With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it’s about time you pick up a special tune to woo your sweetheart. In this article, we’ll be mixing classics and newer love songs to give you a variety to choose from. We also tried our hardest to find songs that you can learn quickly because you’ve only got a few days! Get crackin’!
Peter Frampton, Baby I love your way
We’re starting off strong here with a classic. Peter Frampton’s “Baby I Love Your Way” is hands down the most romantic song you could play for your sweetheart. Play it on the beach, play it on a rooftop, stand in her front yard holding a boombox over your head. You can’t go wrong with Frampton. While the entire song is relatively simple to play, if you just want to bust out the chorus, here’s the chords you’ll need: G, D, A minor, C.
Sam Smith, Stay With Me
So you’ll really need some good chops for this song, but if you’ve got a killer voice, here’s a good song to pull at the heart strings. “Stay With Me” by Sam Smith is a super easy song to learn on piano or guitar and there’s a lot of room to add your own touch of soul. Check out Hannah Trigwell’s ridiculously beautiful guitar cover of this song. Maybe it will give you some ideas on how to cover it yourself.
Eric Clapton, Wonderful Tonight
You really can’t go wrong with Clapton. Especially “Wonderful Tonight”. In fact, this song has been clinically proven to melt hearts. As soon as your loved one hears the first few notes, you’ll have them wrapped around your finger. This song is great to cover on piano, guitar, or if you’re really in a pinch, acapella. And if you’re shaky on playing riffs and you’re worried you won’t be able to play the opening melody, just whistle or hum it while strumming the chords.
Adam Sandler, I Wanna Grow Old With You
Remember the movie the Wedding Singer when Adam Sandler serenades Drew Barrymore on an airplane? No? Well then you need to brush up on your Sandler movies! This song is super romantic. The message is simple, honest, and heartfelt. Best part, as promised, it’s easy to play. You can master the chords here. Got a ukulele? Learn it on the uke and you’ll score major brownie points. Play it on a plane and you’ll probably go viral.
Rolling Stones, Wild Horses
Another classic. “Wild Horses” will win the heart for sure. Check out this cover by Adam Levine and Alicia Keys. It might give you some ideas on a piano cover, if that’s your instrument of choice. This is also just a beautiful example of how to add a jazz spin on a song. These harmonies are awesome, so if you and your loved one jam together, consider this a great song to add to the duet list!
Bright Eyes, First Day of My Life
This song is a good robot tester. What I mean by that is, if this song doesn’t melt the heart of your loved one, then your loved one is in fact a robot. There’s something really special in the simplicity of this song. The lyrics are really amazing in their honesty. Don’t get overwhelmed by the plucking, you can also just play this as strummed chords. Julie Westlin does a great acapella looped voice cover of this. And here’s a uke cover! Hopefully those give you some ideas.
Van Morrison, Brown Eyed Girl
This song is an excellent valentine’s day choice but it does limit your loved one to be: 1. A girl 2. A girl who has brown eyes. If these match your criteria, then you’re good! Another easy song to learn, this song can be played on any instrument and sounds particularly awesome on the bass, mainly because the bass line is so recognizable. So if you’re a bass player, this song is perfect for you, assuming your loved one is a brown eyed girl. The best part of this song is, for the most part, the chords are G, C, G, D.
311, Love Song
If trip-hop’s your feel, then Love Song by 311 is a perfect match. While this song might sound too intimidating due to the several guitar parts, you can really boil it down to it’s core and still have an awesome and recognizable song. Adele did this, check out her cover. The guitarist is plucking this cover, but the simpler thing would be to do an upbeat reggae strum. Give it a shot!
Amos Lee, Sweet Pea
Sweet Pea is a major heart-winner. It’s such a feel-good song, it’s just ridiculous. It brings forth visions of riding a bicycle with your loved alongside a field of daisies. You know, like that scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when Paul Newman shows off his bicycle skills. Be sure to check out the video below, and also check out this version where Amos Lee puts a spin on his own song. This song also works really well on ukulele, by the way!
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, That’s What’s Up
In case you’re interested, this is the song I’ll be playing this year. It’s cool, happy, upbeat, and feel-good all wrapped up with a bow on top. There’s an honesty to this song that any weathered loved one would relate to. This song is also super awesome to learn as a duet. The opportunity for harmonies are endless. Check out these two sisters doing an out-of-this-world cover of this song.
Best of luck serenading your loved one this Valentine’s Day! Remember, even if you’re not be the best guitar player, singer, or performer, if you’re playing for someone who truly loves you, they’ll think it’s the best performance of the year. Now it’s your turn, please share with the TrueFire community your ideas for Valentine’s Day songs!
By John Lombard