The Best Love Songs That Don’t Contain the Word Love
Johnny Cash – “I’d Rather Die Young”
Johnny Cash has always been brilliantly succinct. Usually it’s about shooting people or some sort of hellion mischief. When he takes the time to talk about love, it’s honest and halting. There’s a reason girls like bad boys.
The Dead Milkmen – “Punk Rock Girl”
If I close my eyes I can almost remember what young love felt like, almost. But when I listen to Punk Rock Girl, I am there; running around with an accomplice and jumping on tables. Young love is moreabout doing and less about saying. When he sings “let’s travel round the world,” then “eating fudge banana swirl” it’s impossible not to smile.
Sibylle Baier – “Tonight”
Sibylle Baier never took performance seriously; it was a private and intimate act. While it may have deprived the world of a few great albums, it is perhaps what makes the songs so personal. She could have sung “I loved him and we spent time together” but instead she sings “We had a change of the moon.” A phrase worth getting lost in.
Chet Baker – “The Touch of Your Lips”
To be honest, it doesn’t matter what Chet Baker says. His voice is like slipping into a steaming hot bath. IT FEELS SO GOOD. This song is especially tantalizing because he mentions all the right spots: lips and brow. The perfect person to sing you to sleep.
Au – “Boute”
This song could almost be instrumental. The piano chords and the delicate rim hits create a stirring narrative as they swell and recede. But the sparse, well placed lyrics make the song so human and intimate. When he sings “you’re so beyond/ so divine” it’s hard not to blush at the poetic flattery. Finally he makes the word love seem incredibly inadequate by simply singing “la la la la la” over and over.