes After Certainty - Bill Callahan
True love is not magic
It's certainty
And what comes after certainty?
A world of mystery
posted by rabbitbookworm at 12:46 PM on March 12
True love is not magic
It's certainty
And what comes after certainty?
A world of mystery
posted by rabbitbookworm at 12:46 PM on March 12
Al Green - Let’s Stay Together
posted by TwoWordReview at 1:28 PM on March 12 [3 favorites]
posted by TwoWordReview at 1:28 PM on March 12 [3 favorites]
The Far Side Banks Of Jordan by June Carter and Johnny Cash is an excellent version of this. It's from the point of view of two old-timers who promise that whoever dies first will wait for the other on the River Jordan so that they can both enter heaven together.
posted by Newbornstranger at 1:37 PM on March 12 [2 favorites]
posted by Newbornstranger at 1:37 PM on March 12 [2 favorites]
True Love Travels on a Gravel Road by Percy Sledge, Elvis, Nick Lowe, or the Afghan Whigs.
The 14th of February by Billy Bragg
Taylor Swift - Mary's Song
James McMurtry -Canola Fields --> not about being married, but about having a very long term crush on a person. "cashing in on a 30 year crush - you can't be young and do that".
Feist - Mushaboom - about dreaming about a long-term relationship and your future
Opposite: Guns N Roses 14 Years - about falling out of love after 14 years of marriage.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:16 PM on March 12
The 14th of February by Billy Bragg
Taylor Swift - Mary's Song
James McMurtry -Canola Fields --> not about being married, but about having a very long term crush on a person. "cashing in on a 30 year crush - you can't be young and do that".
Feist - Mushaboom - about dreaming about a long-term relationship and your future
Opposite: Guns N Roses 14 Years - about falling out of love after 14 years of marriage.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:16 PM on March 12
One of my favorite under-celebrated tropes in country music, I'd have a long list but let's put the late and much mourned Nanci Griffith's breakthrough song, "Love at the Five and Dime" at the top of that list.
Aww heck she comes in at number two as well, with "Gulf Coast Highway."
And for comic relief, Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty, "You're the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly," which despite the title is a long-term love song.
posted by spitbull at 2:56 PM on March 12 [2 favorites]
Aww heck she comes in at number two as well, with "Gulf Coast Highway."
And for comic relief, Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty, "You're the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly," which despite the title is a long-term love song.
posted by spitbull at 2:56 PM on March 12 [2 favorites]
Ok, one more that I love. Kathy Mattea (I was thinking about her because she recorded the first release of "Love at the Five and Dime" that hit big, making Nanci Griffith a lot more famous early in her career) has a fantastic song called "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" (written by Paul and Gene Nelson) that hit #1 on the country charts in 1988. As a bonus it also contains a cool and somewhat unusual trope of being built around a countdown to the lovers being reunited for good.
posted by spitbull at 3:09 PM on March 12 [3 favorites]
posted by spitbull at 3:09 PM on March 12 [3 favorites]
Yes jabes Right Down the Line was my second favorite song at one point, (Behind 'Feelin' Satisfied off Boston's "Don't Look Back" lp) back in the late 70's -80's?.
Enduring love in spite of all the nonsense life will throw at you.
Luckily, found that woman...
posted by Windopaene at 3:44 PM on March 12
Enduring love in spite of all the nonsense life will throw at you.
Luckily, found that woman...
posted by Windopaene at 3:44 PM on March 12
Shania Twain's "You're Still The One"
posted by purplesludge at 3:50 PM on March 12 [2 favorites]
posted by purplesludge at 3:50 PM on March 12 [2 favorites]
Do You Remember by Jack Johnson. He started I think at 10 years, but will update the lyrics in the songs when performing live to the current amount of time. It's a nice little love song.
posted by Carillon at 3:51 PM on March 12
posted by Carillon at 3:51 PM on March 12
I'm gonna go ahead and county "In Spite of Ourselves" by John Prine and Iris Dement.
posted by kensington314 at 4:05 PM on March 12 [5 favorites]
posted by kensington314 at 4:05 PM on March 12 [5 favorites]
The Pogues - A Rainy Night in Soho
The Magnetic Fields - It's Only Time
They Might Be Giants - Another First Kiss
posted by Pallas Athena at 5:24 PM on March 12 [1 favorite]
The Magnetic Fields - It's Only Time
They Might Be Giants - Another First Kiss
posted by Pallas Athena at 5:24 PM on March 12 [1 favorite]
The Boy Least Likely To - Rock Upon a Porch with You. "Someday when I'm older I will rock upon a porch with you // ... // 'cause somehow after everything and everyone that we've been through // I'm kind of looking forward to rocking back and forth with you // on the front steps of our sweet retirement home."
posted by Pandora Kouti at 5:54 PM on March 12
posted by Pandora Kouti at 5:54 PM on March 12
Here's a brand new one from Iron and Wine (with a delightful guest vocal accompaniment by the great Fiona Apple).
All In Good Time
posted by HillbillyInBC at 6:16 PM on March 12
All In Good Time
posted by HillbillyInBC at 6:16 PM on March 12
Ben Folds - The Luckiest
I feel like Bill Morrissey often sings about well-worn loves, though often with a tinge of sadness, if you like the tone of Inside there's more to explore!
posted by euphoria066 at 7:38 PM on March 12
I feel like Bill Morrissey often sings about well-worn loves, though often with a tinge of sadness, if you like the tone of Inside there's more to explore!
posted by euphoria066 at 7:38 PM on March 12
The most iconic of this genre, in my book, is Robert Burns' traditional Scottish ballad, "John Anderson My Jo". Here is a beautiful performance of it. ("Jo" means sweetheart.)
John Anderson, my jo, John,
When we were first acquent;
Your locks were like the raven,
Your bonnie brow was brent;
But now your brow is bald, John,
Your locks are like the snow;
But blessings on your frosty pow,
John Anderson, my jo.
John Anderson, my jo, John,
We clamb the hill thegither;
And many a cantie day, John,
We’ve had wi’ one another:
Now we must totter down, John,
And hand in hand we’ll go,
And sleep thegither at the foot,
John Anderson, my jo.
posted by ojocaliente at 10:47 AM on March 14 [1 favorite]
John Anderson, my jo, John,
When we were first acquent;
Your locks were like the raven,
Your bonnie brow was brent;
But now your brow is bald, John,
Your locks are like the snow;
But blessings on your frosty pow,
John Anderson, my jo.
John Anderson, my jo, John,
We clamb the hill thegither;
And many a cantie day, John,
We’ve had wi’ one another:
Now we must totter down, John,
And hand in hand we’ll go,
And sleep thegither at the foot,
John Anderson, my jo.
posted by ojocaliente at 10:47 AM on March 14 [1 favorite]
One more from 90s country: Alan Jackson - Remember When
posted by sigmagalator at 6:47 PM on March 14
posted by sigmagalator at 6:47 PM on March 14
There's a beautiful French-language song by Georges Moustaki called "Sarah" (alternatively known as "La femme qui dort dans mon lit"). It describes a man's love and affection for a woman, and how that hasn't been diminished by aging, adversity, etc.
posted by DavidfromBA at 12:28 PM on March 15
posted by DavidfromBA at 12:28 PM on March 15
*smacks forehead*
The Dutchman! This is a song from the 60s that became a bit of a folk standard; it's a slice-of-life from the life of an elderly Dutch couple, where the husband is experiencing some kind of dementia or memory loss and his wife is patiently caring for him. But as the last bit of the song suggests, sometimes the fog parts for him:
"And he sees her for a moment, calls her name,
She makes the bed up singing some old love song,
A song Margaret learned when it was very new.
He hums a line or two, they sing together in the dark.
The Dutchman falls asleep and Margaret blows the candle out.
Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuiderzee.
Long ago, I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers that for me."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:57 PM on March 15
The Dutchman! This is a song from the 60s that became a bit of a folk standard; it's a slice-of-life from the life of an elderly Dutch couple, where the husband is experiencing some kind of dementia or memory loss and his wife is patiently caring for him. But as the last bit of the song suggests, sometimes the fog parts for him:
"And he sees her for a moment, calls her name,
She makes the bed up singing some old love song,
A song Margaret learned when it was very new.
He hums a line or two, they sing together in the dark.
The Dutchman falls asleep and Margaret blows the candle out.
Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuiderzee.
Long ago, I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers that for me."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:57 PM on March 15
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posted by metahawk at 10:51 AM on March 12 [9 favorites]