Top 10 Popular Romantic Songs

Romantic songs and I go a long way back. When I was growing up, discovering the magic of romance and romantic music, we used to listen to our music on those 78 rpm LP’s and the 45 rpm records, and to get the latest hits, tune in to static filled radio stations broadcasting them. That is how I got my quota of popular songs, so full of romantic sentimentality, like ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers Anymore’, sung by the gloriously voiced Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond, the sultry voice of Karen Carpenter singing ‘I Won’t Last a Day Without You’, and the sensuously splendid voice of Elvis Presley crooning ‘Love Me Tender’.

Even today, when I slip a CD full of romantic songs into my CD player, the music and the lyrics can take me back to a cherished time, making instantaneous connections to places and times full of evocative memories. So here is a compilation of what I think are the top 10 popular romantic songs of all time. Of course, the nature of choosing romantic songs has to be subjective, since each of us will have different choices, depending on our own special times, places, and music.

Hello - Lionel Ritchie: This is such a beautifully romantic song, sweet and moving. Sung so mellifluously by Lionel Ritchie, this song came out in 1984, climbing to the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Although I didn’t care much for the second stanza of the song, however, when I listen to it today, I go all soft and mushy as I listen to the opening stanza:

"I've been alone with you inside my mind
And in my dreams I've kissed your lips a thousand times
I sometimes see you pass outside my door
Hello, is it me you're looking for?"

If You Go Away - Frank Sinatra: This is such a sad song, full of pathos, of hope, of despair. It plays out what every lover must have experienced some time or the other. After all, can romance be complete without the pain of parting ways, of losing love. Here are excerpts of the beautiful lyrics of this romantic song:

"If you go away on this summer day,
Then you might as well take the sun away;
All the birds that flew in the summer sky,
When our love was new and our hearts were high;
When the day was young and the night was long,
And the moon stood still for the night bird's song.
If you go away, if you go away, if you go away…

…But if you stay, I'll make you a night
Like no night has been, or will be again.
I'll sail on your smile, I'll ride on your touch,
I'll talk to your eyes that I love so much…

…If you go away, as I know you must,
There'll be nothing left in the world to trust,
Just an empty room, full of empty space,
Like the empty look I see on your face…"

I'm On The Top Of The World - The Carpenters: This song, on the other hand, puts a spring in your heart and your step, brings a sparkle into your eyes, makes you want to twirl, and skip, and dance as you revel on that ‘top of the world’ feeling of falling in love. Just listen to the opening stanza and the refrain…

"Such a feelin's coming over me
There is wonder in most every thing I see
Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eyes
And I won't be surprised if it's a dream

(The Refrain)
I'm on the top of the world and looking down on creation
And the only explanation I can find
Is the love that I've found ever since you've been around
Your love's put me at the top of the world"

Nights In White Satin - Moody Blues: This song makes the goose flesh rise even today. I love the way it is sung and I love the lyrics… Coming out as a single in 1967, it was featured on the album named ‘Days of Future Passed’. The song is about love’s yearning, which many think is the saga of unrequited love experienced by Justin Hayward, who penned the words…

"Nights in white satin,
Never reaching the end,
Letters I’ve written,
Never meaning to send.

Beauty I’d always missed
With these eyes before,
Just what the truth is
I can’t say anymore.

Cause I love you,
Yes, I love you,
Oh, how, I love you..."

I Just Called To Say I Love You - Stevie Wonder: Sure this one is kind of simplistic, sure it’s jingly, sure it’s mushily sappy. So what? When I heard it first in the 1984 movie, ‘The Woman in Red’, it made me go all soft and gooey inside. What would romance and romantic songs be without the schmaltzy silliness that is also part of love.

Words - Bee Gees: Released in 1968, this is another of my all time favorite romantic songs.

"Talk in everlasting words, and dedicate them all to me
And I will give you all my life, I’m here if you
Should call to me.
You think that I don’t even mean a single word I say
It’s only words, and words are all I have, to take
Your heart away."

As I listen to these lyrics, I feel their sentiment tugging at my heart strings even today, as they did when I first heard it.

Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton: This song rendered so beautifully by Eric Clapton’s gentle, dulcet voice is a veritable ode to heartfelt romantic love. A 1976 song in which he pays homage to the beauty of his girlfriend, Pattie, whom he would later marry, as she dressed up for an evening out.

My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion: From the soundtrack of the 1998 movie ‘Titanic’, Celine Dion with her soaring voice makes it a stunningly outstanding rendition of love overcoming all, even death. Beautiful!

Come Away With Me - Norah Jones: I love her mellifluous voice with her rendition of this 2003 number, which is so evocative of the dreamy interludes that romance can be so full of… Here are some excerpts from this beautifully romantic song.

"I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high
So won't you try to come

Come away with me and we'll kiss
On a mountaintop
Come away with me
And I'll never stop loving you"

Tie a Yellow Ribbon - Tony Orlando and Dawn: This lilting little 1973 number has to be the ultimate representation of romantic ‘happily ever after’ feel good sentiment. I love the vision it evokes of the hundred yellow ribbons tied on the old oak tree. Sigh!