Few things encapsulate life as well as music.
Whether it be something as simple as taking out the trash, going for a head-clearing run or cooking up a delicious meal, the right song can elevate your mood into an experience unlike any other. But no facet of life is elevated by this as well as intimate times with a loved one.
If you’re ever having trouble finding the right song to play with your lover, look no further than our latest list:
First Day of My Life
Mac Miller
A song about the deepest of loves, this Bright Eyes cover is one of the most love-inducing tracks out there, complete with a beautiful backing guitar, Mac Miller sings: “I thought I’d let you know / That these things take forever, I especially am slow / But I realized that I need you / And I wondered if I could come home.”
As the genuinely positive beat continues to fill the ears of listeners with the track’s happily sung lyrics, one can’t help but feel warm with love as the song comes to a close.
Love Like You
Rebecca Sugar
Made for the credits of the Cartoon Network series, “Steven Universe,” “Love Like You” represents everything the show is about: love. Much more innocent than the rest of the list, Sugar’s vocals echo across the piano beat creating a feeling only found in the purest forms of the word.
Perfect for a dance or a loving embrace, this song is for the people who doubt they’ll ever find love, as well as the ones who are unsure of how their significant other feels. How? Because Sugar’s lyrics detail someone who eventually breaks through the certainty, reminding said individuals that their time will come while demonstrating the powerful emotion that brings us to someone we feel we can never have, despite how they may feel about us.
“I always thought I might be bad / Now I’m sure that it’s true / ’Cause, I think you’re so good / And I’m nothing like you / Look at you go / I just adore you / I wish that I knew / What makes you think I’m so special.”
Pass By Me
Buddy and Kent Jamz
The only rap song on this list, “Pass By Me” is a tune for that hot summer love who always seems to hit us right in the face. Singing about a girl whose beauty has clearly commandeered their attention, Buddy and Jamz effortlessly switch back and forth on the mic as they do everything besides getting the aforementioned girl out of their head:
[Buddy:] “This can't be real / You make me feel like a soldier on the battlefield / Out for the kill / I get the chills / Might shed a tear, girl, I’ll tell you if nobody will / You’re beautiful / And when the sun goes down, after a while, I want you by me / Cuddled up on top of the money / Make it clap if you nasty.”
Not the subtlest love song, nor the crudest, “Pass by Me” feels like the modern rap version of “Summer Nights,” perfect for a day on the beach with that special someone.
Heavy Metal (Takin’ a Ride)
Don Felder
Easily the sexiest track on this list, “Heavy Metal (Takin’ a Ride)” showcases Eagles frontman Don Felder as he details a steamy experience with a lover. As a psychedelic guitar flawlessly pairs to Felder’s young but gruff vocals, “Heavy Metal (Takin’ a Ride)” will bring together any couple, who come for the hard-as-nails beat but stay for Felder’s sensual lyricism:
“You know you just can’t lose, the way she moves / You wait for her to finally release you / It's not a big surprise to feel your temperature rise / You’ve got a touch of redline fever / ‘Cause there is just one cure that they know for sure / You just become a heavy metal believer”
While it might not be the most well-known track on the list, it will surely set the tone for any listener, evoking a side that only those who know their special someone best can see.
Me & You
Champagne Drip and Lucii
If the cover of two aliens making out wasn’t entrancing enough, this EDM banger mixes beautifully personal lyrics with a transcending beat that will bring out the wook in anyone. Made for concerts but best for lovers on a breezy night, “Me & You” will turn any moment of intimacy into something far greater, as it injects the listeners with an invincible love that will take them to a place they never thought possible.
Less about its lyrics (fitting as they may be) and more a showcase of its pretty synths, this song will unquestionably find a home on the playlist of any festivalist or raver, inducing head banging and aggressive dancing in a form that can only be felt whole with your lover.
Alex Falter is the senior arts editor and can be reached at alex.falter@ubspectrum.com
Alex Falter is a senior arts editor at The Spectrum.
