George Michael
A torch song about a love ended by other people's interference rather than a lack of feeling, sung by a narrator who oscillates…
betrayal by outside influence wounded pride unresolved devotion
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
Minnie Riperton
A soft, incantatory love song built almost entirely from direct address and imperative pleading, in which the singer asks a…
romantic surrender identity through the other sensuality
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
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
Otis Redding
Otis Redding takes the Impressions' original devotional ballad and turns it into a raw, almost pleading testimony of gratitude…
devotion gratitude doubt from outsiders
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
B.B. King
A straightforward blues-soul declaration built almost entirely on the repeated phrase of devotion, this track trades narrative…
devotion fear of abandonment reassurance
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
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
Otis Redding takes the Irving Berlin standard and rebuilds it as soul testimony, stretching its plain, nostalgic lines into…
nostalgia longing 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
The Louvin Brothers
A plain, pleading country ballad built entirely around a single conditional wish: to win the love of someone who remains just…
unrequited love longing devotion
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
Maxwell
A neo-soul love song built almost entirely from negation and comparison: the singer catalogs firsts and never-had-befores to…
gratitude romantic awe transformation through love
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
Phoebe Bridgers
This is a cover, not an original composition, so the critical interest lies in interpretation rather than authorship: Phoebe…
devotion autonomy from outside judgment intimacy
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
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
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
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
Brandi Carlile
A quiet devotional song built on the idea that romantic security matters more than any external certainty. The narrator imagines…
unconditional devotion emotional security vulnerability and anxiety
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
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
Sarah Vaughan
This is a devotional address built almost entirely on paired opposites, culminating in a refrain of unconditional love. The…
unconditional love moral duality forgiveness
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
Feist
A cover of the Odyssey disco hit, reworked by Feist into a slower, torch-song lament about loving someone unfaithful and…
infidelity obsessive devotion self-erasure in love
Whitney Houston
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
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
Van Morrison
A gentle, almost devotional love song built on plain vows rather than complicated imagery. Morrison stacks simple declarations…
devotion and commitment romantic idealization simplicity as sincerity
A dreamy love lyric that treats devotion as a force capable of transforming any physical setting into paradise. Minnie Riperton…
transcendent love devotion and fidelity transformation of place
Interpol
"Gran Hotel" is a hazy travelogue-as-longing, using a specific place name as a stand-in for an emotional destination the…
longing and devotion escape and displacement memory and time