Once that miasmic mix of harpsichords and celestial brass clears, and that opening caveat is laid bare, weвЂ™re left with a heartbreakingly tender song of yearning, of devotion and of fidelity. The uncertainty of the first line (вЂI may not always love youвЂ™) is a classic pop curveball, which works with the swooping transition from intro to verse. Three years later, Wilson and the Boys would surpass the master with a song that lifted the notion of the sophisticated love song clean into the heavens. In 1963, Brian Wilson was so obsessed with Phil SpectorвЂ™s orchestral vision for the RonettesвЂ™ вЂBe My BabyвЂ™ that he reportedly took to listening to it 100 times a day. When that happens, head to our list of the best breakup songsВ instead.

Of course, there areВ days when a great love song is the last thing you want to hear. Sometimes the music says as much as the words sometimes the words are more powerful than the most beautiful of poems. TheyвЂ™re touching, comforting and uplifting all at the same time.

The only constant is that the best love songs express sentiments that weвЂ™d struggle to put into words in real life. WhileВ youвЂ™ll find some great pop ballads on this list,В theyвЂ™re foremostВ here as a reflection of the gloriousВ breadthВ of what constitutes a love song, a form claimed by no one genre. And yes, there have been a lot of syrupy, formulaic declarations of affection churned outВ for the pop charts over the years, but thatвЂ™s not what weвЂ™re about here. From yearning ballads to wrenching declarations of need, from madrigals to metal, the history of music is the history of love songs, and vice versa.

Friendship is magic songs