Love songs for married couples?
July 11, 2014 9:16 AM Subscribe
Songs about long-term, developed love - not butterflies.
I would like to find some love songs that are about the kind of love you have when you are married/in a long-term committed relationship. Most love songs out there are all "OMG I have butterflies, I can't stand being away from you, do you like me too?!"
I'm not looking for songs about any particular aspect of long-term love, but just something that I can relate to, that makes me feel warm and fuzzy, that builds up and highlights the more solid, deep kind of love. They don't have to be specifically about marriage, just relevant.
(And I'm not looking for jokey/ironic/tongue-in-cheek songs about marriage - I want actual sweet love songs.)
Thanks!
I would like to find some love songs that are about the kind of love you have when you are married/in a long-term committed relationship. Most love songs out there are all "OMG I have butterflies, I can't stand being away from you, do you like me too?!"
I'm not looking for songs about any particular aspect of long-term love, but just something that I can relate to, that makes me feel warm and fuzzy, that builds up and highlights the more solid, deep kind of love. They don't have to be specifically about marriage, just relevant.
(And I'm not looking for jokey/ironic/tongue-in-cheek songs about marriage - I want actual sweet love songs.)
Thanks!
I think of Iron and Wine - Naked as We Came
posted by shothotbot at 9:21 AM on July 11, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by shothotbot at 9:21 AM on July 11, 2014 [5 favorites]
Not a song, but I always liked this poem by Alden Nowlan.
posted by backwards guitar at 9:21 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by backwards guitar at 9:21 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Eric Clapton - Wonderful tonight
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 9:22 AM on July 11, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 9:22 AM on July 11, 2014 [4 favorites]
fun. - The Gambler
Has been my favorite love song for several years now.
posted by mekily at 9:24 AM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Has been my favorite love song for several years now.
posted by mekily at 9:24 AM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
My favorite song: Thank You - Led Zeppelin
posted by Room 641-A at 9:25 AM on July 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 9:25 AM on July 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
Otis Redding, Cigarettes and Coffee... A proposal of sorts.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 9:26 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Cold Lurkey at 9:26 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
In Spite of OurselvesJohn Prine and Iris DeMent
Harvest Moon by Neil Young
posted by Ideefixe at 9:26 AM on July 11, 2014 [10 favorites]
Harvest Moon by Neil Young
posted by Ideefixe at 9:26 AM on July 11, 2014 [10 favorites]
Happiness Writes White by Harvey Danger.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:30 AM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:30 AM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Also: Sight of the Sun, also by fun., though a bit more frivolous, gives me exactly the kinds of feelings you're talking about.
posted by mekily at 9:31 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by mekily at 9:31 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
My favorite love song is The Luckiest by Ben Folds. I have secret awesome plans for using this song at my 25th anniversary next year.
posted by blurker at 9:32 AM on July 11, 2014 [11 favorites]
posted by blurker at 9:32 AM on July 11, 2014 [11 favorites]
A Song for All Lovers by John Denver, about Olaus and Margaret Murie.
Silver Medals and Sweet Memories by the Statler Brothers
posted by lharmon at 9:32 AM on July 11, 2014
Silver Medals and Sweet Memories by the Statler Brothers
posted by lharmon at 9:32 AM on July 11, 2014
I found Jonathan Coulton's Glasses to hit me right in the midlife married life feels. It's not an explicitly Love Song love song, but it works for me.
posted by tchemgrrl at 9:32 AM on July 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by tchemgrrl at 9:32 AM on July 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
Er, well, it's actually about the aftermath of a long-term relationship ending, but I've always loved the lyrics of John Mayer's Comfortable. This part in particular seems to tick most of your boxes.
"I loved you
grey sweatpants
no makeup
so perfect
our love was
comfortable and
so broken in"
posted by anderjen at 9:35 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
"I loved you
grey sweatpants
no makeup
so perfect
our love was
comfortable and
so broken in"
posted by anderjen at 9:35 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Just go buy Frank Sinatra's September of My Years.
C'est Magnifique by Cole Porter is also appropriate.
As Long As I Love You by Joe Williams with Count Basie is gorgeous.
The Shelter of Your Arms by Sammy Davis Jr.
posted by brookeb at 9:35 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
C'est Magnifique by Cole Porter is also appropriate.
As Long As I Love You by Joe Williams with Count Basie is gorgeous.
The Shelter of Your Arms by Sammy Davis Jr.
posted by brookeb at 9:35 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yo La Tengo's discography is a gold mine for this stuff. Starting points:
Sometimes I Don't Get You (yes, despite the title, it's a love song)
The Crying of Lot G
Don't Have to Be So Sad
posted by LionIndex at 9:37 AM on July 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
Sometimes I Don't Get You (yes, despite the title, it's a love song)
The Crying of Lot G
Don't Have to Be So Sad
posted by LionIndex at 9:37 AM on July 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
Danny's Song by Kenny Loggins
posted by cheerwine at 9:42 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by cheerwine at 9:42 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Bruno Mars - Just the way you are
posted by Billiken at 9:44 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Billiken at 9:44 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
An old folkie here, so I love Stan Rogers's "Forty-Five Years".
And just cuz I'm old (and married 35 years this August), I also like Orleans' "Still the One".
posted by angiep at 9:46 AM on July 11, 2014 [7 favorites]
And just cuz I'm old (and married 35 years this August), I also like Orleans' "Still the One".
posted by angiep at 9:46 AM on July 11, 2014 [7 favorites]
Like to Get to Know You, a duet released by Paul Simon and Edie Brickell after their recent "altercation," sure is sweet. Plus it's a free download.
posted by BurntHombre at 9:48 AM on July 11, 2014
posted by BurntHombre at 9:48 AM on July 11, 2014
Deathcab for Cutie - I Will Follow You Into the Dark
posted by radioamy at 9:49 AM on July 11, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by radioamy at 9:49 AM on July 11, 2014 [5 favorites]
Talking Heads, This Must Be The Place
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:50 AM on July 11, 2014 [10 favorites]
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:50 AM on July 11, 2014 [10 favorites]
The Gershwins' Love Is Here To Stay. You can listen to Michael Feinstein singing it here.
It's very clear
Our love is here to stay
Not for a year
But ever and a day
The radio and the telephone
And the movies that we know
May just be passing fancies
And in time may go
But, oh my dear
Our love is here to stay
Together we're going a long, long way
The more I read the paper,
the less I comprehend the world and all it's capers,
and how it all will end.
Nothing seems to be lasting,
but that isn't our affair;
we've got something permanent,
I mean in the way we care.
(This verse was originally the intro)
In time the Rockies may crumble
Gibraltar may tumble
They're only made of clay
But our love is here to stay
posted by wryly at 9:50 AM on July 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
It's very clear
Our love is here to stay
Not for a year
But ever and a day
The radio and the telephone
And the movies that we know
May just be passing fancies
And in time may go
But, oh my dear
Our love is here to stay
Together we're going a long, long way
The more I read the paper,
the less I comprehend the world and all it's capers,
and how it all will end.
Nothing seems to be lasting,
but that isn't our affair;
we've got something permanent,
I mean in the way we care.
(This verse was originally the intro)
In time the Rockies may crumble
Gibraltar may tumble
They're only made of clay
But our love is here to stay
posted by wryly at 9:50 AM on July 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
My wedding song, Let's Stay Together.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:52 AM on July 11, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:52 AM on July 11, 2014 [7 favorites]
I absolutely love Brickbat by Billy Bragg:
I steal a kiss from you
In the supermarket
I walk you down the aisle
You fill my basket
And through it all
The stick I take
Is worth it with the love we make
I used to want to plant bombs
At the last night of the proms
But now you'll find me with the baby in the bathroom
With that big shell listening for the sound of the sea
The baby and me
it's not just about enduring love, but about the fight to keep it going.
posted by Kafkaesque at 10:19 AM on July 11, 2014 [4 favorites]
I steal a kiss from you
In the supermarket
I walk you down the aisle
You fill my basket
And through it all
The stick I take
Is worth it with the love we make
I used to want to plant bombs
At the last night of the proms
But now you'll find me with the baby in the bathroom
With that big shell listening for the sound of the sea
The baby and me
it's not just about enduring love, but about the fight to keep it going.
posted by Kafkaesque at 10:19 AM on July 11, 2014 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Seconding John Prine & Iris DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves
She don't like her eggs all runny
She thinks crossin' her legs is funny
She looks down her nose at money
She gets it on like the Easter Bunny
She's my baby I'm her honey
I'm never gonna let her go
He ain't got laid in a month of Sundays
I caught him once and he was sniffin' my undies
He ain't too sharp but he gets things done
Drinks his beer like it's oxygen
He's my baby
And I'm his honey
Never gonna let him go
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:25 AM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
She don't like her eggs all runny
She thinks crossin' her legs is funny
She looks down her nose at money
She gets it on like the Easter Bunny
She's my baby I'm her honey
I'm never gonna let her go
He ain't got laid in a month of Sundays
I caught him once and he was sniffin' my undies
He ain't too sharp but he gets things done
Drinks his beer like it's oxygen
He's my baby
And I'm his honey
Never gonna let him go
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:25 AM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
John Prine - She Is My Everything, a really sweet song about his wife.
posted by lakemarie at 10:28 AM on July 11, 2014
posted by lakemarie at 10:28 AM on July 11, 2014
I've always thought of Avalon by Roxy Music as a song about a long established couple having a nice but small moment with each other and remembering why they're in love.
posted by Candleman at 10:32 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Candleman at 10:32 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
If you're into twee, I like "Rock Upon a Porch with You" by The Boy Least Likely To. Having trouble finding a good link now, but:
Someday when I'm older I willposted by teditrix at 10:41 AM on July 11, 2014
Rock upon a porch with you
Rock upon a porch with you
Remembering the price of Polos
and the books we used to read
'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.
Best answer: Dido - Thank You
Is the one that my husband and I relate to. We will even as shit falls apart around us, one of us will reach for the others hand and go "Best Day" just to remind each other what's important.
posted by wwax at 10:44 AM on July 11, 2014 [5 favorites]
Is the one that my husband and I relate to. We will even as shit falls apart around us, one of us will reach for the others hand and go "Best Day" just to remind each other what's important.
posted by wwax at 10:44 AM on July 11, 2014 [5 favorites]
Best answer: David Ramirez - Bad Days
But I hope the years that we come up short
Are swallowed by the years that we make it work
I pray the times when our love is sweet
Outweigh the days that you hate me
posted by rhapsodie at 10:51 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
But I hope the years that we come up short
Are swallowed by the years that we make it work
I pray the times when our love is sweet
Outweigh the days that you hate me
posted by rhapsodie at 10:51 AM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Stan Rogers - 45 Years
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 Jemstar at 11:16 AM on July 11, 2014
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 Jemstar at 11:16 AM on July 11, 2014
Lullaby by Greg Brown (and for that matter much of the later Brown ouvre)
Dave Moore's entire album Breaking Down to Three
posted by newrambler at 11:17 AM on July 11, 2014
Dave Moore's entire album Breaking Down to Three
posted by newrambler at 11:17 AM on July 11, 2014
Simon and Garfunkel's Old Friends is a poignant vignette into a long relationship (which could be interpreted as platonic or romantic, it doesn't really matter.) The line "How terribly strange to be 70" resonates more with me each passing year.
posted by usonian at 11:21 AM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by usonian at 11:21 AM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Tal Bachman's "Beside You". This was going to be my wedding song if I did a big, traditional wedding. I ended up doing a pseudo-elopement instead, so there's no "our song." Ah, well. Life happens.
posted by tckma at 11:26 AM on July 11, 2014
posted by tckma at 11:26 AM on July 11, 2014
The Beautiful South - Prettiest Eyes (a song I found here on the green!)
Also, the Bonnie Raitt cover of Right Down the Line is pretty nice if you're tired of the original.
posted by dawkins_7 at 11:31 AM on July 11, 2014
Also, the Bonnie Raitt cover of Right Down the Line is pretty nice if you're tired of the original.
posted by dawkins_7 at 11:31 AM on July 11, 2014
Best answer: Brandi Carlisle's The Story is one of the sweetest I know, and it kinda rocks, to boot.
posted by richyoung at 12:16 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by richyoung at 12:16 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I know it's cheesy, but Shania Twain - You're Still the One always gets me.
posted by Dorothea_in_Rome at 12:31 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Dorothea_in_Rome at 12:31 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
La Chanson des Vieux Amants by Jacques Brel.
posted by JimN2TAW at 12:53 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by JimN2TAW at 12:53 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Johnny Cash -- I Walk The Line.
posted by third rail at 1:05 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by third rail at 1:05 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Angel - Jack Johnson
All of Me - John Legend
posted by peach23 at 1:24 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
All of Me - John Legend
posted by peach23 at 1:24 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Grow Old with Me, Jason Robert Brown
Timeless, from Hairspray
I Love My Wife, Cy Coleman
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 2:04 PM on July 11, 2014
Timeless, from Hairspray
I Love My Wife, Cy Coleman
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 2:04 PM on July 11, 2014
Etta James "A Sunday Kind of Love" is about wanting that sort of relationship.
posted by sciencegeek at 2:13 PM on July 11, 2014
posted by sciencegeek at 2:13 PM on July 11, 2014
All of the following by The Magnetic Fields:
It's Only Time (lyrics)
The Book of Love (lyrics)
Nothing Matters When We're Dancing (lyrics)
You're My Only Home (lyrics)
Papa Was a Rodeo (lyrics)
posted by ludwig_van at 2:35 PM on July 11, 2014 [4 favorites]
It's Only Time (lyrics)
The Book of Love (lyrics)
Nothing Matters When We're Dancing (lyrics)
You're My Only Home (lyrics)
Papa Was a Rodeo (lyrics)
posted by ludwig_van at 2:35 PM on July 11, 2014 [4 favorites]
Neal and Leandra, "Old Love" and "It'll Still Be You"
posted by mefireader at 3:03 PM on July 11, 2014
posted by mefireader at 3:03 PM on July 11, 2014
John Lennon's Grow Old With Me. Glen Campbell also does a nice version.
posted by jabes at 4:14 PM on July 11, 2014
posted by jabes at 4:14 PM on July 11, 2014
Paul Simon, Rene and Georgette Magritte after the War
posted by drlith at 4:30 PM on July 11, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by drlith at 4:30 PM on July 11, 2014 [4 favorites]
Also, a surprising amount of Tom Waits. Here's Picture In A Frame and Take It With Me.
posted by nebulawindphone at 4:34 PM on July 11, 2014
posted by nebulawindphone at 4:34 PM on July 11, 2014
Joni Mitchell's "My Old Man."
The Indigo Girls' "Love's Recovery."
posted by southern_sky at 7:12 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
The Indigo Girls' "Love's Recovery."
posted by southern_sky at 7:12 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
The absolute ultimate best, especially if you're in a second marriage: Tougher Than the Rest.
posted by Smells of Detroit at 7:23 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Smells of Detroit at 7:23 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
also from Stan Rogers: Lies - third person story song & very beautiful - "she'll look up to that weathered face that loves her's, line for line"
posted by jb at 9:28 PM on July 11, 2014
posted by jb at 9:28 PM on July 11, 2014
The Beautiful South's Prettiest Eyes is about growing old together and is lovely.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 10:04 PM on July 11, 2014
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 10:04 PM on July 11, 2014
(and on re-reading, dawkins_7 got to it before I did. It's still lovely though.)
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 10:29 PM on July 11, 2014
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 10:29 PM on July 11, 2014
"The Way I Am" - Ingrid Michaelson
posted by trillian at 5:01 AM on July 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by trillian at 5:01 AM on July 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
Concrete and Clay - Unit 4 Plus 2 (also various covers, some better than others)
Lyrics are here.
I also want to mention Feels Like Home - the version I know is by Bonnie Raitt, though it appears it was actually written by Randy Newman. Upon reviewing the lyrics it's not necessarily about an old love, but it's got that flavour to it.
No doubt there are also videos on YouTube but the object of my affections is asleep next to me and the noise of finding the right video would be disturbing!
posted by Cheese Monster at 5:52 AM on July 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
Lyrics are here.
I also want to mention Feels Like Home - the version I know is by Bonnie Raitt, though it appears it was actually written by Randy Newman. Upon reviewing the lyrics it's not necessarily about an old love, but it's got that flavour to it.
No doubt there are also videos on YouTube but the object of my affections is asleep next to me and the noise of finding the right video would be disturbing!
posted by Cheese Monster at 5:52 AM on July 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
Bruce Springsteen's If I Should Fall Behind comes to mind.
posted by ohio at 6:47 AM on July 12, 2014
posted by ohio at 6:47 AM on July 12, 2014
Richard Shindell - The Weather, mostly for the last verse
John McDermott - The Voyage is one of my parents' favorite songs
posted by JDHarper at 7:51 AM on July 12, 2014
John McDermott - The Voyage is one of my parents' favorite songs
posted by JDHarper at 7:51 AM on July 12, 2014
Emmylou Harris & Mark Knopfler - This Is Us
posted by TurkishGolds at 8:51 AM on July 12, 2014
posted by TurkishGolds at 8:51 AM on July 12, 2014
"In My Time of Need" by Joan Baez and also by Ryan Adams.
posted by sudama at 5:06 AM on July 14, 2014
posted by sudama at 5:06 AM on July 14, 2014
This is the cheesiest one ever: Through The Years by Kenny Rogers. They played it at my brother's wedding and had all the long-married couples get up and dance. Awww.
posted by jabes at 9:06 AM on July 14, 2014
posted by jabes at 9:06 AM on July 14, 2014
In the same vein as Dorothea_in_Rome's suggestion--Shania Twain's "Forever and For Always."
Also, Natalie Cole's "Inseparable."
Whitney Houston, "You Give Good Love."
posted by luckyveronica at 1:45 PM on July 14, 2014
Also, Natalie Cole's "Inseparable."
Whitney Houston, "You Give Good Love."
posted by luckyveronica at 1:45 PM on July 14, 2014
Greg Brown's song "Who Woulda Thunk It" very much fits.
posted by Lexica at 8:08 PM on August 5, 2014
posted by Lexica at 8:08 PM on August 5, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:20 AM on July 11, 2014 [4 favorites]