Whitney Houston
A cover of Chaka Khan's disco-era declaration of feminine totality, reworked by Whitney Houston into a glossy, gospel-tinged…
female empowerment universality of womanhood self-possession
Thin Lizzy
A tender, almost devotional love song built on simple repeated vows, addressed to someone named Sarah. Its plainness is the…
unconditional love parental/romantic tenderness devotion
Seal
This is Seal's cover of the Al Green soul standard, a straightforward vow of devotion rendered in his signature smoky vocal…
devotion commitment through hardship romantic idealization
Sade
A slow, incantatory love song built almost entirely on a single declarative claim, repeated until it becomes its own proof. Sade…
contentment devotion sufficiency
Chaka Khan
A devotional, almost ceremonial love song built on a single vow of presence: to be there at the first light of a relationship,…
devotion presence and belonging new beginnings
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
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
Billie Holiday
A standard-era love song built entirely around the idea of infatuation rather than the beloved's physical presence: the singer…
idealized love longing and absence daydreaming as escape
The xx
A sparse, almost hymn-like love song built around a single repeated claim of devotion, sung by a narrator who seems…
devotion the ineffability of love fear of loss
Jason Isbell
A recovery ballad disguised as a love song, in which the narrator counts the cost of his old chaotic life and credits a specific…
addiction and sobriety redemption through love domesticity as safety
Sandy Denny
A simple, tender travel song built around a single promise: the singer will return to a loved one when the day ends. Sandy Denny…
longing separation and reunion homecoming
Al Green
Al Green frames a romantic relationship as a sacred event, thanking a higher power for a love that feels chosen rather than…
sacred love gratitude devotion
Deep Purple
This is Deep Purple's cover of the Neil Diamond original, a straightforward blues-rock love song built around a repeated title…
idealized love devotion simplicity/contentment
This is Seal's cover of the Ben E. King soul standard, reworked as a lush, string-laden vocal showcase for his 2008 covers album…
loyalty fear of abandonment cosmic/apocalyptic imagery as metaphor for hardship
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
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
Kacey Musgraves
Kacey Musgraves' rendition of this 1961 standard, recorded for the 2022 Elvis biopic soundtrack, strips the song down to its…
surrender to love fate versus choice vulnerability
Otis Redding
Otis Redding takes the Irving Berlin standard and rebuilds it as soul testimony, stretching its plain, nostalgic lines into…
nostalgia longing devotion
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
Spoon
A song about staying put — emotionally and literally — inside a routine that has worn thin, and choosing devotion anyway. The…
endurance of routine devotion as choice stasis versus escape
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
Loretta Lynn
This is Loretta Lynn's rendition of the 1913 hymn by George Bennard, a foundational piece of American Protestant devotional song…
redemption sacrifice faith and devotion
Brandi Carlile
A road-worn singer addresses someone left behind, weighing the cost of a touring life against a vow of permanent devotion. The…
distance and longing touring life vs. domestic life fidelity and devotion
Prince
A slow-burn seduction track built almost entirely around anticipation, in which the narrator promises total sexual surrender to…
erotic surrender impatience and urgency fantasy fulfillment
PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey builds a self-mythologizing torch song out of biblical and folkloric imagery, casting devotion as a form of damnation.…
obsessive devotion blasphemy and sacrifice mythic self-invention
Rodney Crowell
A plainspoken proposal song built almost entirely around one repeated pledge: that devotion, not money, will be the measure of a…
romantic devotion class and money courtship and destiny
A devotional love ballad built almost entirely on a single act of assertion: repeated declarations of faith in a partner rather…
romantic devotion faith and belief as metaphor for love surrender/vulnerability
Massive Attack
Sung by Elizabeth Fraser, this Mezzanine track uses fragmented, almost liturgical phrasing to circle around themes of…
maternal love spiritual devotion consumption/communion
SZA
SZA turns devotion into a kind of hyper-vigilance, pledging extreme loyalty and even violence for a lover while the…
obsessive devotion insecurity masked as confidence loyalty and self-sacrifice
Depeche Mode
A slow-burning devotional track that blurs the line between spiritual ecstasy and self-annihilation, using the imagery of…
surrender and self-dissolution transcendence through love or faith mortality
The Supremes
A pastoral love song built on borrowed classical melody (adapted from a Baroque minuet traditionally attributed to Bach,…
idealized romance nature as backdrop for love devotion and permanence
Kendrick Lamar
Built around a Luther Vandross/Cheryl Lynn duet sample, this GNX track finds Kendrick trading his usual combative persona for…
romantic devotion escapism through fantasy protection and provision
George Michael
A slow-building declaration of total devotion that reaches for every available role — lover, parent, teacher, priest — to…
all-consuming devotion protection vs. control roleplay and identity fusion
Animal Collective
A song built around a half-real, half-mediated female icon glimpsed through screens and reviews, with the narrator working out…
celebrity and mediated desire gender and sexuality fandom as devotion
Lucinda Williams
An early Lucinda Williams ballad addressed to an idealized poet-lover, mixing plainspoken country-blues devotion with a fantasy…
idealized love escapism artistic admiration
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
Peter Gabriel
A love song that treats romantic devotion as a form of spiritual salvation, where another person's gaze becomes the only stable…
romantic devotion as salvation spiritual longing expressed through eros restlessness and escape
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
A stripped-down plea built almost entirely on repetition, "Maps" strips romantic longing down to a handful of phrases repeated…
romantic insecurity possessiveness disguised as devotion fear of abandonment
Maxwell
A quiet devotional love song built almost entirely from offers and conditionals, in which the narrator surrenders control to a…
devotion and self-surrender vulnerability in love unconditional availability