Five romantic songs that you’ll love to hate
Love songs, whether they’re pop, rock, folk or any other genre, bring out something held deep within those who listen.
The fact of the matter is, while love is one of the most common feelings in the world, it’s also one that people continue to find impossible to put into words – many have looked into the eyes of the person they love and tried to find the right way to describe their feelings, only to come up short.
In desperation, people turn to music, and rely on this art form to act as their inner voice – they use artists as a vessel through which to connect with their own feelings, and that’s why love songs have such a prominent place in the hearts of listeners. Of course, that being said, not every love song is that great to listen to.
There are quite a lot which fall completely flat, and are borderline unlistenable as a result; however, because of their very nature, no matter how much we hate them, there will also be shadows of love dancing around these monstrosities.
Five romantic songs that we all love to hate:
James Blunt – ‘You’re Beautiful’
You’re already humming it just by reading the title, aren’t you? As far as love songs go, they don’t come much bigger than this, but damn it does grate on you after a while – ames Blunt pining for a woman he saw on the tube landed incredibly well at the time, but now it’s the kind of song that would make you move to another carriage if you heard someone on the Victoria Line humming it.
Blunt said that the song is often misinterpreted, as people think of it as a romantic ballad but it’s actually about a man stalking someone. “It’s not the song that people think it is,” he said, adding, “It’s about this guy who’s high as a kite stalking someone else’s girlfriend – and should be locked up and put in prison. But people think, ‘Ah, he’s a sweet romantic’. If you think that’s what romance is, then I think you’re pretty weird.”
You can add as many layers to it as you want, it’s still not a great song.
Meat Loaf – ‘I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)’
There is just something about a Meat Loaf song that feels odd. The blend of opera and rock, while incredibly impressive, makes a track borderline parody, and it means that a lot of songs, regardless of how romantic they might be, just don’t land in the way that the singer was probably hoping for. This riddle of romance is a classic for many, as some love it, while others… well, they just love to hate it.
“What he ‘won’t do’ is said about six times in the song very specifically. It’s sort of is a little puzzle and I guess it goes by – but they’re all great things. ‘I won’t stop doing beautiful things and I won’t do bad things.’ It’s very noble,” said Jim Steinman, the songwriter, when discussing the track. “I’m very proud of that song because it’s very much like out of the world of Excalibur. To me, it’s like Sir Lancelot or something – very noble and chivalrous. That’s my favourite song on the record – it’s very ambitious.”
Billy Ray Cyrus – ‘Achy Breaky Heart’
It’s hard to take this song seriously with the power of hindsight. Once you’ve become virally famous on a rap song and then performed a gig for Trump, songs about your achy breaky heart just don’t land with the same sentiment. Not to mention, the track is inherently annoying to listen to, with a chorus which is repeated more times than any track needs a chorus to be repeated, and the lack of effort put into the vocals is astonishingly poor.
So, why did the song do so well? Well, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, who was kept from the top spot of the charts because of it, had a theory. “All those fat fuckin’ housewives in the Midwest, and this guy with this funny haircut, and that song, it just resonated with the American people and people bought into it, and there was no shaking it,” he said,. “His song was a novelty.”
Cinderella – ‘Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)’
You just can’t take a hair metal song about heartbreak seriously. The genre invites ridicule, and so tracks like this, despite having sadness, longing, and romance at their centre, just come across as parody tunes. This isn’t really a song that can guide you through a heartbreak, but you love to hate it.
Tom Keifer from Cinderella said that he felt they offered a range of emotional depth with his music, and that people related to what they sang. Erm, yeah, sure. “I’m sure some songs I write, people relate to more than others,” he said. “Probably ones we call hits, right?”
50 Cent – ’21 Questions’
50 Cent isn’t really an artist known for his affinity for love songs, but the rapper has always been ambitious, and so he tried his hand at romance once or twice. On his acclaimed album, Get Rich of Die Tryin’, in between the tracks about murder, drugs and money, he decided to pour his heart out for an unnamed devotee.
The track has a nice sentiment behind it, as 50 Cent alludes to the idea that love exists beyond material possessions, but the way he insinuates as much doesn’t create the most poetic piece of music on the planet. That being said, this is one of those love songs that you’ll become a fan of, despite the actual love side of things not really landing.
