The secrets of the love song
Love is one of the musicians' favourite muses. It is no surprise that most of the songs that top the charts are inspired by it. In the following lines we will try to conquer the mysteries of the sea of love that daily floods the radio.
History
The oldest love song was discovered in Mesopotamia, in the library of Ashurbanipal. The song is by Shu-sin, king of Sumer and Akkad, who ruled from 1973 to 1964 BC. To its discovery, the oldest love song was believed to be Solomon's Song of Songs" of the Old Testament. According to Charles Darwin, the quest to find a mate and its courtship are the basis of all the arts, including music. Examples of love songs can be found in all ages of of human development - from the Middle Ages, through the Renaissance and up to the present day, when, as the Economist says, about 40% of pop music has lyrics on the subject.
Love Evergreens
Although the word "love" is relatively boring to rhyme, as noted by composer Jimmy Webb, love songs top most musical charts. We look to Billboard to recall some of the timeless love hits. Among the classics, we find Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" which topped the Billboard chart for 14 weeks in 1992. Dolly Parton's original topped the Hot Country Songs chart in 1974 and 1982. If you listen to the radio you're unlikely to pass a day without hearing Roxette's "It Must Have Been Love," Celine's "My Heart Will Go On Dion or Madonna's "Justify My Love," whose 1991 video proved too hot even for MTV. .
Love trends
Contemporary music also has its love hits. The biographical "Crazy In Love" by Beyoncé and Jay-Z, "We Found Love" by Rihanna and Calvin Harris or "Love Me Harder" by The Weeknd and Ariana Grande are a fraction of the love tracks with billions of listens on streaming platforms. Love in all its shades peeks from the work of every modern artist. An interesting example is "Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber, which raised the topic of so-called "self-love" - love for oneself, avoiding toxic relationships and people. In our examples we have stuck to popular music, but there are love songs in every genre - from jazz, ethno to heavy rock and metal..
How do you write a love song?
Martin Chilton writes that there are over 100 million love songs. How to turn your feelings into music with such competition? First of all, you need to be sincere and make the listener identify with your story. Stay away from clichés, we've heard plenty of those. Revealing your feelings to strangers is not an easy job, try to convey your story through lyrical characters in the lyrics, and pour the feelings into memorable melodies and simple but effective arrangement.
Music is not just a form of entertainment, but a universal language in which the cultural particularities of every age and every society. Love songs make our bodies overflow with dopamine and oxytocin that reinforce our own emotions. As we experience hundreds of romantic stories, we learn a lot not only about their authors, but also about ourselves. It remains for us only to choose whether to love as The Weeknd or more like The Beatles.
