In my mind, Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate each and every relationship. To really thank the people who have been there for you when you’ve needed it most and to celebrate them. On the same note, music has always been ‘love centred’, acting as the soundtrack to every relationship we have. And so, for this Valentine’s day post I decided to ask my friends to share their ultimate ‘Valentine’s Day Songs’ with us. By doing so they have helped to create a playlist of music that reflects love in all its crazy forms, explaining their choices in their own words & through sharing their favourite lines. I hope, however you are spending this Valentine’s Day, that you have the best day full of time spent with loved ones. I for one am sending lots of love to you all today and I hope this playlist of ‘love songs’ will bring you as much joy as it has brought me to put it together.
Daisy: I Like Me Better by Lauv
“To not know who I am but still know that I’m good long as you’re here with me”
“Valentines for me is about appreciating everybody in your life that you love, whether that’s friends, family, pets, significant others; anybody and everybody. I think this song perfectly represents that meaning for me as everybody I chose to have in my life makes me a better person, and helps influence my life in a more positive way. I like myself better when I am with those people (lol)” – Daisy
James: Valentine Shmalentine by SOAK
“I need you, I just do, I just do”
Sonically it’s so entrancing and seemingly romantic, but the lyrics cleverly critique Valentine’s Day. It’s like an anti-valentines, but the song is still really beautiful however you interpret it – James
Helen: I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack | Perfect Symphony by Ed Sheeran and Andrea Boccelli
“and when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance” (Lee Ann Womack)
Whenever I hear it, this lyric in particular always hits me as a particularly beautiful wish for anyone, whether it’s your partner, your child, your parent, your friend. I hope the people close to me dance when they’re faced with the choice to pass up an opportunity or jump right in. I try to tell myself this so often too, at the start of uni, at the start of my year abroad, and just throughout life: to say yes to opportunities, to enjoy life and to dance. – Helen
““Ballo con te nell’oscurità / … / Dentro la nostra musica” (I dance with you in the obscurity inside our music” (Ed & Andrea)
This was already a firm favourite of mine even before this Italian version was released, and added Italian makes absolutely everything better, trust me on that, I know, I’m in Italy right now. The Italian version makes this song all the more romantic, especially the depth to the words of my favourite lyrics, about being together in dark obscurity but always within the all-embracing bubble of your own personal music with which you have this intrinsic connection. – Helen
Isabel: I Wish I Missed My Ex by Mahalia | Men Are Trash by Tebi Rex
“chapter 1 men are trash” (Tebi Rex)
“Troubling me all over my phone all night this ain’t life” (Mahalia)
The moral of the story: just have fun with your mates sometime and know that sometimes people are pretty trashy. – Isabel
Anonymous : Castle on the Hill by Ed Sheeran
“But these people raised me and I can’t wait to go home”
This reminds me of going home for the first time after I officially left home for uni. Every time I listen to it, it reminds me of how much I have to love in my life off on my own at uni but that going back to everything that I love at home is just as good (though maybe in small, 2-week doses now that I’ve had my taste of independence!). – Anonymous
Tabitha: Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis | Angels by Robbie Williams
“Take my hand, take my whole life too, for I can’t help falling in love with you” (Elvis)
I’d love to have this at my wedding and is about following your heart and not listening to other people’s views on who you should and shouldn’t love – Tabitha
“And through it all she offers me protection, a lot of love and affection, whether I’m right or wrong’ (Robbie)
It is about loving people that aren’t alive anymore and knowing that they’re watching over you and supporting you – Tabitha
Annachiara: Somebody Else by the 1975
“Our love has gone cold and your intertwining your soul with somebody else”
There was a moment in my life, when I felt hopeless and depressed about the lack of love that I had received. This part of the lyric was everything to me because it was about those obsessive and frustrating moments, full of bad feelings. You can’t control is who you fall for, and at same time you wonder why you still care for someone who hurt you! The answer was pretty obvious: because I choose love every single time, no matter how or where.. everything is making sense when you find it, even in friendship. Be full of love, don’t be selfish with it and be careful because all love needs to grow is the help of two amazing souls!. – Annachiara
Holly: F.N.T by Semisonic
“I’m surprised that you’ve never been told before, that you’re lovely and you’re perfect & that somebody loves you”
To me 90s love songs have the true energy of how it feels to be in love. This song is from one of the ultimate ‘edgy’ rom-coms ’10 Things I Hate About You” and is the perfect Valentine’s song for anyone, like me, who’d rather receive a guitar & a song than a bunch of flowers. Actions speak louder than gifts, or something like that! – Holly
A huge thank you to Daisy, James, Helen, Tabitha, Isabel, and Annachiara. Thank you for being so honest and willing to share your songs & experiences. Love you all.
What would be your song of choice?
The Art Of Being Holly 