Greatest love songs ever

So many songs listed here are also on my list. "Smoke gets in your eyes" was one of my favorites when I was growing up, in my teenage years actually. Perhaps I aged before my time, but I rarely listened to the genre for my age group.

Do you notice that most of our favorite songs came from our youth, when we were growing up and still viewed life through romantic eyes? I cannot recall a recently released song that could move me as these oldies. It must be because when I listened to my favorite songs, I recalled the old moments and my sentiments then.

But then, I recently discovered this French song, called "Chanson des Vieux Amants" (Song of Old Lovers) by Jacques Brel. It is new to me, but was written by Brel in the 60s. Most Americans do not know Brel, a Belgian, although at least two of his hit songs were translated into English, "If you go away", and "Seasons in the Sun". Born in 29, Brel died young at the age of 49 of lung cancer.

I do not know French like a native to truly appreciate his lyrics, but his works are praised as poetry and revered in Europe. "If you go away" merits a lengthy entry in Wikipedia.

About the subject song, though the circumstances do not apply to my unstormy marriage I could appreciate the song lyrics and its melody. Note the phrase "bedroom without a cradle". He was describing the turmoiled love of a childless couple. The peculiarity about this song was its celebrating of the middle-age love of a couple who has not been immune from infidelity.

YouTube - Jacques Brel Chanson des Vieux Amants English & It. subtitle
 
"Do you notice that most of our favorite songs came from our youth, when we were growing up and still viewed life through romantic eyes?"

I still view life through romantic eyes. :cool:
 
It interests me how many of you chose songs that were popular before you became teenagers, and you still like them.
Awfully hard for me to even listen to these old songs. I think the concept of a love song is a stretch for me. Must be why you guys are still married/SO'd and I am not. :)

YouTube - Yerba Buena - "Guajira"

Ha
 
Here's a good love song, full of passion but also of pain as is love.



YouTube - Ibrahim Ferrer - Dos Gardenias

Dos Gardenias para ti
two gardenias for you
con ellas quiero decir
with them I want to say
te quiero; te adoro; mi vida.
I love you; I adore you; my life
Ponles toda tu atencion
Put on them all your attention
porque son tu corazon y el mio.
as they are your heart and mine
Dos Gardenias para ti
two gardenias for you
que tendran todo el calor de un beso.
that will have all the heat of a kiss
De esos besos que te di
of those kisses that I gave you
y que jamas encontraras
and that you will never find
en el calor de otro querer.
in the heat of another love

Estribillo (Refrain)
A tu lado viviran
by your side they will live
y te hablaran
and they will talk to you
como cuando estas conmigo.
as when you are with me
Y hasta creeras
and you will even believe
que te diran: te quiero.
that they will tell you: I love you
Pero si un atardecer
but if one dusk
las gardenias de mi amor, se mueren
the gardenias of my love die
es porque han adivinado
is because they have discovered
que tu amor se a terminado
that your love has finished
porque existe otro querer.
because another love exists
(2x)

Letras and lyrics from Spanish Songs Translations: Dos Gardenias (Two Gardenias) by Antonio Machin (Cuba)
 
My turn.

"In My Life" is tops, but the original version of "Someday Soon" by Judy Collins' "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" album always brings tears to my eyes. Perfect lyrics, perfect singer, perfect rendition and perfect guitar work. The minor chords really grab me. Haunting is the word.

YouTube - Judy Collins - Someday Soon

I don't know why someone put those broads on the picture. How can you improve on Judy Collins? She is gorgeous even at 70. However, she never sang it better than here. Don't know why she messed with perfection. This is the absolute best rendition by anyone, ever.

And now, I am going to listen to it again and imagine I am 18 years old again.

Ed
 
I can never say any particular song is my favorite. I have so many, even some in languages I do not know. One such is "Mi Manchi" ("I miss you"), sung by Andrea Bocelli at an outdoor concert in Lake Las Vegas.

YouTube - MI MANCHI - Andrea Bocelli live

In a post that feels like a very long time ago, when I first joined this forum, Ladelfina gave me a translation. I wonder what happens to her.


ladelfina said:
No, *this* is thread hi-jacking!


Mi manchi
I miss you
Quando il sole da la mano all’orizzonte
When the sun weds the horizon
Quando il buio spegne il chiasso della gente
When the darkness extinguishes the clamor of the people
La stanchezza addosso che non va più via
The tiredness I bear that won't go away
Come l’ombra di qualcosa ancora mia
Like the shadow of something that is still mine

Mi manchi
I miss you
Nei tuoi sguardi
In your glances
E in quell sorriso un pò incosciente
And in that slightly unconscious smile (unconscious in the sense of unheedful or uncaring)
Nelle scuse di quei tuoi probabilmente
In those excuses of yours, probably (odd because the gender of "scuse" doesn't match "tuoi")
Sei quell nodo in gola che non scende giù
You are that lump in my throat that won't go down
E tu e tu
And you, and you

Mi manchi mi manchi
I miss you, I miss you
Posso far finta di star bene ma mi manchi
I can pretend to be fine but I miss you
Ora capisco che vuol dire
Now I know what it means
Averti accanto prima di dormire
To have you beside me before sleeping
Mentre cammino a piedi nudi dentro l’anima
 While I walk barefoot inside my soul ('barefoot' having the connotation of being 'in one's most essential state')

Mi manchi e potrei
I miss you and I could
Cercarmi un’altra donna ma m’ingannerci
Find myself another woman but I'd be fooling myself
Sei il mio rimorso senza fine
You are my endless remorse
Il freddo delle mie mattine
The chill of my mornings
Quando mi guardo intorno
When I look around me
E sento che mi manchi
And I feel that I miss you

Ora che io posso darti un pò di più
Now that I can offer you a little more
E tu e tu
And you, and you

Mi manchi e potrei
I miss you and I could
Cercarmi un’altra donna ma m’ingannerci
Find myself another woman but I'd be fooling myself
Sei il mio rimorso senza fine
You are my endless remorse
Il freddo delle mie mattine
The cold of my mornings
Quando mi guardo intorno
When I look around me
E sento che mi manchi
And I feel that I miss you

Sounds a lot more emotional in Italian, no? ;)
It's so funny when I came here and looked on a map; all the place names seemed so exotic:
"Montalcino!" (Oak Hill)
"Ponte Vecchio!" (old bridge)

...and even if you live in the cheapest dingiest flat... still, it's in a "palazzo'! (pretty much any large building)
Click to expand...
 
ANy love song by Barry White or Luther VanDross is my vote.......:)
 
Sarah in SC said:
MichaelB, you must be a little closer to my generation! These old songs are great, but they aren't from my youth, so maybe that is why they don't really strike a chord with me.
Here's my vote! ;)
Click to expand...
Hi Sarah. Seems youth and biology haven't changed much over the years - the only thing that does change is the way love - and lust - is expressed using music...
 
Not even "Hot Patootie, Bless My Soul" from the Rocky Horror Picture Show?
 
While a dilettante like me keeps babbling about music, we have not heard a peep from the musicians among us. I have counted T-Al, R-I-T, and Janet-H at the minimum. Pray tell us. What are your favorites?
 
I suspect it's because real musicians don't do love songs. :angel:
 
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