By Maiya Tomlin
No matter the time of year, love songs are an insanely popular genre. Artists crank them out, and fans love to listen. This Valentine’s season, Lovett students have been blasting their personal favorites, no matter their current relationship status. When I surveyed everyone’s Valentine’s music taste to curate the ultimate Valentine’s Day playlist for 2024, the results varied from You Belong with Me from Taylor Swift’s Hopeless Romantic Era to Heartless by the Weeknd.
First, we surveyed Lovett student’s favorite love songs. Popular picks included Japanese Denim by Daniel Caesar, Satellite by Harry Styles, and Treasure by Bruno Mars.
Lots of people pointed out their favorite lyrics as well. A popular one is from Faye Webster’s Kingston, “the day that I met you I started dreaming.”
But current pop music was not the only response. La Vie en Rose, a French love song by Edith Piaf, was released in 1947. (A lot of people may know it as the song Lady Gaga’s character sings in A Star is Born when Bradley Cooper’s character first meets her). This was a common pick among the responses. Jack Minutelli (9) told me lyrics from older songs can be more meaningful. He loves the song Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl) by Looking Glass released in 1972, especially because of the lyric “but my life, my love, and my lady is the sea.” Cortland French (9) gave me another older pick that should be included in the playlist, Let’s Stay Together by Al Green, also released in 1972.
Given that many people just wrote “Anything by Zach Bryan” when we asked about favorite love songs, he is clearly admired around Lovett. Nadia Infante (10) told me her favorite Zach Bryan love song is Overtime, and her favorite lyric is “No matter who you know, no matter what you do, I’ll become what I deserve when it’s all through.” Nadia loves this lyric because it says, “No matter how successful or unsuccessful you are in life, you will be happy because you’re with the person you love.”
Now, the most popular answer by far, was “Anything Taylor Swift.”
Without a doubt, everyone loves Taylor Swift (including me, of course), And according to the survey, everyone enjoys her ever-so-famous love songs. Cate Turner (9) told me “She’s a lyrical genius,” and then proceeded to play me the last half of Tolerate It. According to the survey, loads of people agree with Cate. Some honorable lyrical mentions include Daylight’s “I don’t want to look at anything else now that I saw you,” and Mastermind’s “What if I told you none of it was accidental and the first time that I saw you, nothing was gonna stop me.” The popularity of the second lyric slightly caught me off guard, but that’s beside the point.
When I asked Grace Schmidt (9) why she thinks everyone loves Taylor’s love songs, she told me, “Taylor writes such good love songs because she’s been through so many relationships and breakups.” She added, “It’s given her so many perspectives to the point where any listener can relate somehow.”
Grace mentioned the universality of heartbreaks. Love is not always butterflies, unicorns, and rainbows. Heartbreaks seem to root artists’ creativity, and Lovett students seem to love them. Even our golden Taylor Swift has had her fair share of unfortunate endings to relationships. “All Too Well,” specifically the 10-minute version, was a very popular pick in the survey.
But Taylor is not the only artist to sing about heartbreak and the complexities of relationships. Some mentioned Olivia Rodrigo’s Traitor which is about her ex, Joshua Bassett, dating Sabrina Carpenter. Ironically, Sabrina Carpenter’s Because I Liked a Boy was also a popular pick. The song is about the consequences and backlash that Sabrina received for dating Olivia’s ex. Bridget Valls (9) told me, “I love listening to love songs because I like to analyze the lore behind them,” before adding, “I love how entertaining the drama is.”
An older song about pain to get a shoutout on the survey was Fleetwood Mac’s Silver Springs, released in 1977. “You’ll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you,” Lindsey Buckingham sings. Relationships may end, but feelings are difficult to get rid of, which a few Lovett students seem to relate to.
On a more positive note (apologies for the pun), “Oh my gosh, this is our song!” is a phrase I have heard lots of times in TV shows and movies. Yet, I’ve never heard anyone genuinely use the phrase. That’s when I decided to include it in the survey. The responses were pretty much crickets, as I expected. Then I decided to interview Bryce Milbury (9) and Cate Turner (9) who told me they’ve been dating since November of last year. And yes, they have an “our song.” It’s Snow by Zach Bryan, “the live version,” Cate added. They told me Zach Bryan is their shared favorite artist, and they would love to see him in concert together.
After interviewing a couple, I wondered if it was possible to have an ‘our song’ between two best friends. Tess Horner (9) and Bridget Casey (9) were quick with their answers when I asked. “Stick Season by Noah Kahan,” they said at the same time.
So yes, ‘our songs’ are real, no matter if they’re shared between a couple or two best friends.
Old or new, unique or clichéd, love songs connect people and so does Valentine’s Day, so it’s no surprise that we listen to songs about one of the most primal aspects of the human experience.
And if you’re interested in my top five love/heartbreak songs, here they are: Forever – Single Version by the Little Dippers, Satisfied from Hamilton, Heart it Races by Dr. Dog, Ivy by Frank Ocean, and of course, a Taylor Swift feature, False God.
