True Love

You And Me Song – The Wannadies

Alright – so here we are – after tackling three epic introductions to The1975 – we’re on to the big one – True Love.  TRUE FUCKIN’ LOVE.  Can’t get much bigger than that!

Where’s this one going?  Only time will tell. I’m the one that fell down the initial rabbit hole with The Wannadies classic that popped up on my radar through some weird chemistry.  I immediately thought of Baz Lurhman’s 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet – Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes being the best star crossed lovers I ever saw – and grinning over how much I loved this track and how perfect it was in the film and how… – oh yeah – they died in the end.

I’m suspecting that an examination of “True Love” – a real examination – you know – by two music lovers who have the world’s music at their fingertips to give context – might not be as saccharinely delicious as the opening track.  But hey – we gotta get you through the door – and if you’re looking for a track to send to someone that you truly, truly love – … – you’re welcome ;-p

Let’s Fall in Love for the Night – FINNEAS

You and me always, and forever <3

We’re talking about real love here and lot’s of genuine lyrics. I couldn’t stop thinking of FINNEAS when I listened to Andrew’s first pick. Like most of these collaborative playlists there’s probably a reason for that and I shouldn’t question it. There’s just something about the delivery of the lines “Let’s fall in love for the night and forget in the morning” and the storytelling lyricism from the pov of a boy dreaming about being with a girl in another world that gets me.   

All the Way Home – Natalie Migdal

I love making lists with Jenna – she takes the Wannadies’ optimistic expression of true love and shoves it into a hedonistic moment – which – to be fair – I am a total fan of.  My personal hero is Odysseus – an entity who wanted to experience everything but – not at the cost of his life / soul – smart dude.

So yeah – I hear FINNEAS – and I get that – but – here’s the thing dude – you may be clear on your intentions but – what if the other person isn’t?  What if you’re showing up completely in the moment – able to turn it on and off at a moment’s notice – but they’re not?  What if – when the morning comes – they still love you?!?!?!?

Natalie Migdal’s delivery of unrequited love sears my soul.  I’m so grateful for that.

Quite Miss Home – James Arthur

I was taken back with this one when I heard it the first time, and I still am when I’m replaying it now. This is such a powerful song on so many different levels.  I really enjoyed the storytelling aspect of Natalie’s song writing.

 I felt like I was listening to this emotional journey of a relationship and I was hanging onto every word. I kept focusing on the lyrics, “I want you to love me, please love me, all the way home”. That was when I was thinking about James Arthur. He’s well known for his emotional ballads that I lived on since his career started. This idea of  “home” in this song is not the house he misses, but the person who makes him safe. I can hear the overlaps between the two here. And you know it’s true love when you know what drives your partner crazy.  

Red Travellin’ Socks – Malcolm Middleton

Can you love two things at the same time – I mean – truly – true love – two true loves – can that be a thing?

I loved James Arthur’s Quite Miss Home – I think he and Malcolm might understand each other.  We’re no strangers to tracks written on the road by artists who miss their loved ones – and it’s kinda cute ‘cos we think their life looks amazing with the crowds, the adulation – the adoration – and yet – when you peek under the hood – they’re no different to us – it’s a bummer being away from the one you love.

And yet – the crowds, the adulation – the adoration – come on now – that’s pretty fucking good – I mean – to misquote Irvine Welsh: ” …what we forget is the pleasure of it. Otherwise we wouldn’t do it. After all, we’re not fucking stupid. At least, we’re not that fucking stupid.”

And so there’s the rub, the ying / yang of being an artist – in love with the experience and yet also in love with a partner at home.  Malcolm MIddleton would say that it’s not fucking easy!

Beautiful Things – Benson Boone

Like many of you, Benson has been making his way all over my radio and social media. He recognizes the different love’s he has in his life and how easily they can be taken away. 

What Can I Do (But Love You) – Joy Williams

It’s weird Love, isn’t it – it brings all these amazing things and yet – as humans – we can still sit there and think it can all be taken away.  That’s a scary place to be and I think Mr. Boone might have a little more work to be done on himself as well.

It drew me to a much more simpler kind of love – the hopeless, helpless inability to do anything else but love.  The kind of love you have no control over and yet – also have no worry of losing it.  I think I’ll take Joy’s experience over Benson’s for now.

Million Little Reasons – Oscar Lang

This one was shared with me by our own Maria on the very first collaborative list I made on musicto. This song has stuck with me over the years. It’s so simple yet such a powerful ballad about being in love. 

What can I do but love you? How about I tell you all the reasons why I love you. It’s a song for your first love. There’s a million little reasons to love and remember the person by and only to look back in nostalgia. It’s the piano and the stripped vocals that led me here. This live version of the song is even more emotional. 

(They Long To Be) Close To You – Carpenters

Aaaaah – I guess I cheated on this one – as I knew the following track right from the beginning 🙂  And while they share similar introductions – the vibe is super different.  I love the heavily chorused effect of the piano and the vocal positioning – and of course – as Jenna writes – why not tell the person all the reasons that you love them – even if you do run out of ink!

So the last few tracks have looked at the power of romantic love inside relationships but – this totally over the top expression of love from the 70’s takes it a step further.  Apparently there are people out there – so full of riz that the animals themselves – the stars in the sky – all fall down before them.  Personally I think I might find that a little intimidating ;-p

I Hear a Symphony – Cody Fry

Such a beautiful song! I loved to hear this one on the list. You really get that pure sweet love song that just makes you swoon and smile all throughout listening.  I can see why Andrew followed up this one from Oscar’s. They both just put everything out there in their lyrics with nothing to hide or holdback when it comes to talking about the person you love. 

I really followed the lyrics and continued the piano here! Cody Fry is a stunning composer and even if there were no words you can feel the intent behind the music. It’s all about putting your feelings out there and why not with the help of an orchestra. And don’t even get me started on the video. That’s pure Ed Sheeran Photograph love vibes. 

The Curse- Josh Ritter 

Wow – what a fabulous track by Cody Fry – I watched the video – great stuff.  I can totally hear it coming out of the Carpenters but it feels really modern – the production – the simplicity of the message but turned into something so huge and operatic.  If love can help a composer find their melody – then bring it on!

I was drawn to the simplicity of the outro – the voice and piano – and I was already thinking about the story and my mind went straight to Josh Ritter’s The Curse.  This time we have a tale told across time – where love is inevitably doomed but what a journey they go on together.

Mine – The 1975

I can’t wait to see Andrew’s reaction to a 1975 track being added, but I had to and hopefully this is a new one for him! When you’re talking about love it’s hard not to include anything by the band. This album, “A brief inquiry into online relationships” covers so much about the topic. Love can be hard, messy, amazing, all of the above and they’re so real about it in these songs.  I want to give an honorable mention to I couldn’t be more in love.

Million Dollar Bill – Dawes

I’m always grinning when I see a The 1975 track appear in a list – I am now a fan of this massively talented band.  What a beautiful reflection on love and marriage and social pressure to conform, Matty’s gonna have his cake and eat it too – for a while I suspect ;-p

But you gotta wonder what’s going through the head of his partner – Matty’s sure that they’re his but I bet they don’t feel the same.  And maybe he wasn’t theirs – maybe there’s gonna come a time where he’s gone and they’ll be writing plaintive love songs to find a way to be there with him still.  Taylor Goldsmith is one of my favorite lyricists and this one’s a classic!

CHICKEN TENDIES – Clinton Kane

Again what we have is another true love song. From the first strums of the acoustic guitar I felt these powerful emotions Dawes was trying to convey. At its core, the song is about true love’s endurance and the emotional turmoil of letting go. Especially the live version Andrew linked here, I can really tell it’s such a special song. When I dive deeper into the lyrics I understand  the depth of his feelings and it’s that real emotion that led me to Clinton Kane.

This is more of what some might call a more typical cliche love song, but you can’t deny the heart within the song. In contrast, Kane  offers a more light-hearted yet deeply reflective take on love. 

True Romance – Oh Wonder

I feel my inner romantic kicking in again ;-p  The last few tracks look at love from a love lost perspective – or maybe it’s a love never gained – who knows – what I do know is the need to get back to that delicious soulmate kind of love – the sticky confection of love as depicted by harlequin romances and 1990’s rom coms.  CHICKEN TENDIES comes from the heart but I’m putting an arrow straight through it.

Oh Wonder are an enigmatic duo in that – you never really know what’s going on under the surface.  Which is odd really ‘cos they literally sing about what’s going on in their songs: from professional collaborative artists to romantic partners to a break up and then a make up again – and now as a married couple – it’s awesome!  This track is from their “make up” album 22 Make and it’s lovely – just like their relationship!

this is how you fall in love – Jeremy Zucker 

Oh Wonder – it’s all about finding the right person cause you can break up but it all matters who you end up with!  The lyrics here remind me of the simplicity of being in love. The lyrics express a sense of pure joy and longing, emphasizing how love feels almost instinctual—”just something humans do.” 

Jeremy takes a more introspective approach. For me it’s all about the lyrics and what lies within. 

Tears and Rain – James Blunt

True love is kinda hard until you truly know yourself.  Of course – do you ever truly know?  From my own experiences one of the things that true love does is accelerate the self awareness process.  While much work can be done on an internal, insular level – it’s only when we see ourselves through another person’s eyes that we get an idea of our true shape and indeed how we manifest.  While not strictly a track about love – James Blunt’s lyrics speak deeply to the idea of self – and who amongst us hasn’t arrived at a point in a relationship where they start to realize they’re dating a Dorian Grey!

Sailor Song – Gigi Perez

How did I get from James Blunt to Gigi Perez? it just happened. I immediately knew after listening that this was going to be the next song on this list. This is probably my favorite song that has come out of 2024. Everything about this track is just raw and real and I will not stop putting it on repeat every morning. Gigi  has mentioned that Sailor Song was inspired by the idea of navigating love in a way that mirrors the unpredictability of the ocean. You can feel the love  she is singing about here. Sailor song has a special place in my heart.

Crown of Love – Arcade Fire

I love this ‘cos it doesn’t sugarcoat heartbreak—it’s the raw, messy aftermath of love lost. The imagery of carving someone’s name into your eyelids is just nuts and yeah – you gotta be “feeling it” if you’re up for that!. It’s honest about the pain, the self-blame, and that lingering obsession, while still finding beauty in the loss—like flowers growing on the grave of old love. The vulnerability is what gets me too: hiding your pain from the world, pretending you’re fine. It’s heartbreak as art, true love indeed.

I miss missing u – Zach Hood 

I love a song that isn’t afraid to talk about the hard stuff. Not everything is sunshine and rainbows and even love can be bittersweet. But the important thing is even when love changes or ends, its impact remains strong.

I think Zach does a great job at really understanding these complicated feelings of love here. I think that saying you don’t know how much you love someone until they’re gone might just be true just about sums up this up here. Similar to Crown of fire, here’s another track to remind us that real love is felt deeply—even in its absence.

Better Man – Paolo Nutini

It’s a weird thing, love. This whole list was all about looking at what true love means and bringing songs that could throw perspective or insight to it. I’m going back through the list and there are so many different perspectives – love’s this crazy thing. There must be an infinite amount of ways of looking at it and considering it and thinking of it.

And what the fuck is love? The songs on this list, some of them are clearly not love songs. They talk about the absence of love, or they talk about the loss of love or the desire of love, and yes, there are songs that deal with the classical romantic reflection of love. But love is this just crazy fucking thing. You can make playlists about love forever, and that’s something I hope I get to do for the rest of my life.

I have loved making this list, loved reading the write-ups and getting to see Jenna’s perspective. We’re all over the shop, but it’s brilliant for that. So what am I finishing with? I’m finishing with schmaltzy romance. Hell yeah. I’m finishing with the optimism. I’m finishing with the upside. If you’ve come here to learn about love and we’ve just given you 20 tracks of how weird it can be, here at the end –  Jenna can do whatever the hell she wants with the last track – but I’m coming back with what love can be.

Here’s the inimitable Scottish singer with the super Italian name Paolo Nutini, who is in love. And what does love mean for him? Love makes him a better man. Love makes him, you, and me better. 

What love is and what love means when you’re human, it’s fucking amazing. I do think love has made me a better man. I think I’ll just leave it there. 

Love? 

Yeah

🙂

August – Flipturn

Ending this playlist full of love with even more love from one of my all time favorite bands. August was the first song I heard by the band and it really is a song that captures intense feelings for another person. These lyrics look back on good times and memories and like the song suggests that’s what I’m doing here. The first time I heard it I was at almost a loss of words and full of a warm feeling in my chest. It gave me a really good feeling and  to me is the perfect track in every way. Love exists so powerfully in memories. I had to go with the acoustic version of this track as well for even more feels. 

There’s still so many songs and lyrics to explore when it comes to talking about love. Making this playlist with Andrew was a really cool experience to listen to how other artists and ourselves interpret it. ( I also wonder how many times we have used the word love on this playlist)

Here’s to Love! <3

Track Listing

• You And Me Song – The Wannadies
• Let’s Fall in Love for the Night – FINNEAS
• All the Way Home – Natalie Migdal
• Quite Miss Home – James Arthur
• Red Travellin’ Socks – Malcolm Middleton
• Beautiful Things – Benson Boone
• What Can I Do (But Love You) – Joy Williams
• million little reasons – Oscar Lang
• (They Long To Be) Close To You – Carpenters
• I Hear a Symphony – Cody Fry
• The Curse – Josh Ritter
• Mine – The 1975
• Million Dollar Bill – Dawes
• CHICKEN TENDIES – Clinton Kane
• True Romance – Oh Wonder
• this is how you fall in love – Jeremy Zucker
• Tears and Rain – James Blunt
• Sailor Song – Gigi Perez
• Crown of Love – Arcade Fire
• I miss missing u – Zach Hood
• Someone Like You – Paolo Nutini
• August – flipturn

Playlist image by ChatGPT4

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This playlist is part of The Human Collective. Each week we take a prompt and create a playlist and accompanying articles. Learn more about The Human Collective here.