by Manda Carr

Created on: August 29, 2008

I do enjoy reading the lists that other people compile. A good Top 10 can get you thinking about your own preferences, as well as giving you an insight as to whether the list maker is someone whose opinion matters to you.

I quickly realized there would be a difference between compiling a list of the Best Love Songs of All Time, and compiling my personal favorite list of Love Songs of All Time. So, I've done both, and here's the method I employed in choosing them:

Let me take you back a decade... I normally penned the music for the rock band I used to be part of. However, we needed to get a longer set together for a particular gig and so, having a GCSE in English Lit, I was drafted into writing some 'love songs'.

"They're not love songs, love," the lead singer announced.

"Of course they are! Look - girl meets boy, boy cheats, girl ends up in a puddle and then gets over it. Ta-da!"

"No. That's a gay anthem, not a love song."

"A gay anthem?"

"I Will Survive? Don't Leave Me This Way? What's Love Got To Do With It? I could go on."

"Oh. . ."

Well, it sure got me thinking on what a love song was, what made a good one and what the best examples are.

WHAT MAKES A LOVE SONG, A LOVE SONG?

1) Strained voice.
All the ones I can think of have at least one part where the singer has to screw up his face in a rictus of agony and impassioned note straining.

Top 3 Strainers:
1 - U2: With Or Without You
2 - Bryan Adams: Everything I Do
3 - James Blunt:You're Beautiful

2) Ain't nothing funny about love.
If you're having a laugh, enjoying yourself, or feeling up-beat, it isn't a love song. Love songs should 'plod' not 'rock' and only sex can be comedic; love must be dramatic.

Top 3 Drama Queens
1 - Whitney Huston: I Will Always Love You
2 - Aerosmith: I Don't Want To Miss A Thing
3 - Plain White Ts: Hey there Delilah

3) Tragedy!
Leading on from Drama comes Melodrama. There must be misery and strife aplenty for a love song to really hit home. After all, up-lifting is for bras. Love songs demand a modicum of painful torture.

Top 3 Tortured Souls:
1 - Celine Dione: My Heart Will Go On
2 - George Micheal: Careless Whisper
3 - Bon Jovi: Always

EVERYBODY'S DIFFERENT. MY TOP 5.

It will always be a subjective thing, but I like a little meat to my love songs. Here's my personal Top 5, which actually tick all the right boxes when it comes to strained warbling, dramatic content and wallowing in misery:

1) Aretha Franklin - Don't Play That Song For Me
2) ELO: Ticket To The Moon
3) PP Arnold: First Cut Is The Deepest
4) The Smiths: Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I want
5) Percy Sledge: When A Man Loves A Woman

Whatever you agree, or disagree, with any of the songs above, you are bound to have strong opinions. After all, as Roxy Music once sang, "Love is the drug and I need to score", and we're all addicted to Love Songs.

Learn more about this author, Manda Carr.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.