Soul music has a reputation for being romantic, whether you’re listening to songs by Marvin Gaye or Stevie Wonder. Here are some of the genre’s best love songs, for being in love, or simply for wishing that you were.
“My Girl” by The Temptations
Temptations members Smokey Robinson and Ronald White wrote this song while Robinson was married to a woman named Claudette. The song may or may not be inspired by her, but either way, just by hearing the lyrics, it’s obvious that “My Girl” is a love song at its core. Honestly, I think this is the kind of song that every woman wants to have written about them.
I’ve got so much honey, the bees envy me
I’ve got a sweeter song than the birds in the trees
Well, I guess you’d say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl, my girl, my girl
Talkin’ ’bout my girl, my girl.
“When A Man Loves A Woman” by Percy Sledge
This song explains how a man’s love for a woman knows no bounds. “When A Man Loves A Woman” was a No. 1 hit for Percy Sledge on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1991, Michael Bolton did his own version of this song and had a No. 1 hit as well.
When a man loves a woman
Can’t keep his mind on nothin’ else
He’d change the world for the good thing he’s found
If she is bad, he can’t see it
She can do no wrong
Turn his back on his best friend if he put her down.
“I Say A Little Prayer” by Aretha Franklin
Interestingly enough, “I Say A Little Prayer” was written from the perspective of a woman praying for her man, who’s fighting in the Vietnam War. The War was a topic of heavy discussion at this time, and a lot of people found the draft to be quite unfair. Regardless, though, Franklin got a nice Top 10 hit out of this song.
“L-O-V-E” by Nat King Cole
When I think of a love song, I think “L-O-V-E” by Nat King Cole. Maybe that’s because it appears in movies like Sleepless In Seattle and The Parent Trap, or maybe it’s because, when it comes to love, “L-O-V-E” literally spells it out for you.
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