PLAYLIST: Top 10 Love Songs

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WRITTEN BY: Samantha Sullivan

Shut Up Kiss Me by Angel Olsen 

All-consuming and awe-inducing “Shut Up Kiss Me” is the constant struggle to take your time. Waiting for them to pick up on subtle cues; it’s impatient and anxious, starting off slow but quickly falling into straight fuzz as Olsen begs “shut up kiss me hold me tight.” The lyrics you’re internally screaming as you cross your fingers and lean in closer, it’s those first hesitant moves you’re dying to make. The strung-out excitement right before your lips meet that you wish you could feel forever.

Uh-Oh Love Comes To Town by Talking Heads 

Automatically infectious “Uh-Oh Love Comes To Town” is the realization that you’re really in trouble. The smile you can’t hide, the instant rush, and automatic blush, it’s the symptoms you can’t suppress whenever they’re around. With funky African inspired beats, metallic marimbas, and Byrnes jittery vocals, the track is just as overwhelming as your newfound feelings. Common sense aside, going completely out of your mind, The Talking Heads has it right when they say: “stockbrokers make a bad investment when love has come to town.”

I Found A Reason by The Velvet Underground

Dreamy and delicate “I Found A Reason” is proof that true love conquers all. The type of love worth living for-it’s quiet and powerful, strong and unshakeable. Croning “I found a reason to keep singin’/wow-woh, and the reason dear is you” it’s a blank slate, a form of salvation. With its glittering guitars and gentle rhythm, any doubt you have is automatically erased as you slow dance into a new age. 

Walking Home by Hinds

Just as rough, tough, and rowdy as always, Hinds makes you melt with “Walking Home.” Still, as sludgy and scuzzy as their usual garage-rock, the girls light up the track with fuzzy basslines and bright riffs. Admitting “I’m using your tee as a pajama/your coffee tastes better than mine/but I can’t get enough of your time,” it’s the type of love that makes you walk out of your way just to hear about their day for a few more minutes. Sweet and sentimental while still in the typical Hinds style, they prove you’re never too cool to fall for someone. 

Hawaiian Boi by Triathlon

Absolutely angelic “Hawaiian Boi” is heaven-sent. With ethereal vocals and a delicate acoustic accompaniment, it embraces the syrupy sweet nature of being too nervous to make a move. Stuttering and slipping up asking “am I on your mind?/like you’re on my mind?/can I see you baby?” it’s all the blunders and blushing of crushing. 

I Wanna Be Your Man by The Nude Party

Lonesome cowboys no longer; “I Wanna Be Your Man” is lovesick. Swept-up in the thrill of the chase, it’s obvious nothing could stand in their way promising “someday you’re going to crawl out of my mind.” With only one person on their mind, The Nude Party have no problem biding their time shooting pool and gazing from across the bar. Between the 60’s psychedelics and bluesy twang, it’s evident they’re ready to trade nights spent smashing pbr’s and cruising in vans for holding hands. 

True Love Will Find You In The End by Daniel Johnston

If you’re still looking for the one, “True Love Will Find You In The End” is the reassurance that you’ll find them soon. With his folky vocals and plunking acoustic guitar, it’s melancholic and hopeful. The consolation that love is patient and kind, that the one won’t pass you by as long as you don’t give up and step into the light. A promise that good things really do come to those that wait, and if it’s not with you now, love is on its way. 

I Love How You Love Me by Jeff Magnum

Sweet, serene, and hazy, “I Love How You Love Me” is a song someone could only write about their soulmate. The life-defining type of love you keep in your heart forever, the all-consuming kind that keeps them perpetually on your mind. With Mangum’s dulcet vocals and delicate strumming, the song sounds like a lullaby. The barroom chatter and background static melt away through his pure poetry and lines like “and when I’m away from you, I love how miss me.” Utterly entrancing, he makes time stand still and the world stop spinning. 

I Wanna Sleep In Your Arms by The Modern Lovers

Tossing and turning “I Wanna Sleep In Your Arms’ ‘ is restless. Tense and on-edge, the squealing guitars and the desperate plea to “wrap me up in your hands/I’ll finally feel calm/and finally just relax” will keep you up all night. The call and response vocals coupled with the jumpy basslines evoke that head over heels feeling that sends you straight over the edge and (hopefully) into their arms. Proto-punk with a popped collar, the Modern Lovers’ nice-guy rock will have you out buying bouquets. 

 Sweet Thing by Twin Peaks

Making you swoon, “Sweet Thing” is overwhelmingly adorable. Reminiscent of those tunnel vision crushes you thought you outgrew in high school; it feels like doodling their name in your notebook and carefully crafting mixtapes full of all your feelings. With its easy groove and slight southern twang, it’s impossible to get through the whole song without smiling. Making your heart melt as he admits “there’s women every single way I look/but you’re the only one who’s got me hooked.” Secretly shook up, it seems the kings of the Chicago DIY scene have a soft side. 

Check out this playlist below for more Valentine’s songs!