The War on Drugs
Red Eyes is a rush of ecstatic, half-legible sentiment stitched to a driving, anthemic rock arrangement, where the lyric's…
devotion under strain spiritual/emotional darkness self-doubt
Lauryn Hill
This is Lauryn Hill's rendition of the 1967 Frankie Valli classic, placed on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill as a brief,…
infatuation gratitude vulnerability
Minnie Riperton
A love song built around the gap between feeling and expression, in which the narrator worries that her devotion isn't landing…
communication anxiety reassurance devotion
Cat Power
This is Cat Power's slowed, hushed reinterpretation of a Velvet Underground song, stripping away the original's arrangement in…
faith and doubt devotion persuasion versus surrender
Ann Peebles
A gratitude-soaked soul ballad in which the narrator credits a lover with rescuing her from despair and teaching her what love…
redemption through love gratitude rebirth/renewal
The Beach Boys
A love song built on an admission rather than a boast: the singer refuses to promise eternal devotion outright, instead…
dependence and self-erasure in love uncertainty as a form of honesty devotion expressed through negation
Smokey Robinson
A straightforward declaration of romantic devotion, built on the classic Smokey Robinson template of certainty and fidelity. The…
romantic devotion certainty/fate fidelity
Ethan Whitney
A straightforward pop declaration of romantic devotion dressed up in comic-book imagery. The narrator pledges protective,…
devoted love self-sufficiency vs. support escapism
The Rolling Stones
A weary declaration of devotion dressed up as a refusal: the singer insists he won't be exploited or taken for granted, even as…
emotional labor in relationships self-worth and insecurity devotion disguised as protest
Neutral Milk Hotel
A meditation on love, mortality, and impermanence that blurs the line between romantic address and elegy, filtered through Jeff…
mortality and impermanence romantic devotion memory and loss
The Beatles
A quiet reckoning with memory, this song moves from cataloguing remembered places and people to settling on a present love that…
memory and nostalgia mortality the present versus the past
Jason Isbell
A song about watching long marriages calcify and making a private, almost superstitious vow not to let that happen to your own.…
marital decay willed devotion nostalgia
Pearl Jam
A quiet acoustic meditation on mortality and gratitude, in which the narrator confronts the certainty of death by turning toward…
mortality and impermanence gratitude romantic devotion
Queen
A ballad of direct, almost naked pleading, structured as a repeated appeal to a departing lover rather than a story with events.…
romantic loss pleading and supplication devotion despite rejection
Randy Newman
A jaunty, unguarded pledge of loyalty written for the Toy Story soundtrack, sung in the voice of a companion (originally Woody,…
loyalty friendship as identity reassurance in the face of fear
The Smiths
A restless plea to be driven anywhere but home turns into a swooning fantasy about dying alongside the person behind the wheel.…
homelessness and unbelonging romantic devotion as self-annihilation loneliness disguised as humor
My Morning Jacket
A falsetto-driven meditation built entirely from the phrase 'I'm amazed,' the song lists private tenderness alongside public…
media distrust personal devotion vs. public decay spiritual/moral drift
A song built from apocalyptic weather and violence, treating storm, fire, flood, war, and rape as a single continuous threat…
apocalypse and dread violence and its proximity the search for shelter/refuge
The Temptations
A mid-80s Temptations single that reworks old-fashioned courtship etiquette into a slick, upbeat pitch. The narrator presents…
chivalry and gender roles nostalgia for traditional courtship masculine self-presentation
Bonnie “Prince” Billy
A quiet, hymn-like meditation built around a wandering figure who walks alone through open landscape while a companion goes…
solitude and companionship pilgrimage/journey spiritual surrender
Roberta Flack
A slow, hymn-like meditation on falling in love, told through three escalating 'first times' — seeing, kissing, and lying with a…
romantic awakening the sacredness of intimacy time and permanence
Judee Sill
Judee Sill turns a love song into a devotional hymn, blurring the line between romantic union and religious ecstasy until the…
sacred and profane love transcendence mortality
Leonard Cohen
A meditation on grace and surrender disguised as a portrait of a woman by a river, Cohen's song moves from intimate seduction…
spiritual longing disguised as romance the sacred in the everyday trust and surrender