Top 20 Best Songs With “Love” In The Title

Love is an emotion that can permeate every aspect of our very existence. Ever since we became able to communicate in the most basic ways, we have felt the need to express it.

And, as soon as we had music and lyrics, it became the most natural thing to express love through that medium. But, it extends to more than just an emotive expression. It can talk of disappointment or even loss. The best songs with “love” in the title have real meaning.

Its Most Common Usage

It is most usually used as a way of expressing feelings for someone else. Of telling someone how you feel. Or, in the case of a relationship that is finished, how you felt. In some ways, it can be therapeutic.

The Soundtrack To Your Life

That is how music is sometimes described. And that especially applies to the best love songs. They will remind you of the best and sometimes the worst times in your life. They can transport you back in time to re-live emotions you thought were long forgotten.

It can be just a chorus or a line, but something stirs the memory. We have all experienced it, and for most of us, it is a good experience. Even if, at the time, it may not have been. 

So, let’s see if we can’t stir some of those memories and go back in time, and let the best songs with “love” in the title take us there.

Top 20 Best Songs With “Love” In The Title

Love Me Do by The Beatles

The late 50s and early 60s saw the rise of Rock n Roll. Elvis, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee, and in my opinion, the best of the lot, Eddie Cochran. But, it would be hard to argue against the fact that it was this single that began the change in music history.

It was first released in the UK in 1962 and was a modest success reaching #17. But that was all soon to change as The Beatles took over the music world for eight years. They set new rules and opened up new boundaries. 

There had been nothing like them before… 

And nothing like them since. This simple little song about love was enough to start a musical chain reaction. It was written by John and Paul, as was the B-side, “PS I Love You.” Another great song with “love” in the title.

No better place to start then than with the band that changed everything.

I Want To Know What Love Is by Foreigner

Foreigner was an apt name for a band formed in New York in 1976 by two Brits and four Americans. The Brits were already well-known in music circles. Guitarist and songwriter Mick Jones had been with Spooky Tooth, and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald had been with King Crimson.

This song was one of their most successful records and reached #1 in the UK and America. It was written by Mick Jones and was a typical Foreigner power ballad. It was taken from their 1984 album, Agent Provocateur.

A powerful song that has all the emotions of someone talking to their partner and hoping that things are going to go well between them.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen

This is an interesting song that was written by Freddie Mercury. When it first appeared on the Queen album, The Game, in 1980, it seemed rather out of context to what had gone before. But, then Queen often did that with album tracks.

This song always felt like a bit of fun rather than a serious Queen track. Freddie joined in on rhythm guitar for the first time with the band on this almost Rockabilly song.

Fun or not, it went to #2 in the UK and was their first #1 in America. It also became a permanent popular fixture in their live shows.

Say You Love Me by Fleetwood Mac

“Say You Love Me” is a track taken from the band’s 1975 album, Fleetwood Mac. It was written by Christine McVie.

Most people consider Rumours the band’s best-ever album. And there were some great tracks on that album. However, my personal favorite was always this album. There was something free and simple about the songs. It is almost like you could hear the lack of egos that later took over. 

Perhaps it was because the line-up was quite new, and the petty aggravations hadn’t kicked in as they had with Rumours.

The single was released in America in 1975… 

And it reached #11. It wasn’t released in the UK until a year later, by which time everyone that had bought the album already had the track. The single reached #40 in the UK in 1976.

Christine sang it, and it was always such an easy song to listen to with its easy mid-tempo Soft Rock feel. It was representative of the “new” Fleetwood Mac that had become more Pop-orientated than its blues predecessor.

She wrote it while she was still married to bassist John, and it became a popular song in their live concerts.

Need Your Love So Bad by Fleetwood Mac

So, given that Christine’s “Say You Love Me” was the “new” Fleetwood Mac, what was the “old Mac”? The new version may have had American influences, but the original was all British. And it was certainly no Pop band.

They were formed in London in 1967 by Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, and Jeremy Spencer. Anyone lucky enough to catch their performances in their early days was staggered. They had something that no one else had and who was certainly never replaced, “Greenie.”

A Natural

Peter Green was a natural blues guitarist of the highest quality, and his departure left a void that was never filled.

“Need your Love So Bad” was a cover of a blues song by Little Willie John from 1955. It was released in 1968 and reached #31 on the UK chart. It was taken from their album, The Pious Bird of Good Omen, and captured the new Blues direction Mac was moving towards.

Despite their blues roots… 

And their scintillating live performances, there was another side to Mac in those days. Greenie was able to write hit records as well, like “Albatross.” It reached #1 in the UK in 1968. Or “Man of the World,” which reached #2 in the UK in 1969.

And, a track which to this day, in my opinion, is still the finest recording that any of the Fleetwood Macs made, “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown).”

Released in 1970, it reached #10 on the UK chart and was the last Top 10 single they had until “Tusk” in 1979. It was also the last single with Peter Green before illness forced his departure.

What’s Love Got to Do with It by Tina Turner

You don’t have to look too far to find one of the best songs with “love” in the title from an icon of Rock and Roll. Over five decades of excellence have given us so much great material. This was one of her best. It was taken from one of her greatest albums, Private Dancer, from 1984.

“What’s Love Got to Do With It” was offered to Cliff Richard initially, but I can’t see how that would have worked. It finally got around to Tina after Donna Summer also rejected it. I suppose we should thank both of them for leaving Tina to put her indelible stamp on it.

It seems incredible to me… 

This was her only #1 ever in America. And her first Top 10 single there since the early 70s. It reached #3 in the UK and topped the charts in Australia and Canada.

It is a song with that “Tina attitude” written all over it. A memorable song with love in the title from one of the greatest female performers.

Addicted To Love by Robert Palmer

Of course, Tina did a memorable performance of this song, which was one of her great songs in her live shows. Although, here I am going to include it from the guy who wrote it, British rocker Robert Palmer. It was released as a single in 1986 from his 1985 album, Riptide.

It reached #5 in the UK and #1 in America. Originally, it was written to be a duet with Chaka Khan, but her record company made life awkward, and it never happened. She still got a credit on the original album liner notes as “vocal arranger.”

This is straight-in-your-face good old Rock music, and the song has everything. Even the beginning, with its big drum intro, gets a hold of you, and Palmers’ vocals are perfect.

And I Love Her by The Beatles

Time to get our breath back a bit with this song written mainly by Paul McCartney. It was taken from the album, A Hard Day’s Night, which in turn was the soundtrack of the film of the same name.

An interesting song when compared with the first song I included, “Love Me Do.” It becomes very clear how The Beatles were maturing as songwriters and performers very quickly.

An attractive melody… 

And some nice acoustic guitar makes this a stand-out track from the album. It was never released as a single in the UK. The Beatles and Brian Epstein had a fixed philosophy of no singles from albums. 

It was only later that overseas record companies started to release anything that moved as a single to make money out of them. I am tempted to say, “surprise, surprise.” It reached #12 in America.

Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin

One of Led Zeppelin’s “naughty” songs. It was taken from their excellent second album, Led Zeppelin II, where it was the opening track. Songwriting credits were given to the members of the band.

It was the subject of a lawsuit because virtually all of the song, lyrics included, were lifted from a Willie Dixon song recorded by Muddy Waters in 1962. It was also recorded by the Small Faces with Steve Marriott in 1966.

But that is all another story… 

When it came out, the track was, and still is, a sensational piece of Rock music, as was that second album. Still the best they ever recorded, in my opinion.

“Whole Lotta Love” epitomized what Zeppelin was all about. Hard-driving Rock. Drums that are likely to give you a serious headache, Plant in full flow, and a Page solo screaming in your ears. 

All that was missing was some intelligently crafted work from John Paul Jones. That came on the album’s other tracks. Controversies or not, this is a Classic Rock song with love in the title.

Bye Bye Love by The Everly Brothers

This is the song that brought the world’s attention to a couple of Country music-influenced singing brothers from Tennessee. Of all the Rock n Roll acts from the late 50s and the early 60s, The Everly Brothers were different.

They weren’t the hell-raisers, or “pretend hell-raisers,” as some like to be thought of. Good, clean-cut, college-boy types, they presented their music differently. But don’t get me wrong, they could rock and roll with the best of them, as we can hear in “Lucille.”

“Bye Bye Love,” though, was a bit of a tear-jerker and very reminiscent of the “boy loses girl to another” type of song. Impeccable harmonies characterized their music. And, in many ways, they may have been inspirational to those that came later, including The Beatles.

I consider myself lucky to have seen them live… 

At a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1983. A concert that was brought together by the persistence of British Rock n Roll guitarist Albert Lee. He got them speaking to each other again.

A song that was about an innocent love lost with no hidden messages, it was written by Felice and Bordleaux Bryant. The first of many hits the husband and wife duo wrote for them.

All Out of Love by Air Supply

This is one of the greatest love songs, in my opinion, and one that hardly got the credit it deserved at the time. Air Supply was a British/Australian band that released this song in 1980 from their album, Lost in Love. It was written by Clive Davis and Graham Russell.

The song is a simple and commonly told tale of a man who has been unfaithful to his partner and is trying to get her back.

The song has a special interest in that singer Russell Hitchcock held the final note of the song for 16.2 seconds. At the time, a record for a male vocalist, it was finally beaten in 1983. It reached #11 in the UK and #2 in America.

You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away by The Beatles

Back to The Beatles once more, and this track is taken from the 1965 album, Help! The album itself is, of course, part of the soundtrack to The Beatles’ second film, “Help!“, now on DVD.

This song was written by John. He said about the song that it was him in “Dylan mode.” What he means by that are the similarities to be found in a construction mirroring a strophic folk song idea. Dylan, of course, often used a very similar style.

John admitted that he was often influenced in his songwriting by what was going on around him. When told they needed an extra song for the album of the film, he came up with this. The harmonica that Dylan might have used is replaced by a flute.

A Confused Meaning

Since the song first came out, there has been discussion about what the lyrics might mean. John remained silent on this issue, indicating he didn’t want to embarrass or implicate anyone. There have been two commonly held ideas. 

Firstly, was he speaking about himself…

Being married might not suit his army of female fans, so he had to keep it quiet. Not really a rational argument. It was well-known in Liverpool about Cynthia, so it was not a secret he could easily keep.

And secondly, he was again referring to himself. He was forced to hide away his loving self from fans, which for him was a natural feeling. That is a more plausible meaning given that John, despite the image he often portrayed, was a gentle, caring person.

A third meaning potentially exists… 

Maybe he wrote the song about his good friend and Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Maybe it is about Brian’s need to hide away his homosexuality from the public gaze. Remember, this was the mid-60s. That might have been frowned upon at the time.

Whatever, it is one of John’s greatest songs. Sung with that typical emotion in his voice that was there when he sang about things that mattered to him.

I Just Called To Say I Love You by Stevie Wonder

Let’s look at a couple of well known songs with love in the title from Stevie Wonder now. I couldn’t decide which to choose, so I included both. Here’s the first. This was Stevie Wonder’s biggest-selling single. It was taken from the film, “The Woman In Red.”

A simple song about a man expressing his feelings for a woman by phone. It reached #1 in the UK and America and #19 in other countries around the world.

I Was Made To Love Her by Stevie Wonder

This was a song early in Stevie Wonder’s career and one of the songs that made his name. Always one of my personal favorites. It is unique because he co-wrote it with his mother. Something that doesn’t happen every day. It was the lead song from his album of the same name.

Released in 1967, it is an uptempo soul song made for the dancehalls, and typical of the period. It made #5 in the UK and #2 in America.

Love Me Tender By Elvis Presley

If anyone could be considered the artist that broke down the social and music barriers of the 50s, it was Elvis Presley. He brought something to the table we hadn’t seen or heard before.

This song, though, was not one of his Rock n Roll classics, but a semi-Country love song from 1956. The song was originally an over-sentimental ballad from the Civil War period called “Aura Lee.” 

That song was written by Englishman George Poulton. New lyrics were added by Ken Darby. It was the lead song from the film of the same name. It reached #11 in the UK and #1 in America. One of his most famous songs, he sang it in his performances throughout his career.

Higher Love by Stevie Winwood

Stevie Winwood is one of the most underrated people in music. Great singer with a distinctive “soul-like” voice, likened by some to Ray Charles, and an excellent songwriter. 

He played keyboards and guitar and led the British group, The Spencer Davis Group, at the age of 14 while still at school to chart success. He co-wrote “Gimme Some Lovin,” one of their biggest hits.

By the time “Higher Love” was released…

His reputation as a performer and songwriter was established. This was released in 1986 and featured Chaka Khan on backing vocals. It was taken from his album, Back in the High Life.

It reached #13 in the UK and #1 in America. And it has been covered by many people, including Whitney Houston. Proving that it is one of the best songs with “love” in the title.

I’ll Never Fall In Love Again by Bobbie Gentry

If I said this song was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, can you guess the original singer? Dionne Warwick, who else? This time though, I have included it here by Bobbie Gentry.

It was written for the musical, “Promises, Promises, Promises,” in 1968. Bobbie Gentry released her version of the single in 1969. It was the Gentry version that did well in the UK, reaching a surprising #1.

Easygoing and easy to listen to, it is a song using love differently. This time the singer is saying they are better off out of it. “Don’t tell me what it’s all about – Cause I’ve been there and I’m glad I’m out.” A different viewpoint and one that is probably more common than we might know.

I Will Always Love You by Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton wrote this song about the end of a relationship with her mentor and long-time friend Porter Waggoner. The lyrics and the ways she sings it indicate how hard that decision was. She wants him to know she will always love him for what he did for her.

In many ways, though, it was made famous in the 1992 film, “The Bodyguard.” It was sung there and became an international single success by Whitney Houston.

I have included Dolly’s version here because I have always preferred it. No histrionics, just a heartfelt rendition of what is a very good love song. It was released in 1974 and subsequently re-released again in 1982 and 1995.

Radar Love by Golden Earring

Was there life before The Beatles? In Holland, there was. Years before Eddy Van Halen and his family left Amsterdam for America; there was Golden Earring. Formed in 1961, before The Beatles had invaded the world, they were already giving us a special brand of “Dutch Rock.”

It is only recently, with virtually the same original lineup, that they finally called it a day. Their final concert in Amsterdam featured a ten-minute double bass drum solo in this song. Not bad for a bloke well into his 70s with a bus pass in his pocket. 

Released in 1973, “Radar Love” was their breakthrough single… 

It reached #7 in the UK and #13 in America. There were also Top 10 entries in half a dozen other countries. It was taken from their album, Moontan.

Once again, a different use of the word love in a song. This time a man on the road thinks he has a telepathic relationship with his love while he is driving to meet her.

All You Need Is Love By The Beatles

This song written by John could well be described as The Beatles’ anthem. Of all the songs the iconic band recorded over those brief eight years, this and “Strawberry Fields Forever,” another John song, are two of the most loved.

Released in 1967 as a non-album single, it went to #1 in the UK, America, and ten other countries. It took its fair share of criticism from those that just didn’t get it. The British press was largely supportive of the message. Others weren’t.

But, John was a poet, not in any way a political organizer… 

He wouldn’t have been bothered anyway. He saw those people, the “moaners” as irrelevant, as, of course, they are. 

His was a message about social justice. Possibly aimed at countries where there is very little, even though they pretend there is. 

Is it a love song in its context? It might not be about boy/girl love, but there are wider, more relevant issues for the use of the word.

Looking for More Great Songs About Love and Relationships?

Well, take a look at our detailed articles on the Best Long Distance Relationship Songs, the Best Songs About Falling In Love, the Top Songs About Unrequited Love, the Best Songs About Crushes, and the Best Love Songs For Him for more great song selections.

Also, you need to listen to those songs. So, check out our in-depth reviews of the Best Sound Quality Earbuds, the Best Bass Earbuds, the Best Headphones for Music, the Most Comfortable Headphones, and the Best Wireless Bluetooth Headphones you can buy in 2023.

And don’t miss our comprehensive reviews of the Best Waterproof Speakers, the Loudest Portable Bluetooth Speakers, the Best Wireless Outdoor Speakers, the Best Tailgate Speakers, and the Best Party Speakers currently on the market.

Best Songs With “Love” In The Title – Final Thoughts

“Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing,” sang Andy Williams from the film of the same name. And we can see it is from the songs that we have looked at. In some, the singers are singing about how important love is to them. In others, they are bemoaning the loss of it. Sometimes to a rival. 

In the final song, the word is used on a wider scale than just one person’s feelings toward another. It is a reminder that love is something we should feel for everyone. Love is a powerful emotion and one that the songwriters in these songs have managed to capture.

Until next time, happy listening.