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The 20 Best Songs About Finding New Love, Ranked By Hopeless Romantics
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When it comes to the euphoric feeling of falling for someone new, music has a way of capturing emotions that words alone sometimes can't. That's why we've compiled a list of the best songs about new love. These tracks encapsulate the butterflies, the excitement, and the overwhelming joy that come with discovering a fresh romantic connection. Perfect for serenading your special someone or just basking in the glow of newfound love.
Think about Etta James' iconic "At Last," which has been the ultimate anthem for that magical moment when you find "the one." Then there’s Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is," a powerful ballad that combines longing with the thrilling anticipation of love’s arrival. Colbie Caillat's "Bubbly" delivers a light, feel-good vibe that perfectly encapsulates the giddiness of love’s early stages. Each of these songs not only celebrates the bliss of new love but also resonates deeply with anyone who's ever experienced it.
Now, it’s your turn. What's your go-to track when you're head over heels? Vote on your favorite songs about finding love and help others create the ultimate love playlist. Your choices will help shape the definitive list of love anthems, so make sure to cast your vote!
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Genre: Soul blues
What It’s About: A soulful song about the euphoria of true love, “At Last” by Etta James was an instant classic after its 1960 release - and over the decades has been covered by many singers, including Beyoncé, Jason Mraz, Celine Dion, and Cyndi Lauper. And its lyrics, speaking to the longing and anticipation of a love finally fulfilled, are universally relatable. James delivers a powerful, passionate performance that has helped the song stand the test of time.
According to James’s memoir Rage to Survive, some of that fire came from the desire to prove herself as an adult artist: “I was no longer a teenager. I was 22 and sophisticated. Or at least I wanted to be sophisticated…Because of the way I phrased it, some people started calling me a jazz singer.”
At last
My love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song
In love?Buy at
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Genre: Rock ‘n’ roll
What It’s About: This timeless ballad is one of Elvis Presley’s most famous and captures the gentle bliss of falling uncontrollably in love. But it almost didn’t make the cut – reportedly, Presley had to fight for its inclusion on his 1961 album Blue Hawaii, because producers didn’t think it was good enough. Thankfully, Presley persisted, and the song has now been covered by more than 220 other artists.
Practically made for a beautiful oceanside sunset with its island-inspired tones and velvety harmonies, the song reveals Presley at his most pure as he reflects on his willing surrender to love’s embrace.
Take my hand
Take my whole life, too
For I can’t help
Falling in love with you
In love?Buy at
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3'Wonderful World' - Sam Cooke
Genre: Jazz-pop
What It’s About: This lighthearted serenade was written about the simplicity of love. Sam Cooke riffs on how, despite all the things he doesn’t know - including history, biology, geography, and algebra - he's still certain he’s in love.
He co-wrote the song with hitmakers Herb Alpert and Lou Adler, but when they released it in 1960, they used the pseudonym "Barbara Campbell," based on the name of Cooke’s high school sweetheart, cutely tying in with the school subjects Cooke rattles off in the song.
I do know one and one is two
And if this one could be with you
What a wonderful world this would be
In love?Buy at
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4'When I Fall In Love' - Nat King Cole
Genre: Jazz pop
What It’s About: A glistening orchestral arrangement and Nat King Cole’s soulful delivery melt together in this 1956 rendition of “When I Fall In Love.” Adapted from an earlier version recorded by Doris Day, the song expresses the sentiment that love is both all-consuming yet mysterious, comparing it to the moon and the sun alike. It also describes the feeling of anticipation for the moment someone learns their feelings are reciprocated.
In 1996, Nat King Cole's daughter Natalie Cole re-recorded the song, singing along with the voice of her late father, who passed in 1965. The pair earned two Grammy Awards for the unique collaboration.
When I give my heart
It will be completely
Or I’ll never give my heart
And the moment I can feel that
You feel that way too
Is when I’ll fall in love with you
In love?Buy at
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5'I Want to Know What Love Is' - Foreigner
Genre: Soft rock
What It’s About: Penned by Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones, “I Want to Know What Love Is” went on to become the band’s biggest hit after its 1984 release. Featuring classic 1980s synths and a heart-stirring chorus, the power ballad expresses a deep desire to understand love, while recognizing that one must often be patient to find it.
Of the inspiration, Jones said he felt like the track was actually written by a "higher force" that captured the universal feeling of “searching for something that could really endure.” As he further explained, “I realized suddenly that I’d written almost a spiritual song, almost a gospel song…Sometimes you feel like you had nothing to do with it... You’re just putting it down on paper, or coming up with a melody that will bring the meaning of the song out, bring the emotion out in the song.”
In my life, there’s been heartache and pain
I don’t know if I can face it again
Can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far
To change this lonely life
I wanna know what love is….
In love?Buy at
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Genre: Rock
What It’s About: Known for releasing some of the greatest breakup songs of all time, Fleetwood Mac often got their inspiration close to home - they’re famous for intra-band flings that created drama in and out of the studio. “You Make Loving Fun” in 1977 was no different, written by vocalist/keyboardist Christine McVie about her affair with the band’s married lighting director, Curry Grant, following the end of her marriage to bandmate John McVie.
Marked by expressive vocals and a catchy chorus, the track tells the hopeful tale of someone who stopped believing in love, but finally met someone who might make them change their mind.
Don’t break the spell
It would be different and you know it will
You, you make loving fun
And I don’t have to tell you but you’re the only one
In love?Buy at
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7‘La Vie en Rose’ - Édith Piaf
Genre: French classic pop
What It’s About: Loosely interpreted as “life through rose-colored glasses,” this velvety 1945 classic describes the bliss of “neverending nights of love.” French singer Édith Piaf describes seeing life in pink with her partner, which makes everything brighter, more beautiful, and more hopeful.
The song was written just days before Germany surrendered in WWII. It went on to exemplify French romanticism, especially notions of Paris as the global “City of Love.”
It’s you for me, me for you in life
You said that to me, swore it for life
And as soon as I see you
I feel in me
My heart that pounds
In love?Buy at
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Genre: Country
What It’s About: Bright and breezy, this 1998 release sees Faith Hill find her “white knight” in a perfect kiss. She describes the experience as “perpetual bliss” and euphorically compares the love to storybook romances like Cinderella and Snow White.
For Hill, the song is also about her husband, fellow country artist Tim McGraw, whom she married in 1996. Their first kiss, she's revealed, was “perfect, exactly as it should be.” Now with three grown daughters, the pair truly did ride off into the sunset together, just like in the song.
You can kiss me in the moonlight
On the rooftop under the sky
You can kiss me with the windows open
While the rain comes pouring inside
In love?Buy at
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9'Crazy For You' - Madonna
Genre: Pop
What It’s About: Madonna recorded this song for the soundtrack of the 1985 American coming-of-age romantic drama Vision Quest, but its timeless sentiment could just as easily apply to starry-eyed young people at a modern-day high school or college dance anywhere in the world. After all, who couldn't identify with the realization that, “I never wanted anyone like this/It's all brand new/You'll feel it in my kiss/I'm crazy for you.”
Interestingly, although Madonna was still an up-and-coming artist at the time, and didn't even write “Crazy For You,” her performance was so well-received that in 1986 it earned her the first of what would later become many Grammy Award nominations.
Trying hard to control my heart
I walk over to where you are
Eye to eye we need no words at all
Slowly now, we begin to move
Every breath I'm deeper into you
In love?Buy at
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10‘Bubbly’ - Colbie Caillat
Genre: Pop
What It’s About: Colbie Caillat was discovered on MySpace in 2006, and her debut single in 2007, “Bubbly,” was an instant hit - a feel-good acoustic pop song about the pleasures of falling in love. Caillat sings about how she feels like a kid with her partner and can’t help smiling and crinkling her nose. There’s also a cute story about staying in bed “dry and warm” while it’s raining outside.
In an interview with The View, she elaborated, “I didn’t write ‘Bubbly’ for any guy. I wrote it about the feelings you get when you have a crush on somebody, and when they give you butterflies in your stomach and they just make you smile.”
'Cause every time you hold me in your arms
I’m comfortable enough to feel your warmth
It starts in my soul and I lose all control
When you kiss my nose, the feeling shows
In love?Buy at
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11'If I Fell' - The Beatles
Genre: Pop rock
What It’s About: “If I Fell” is a tender ballad about vulnerability and the fear of rejection. It was also John Lennon’s first attempt to write a “ballad proper,” he once told journalist David Sheff, adding that “it’s semi-autobiographical, but not consciously. It shows that I wrote sentimental love ballads, silly love songs, way back when.”
Recorded as a duet with Paul McCartney in 1964, the lyrics delve into the risk of giving away your heart without knowing if your affection will be reciprocated. But this love is complicated - Lennon pleads with his “new love” to care about him more than his ex did, and even hopes the ex will “cry when she learns we are two.” Not so silly, after all!
If I give my heart to you
I must be sure
From the very start that you
Would love me more than her
In love?Buy at
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12‘This Will Be’ - Natalie Cole
Genre: R&B
What It’s About: With its signature horn line and bright sunshine tones, “This Will Be” is an upbeat ode to everlasting love and went on to become a blockbuster favorite. It was also the debut release from then-25-year-old Natalie Cole, daughter of the legendary Nat King Cole.
Perfectly capturing the feeling of being swept off one's feet, the lyrics convey both excitement and assurance as Cole shares her unbreakable excitement for the future of her relationship. The song was so successful that it won a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 1975, and Cole was also crowned Best New Artist that year.
You filled me with happiness I never knew
You gave me more joy than I ever dreamed of
And no one, no one can take the place of you
In love?Buy at
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13'Accidentally In Love' - Counting Crows
Genre: Pop rock
What It’s About: Featured in the 2004 film Shrek 2, “Accidentally In Love” is a lighthearted celebration about the rush of unexpected love, as well as the whirlwind of emotions it can come with. While Counting Crows vocalist Adam Duritz compares the new relationship to “strawberry ice cream,” he also wonders how long it will take to “cure it” before accepting that this love is inescapable.
Of the experience writing the track, he explained to Billboard, “They actually said, ‘Don’t write a song about Shrek. Write a song about you.’ The funny thing is, the song ended up reflecting a lot of what was going on in my life at the time: falling in love with someone you’re not supposed to fall in love with because it’s inconvenient.”
The song was such a hit that it was nominated at the Academy Awards that year for Best Original Song.
I’m a snowball runnin’
Runnin’ down into the spring that’s comin’
All this love meltin’ under blue skies
Belting out sunlight, shimmering love
Well, baby, I surrender
In love?Buy at
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14‘Enchanted’ - Taylor Swift
Genre: Country pop
What It’s About: Taylor Swift is among the queens of love lyrics, with many of her songs linked directly to ex-boyfriends and real romantic moments. “Enchanted,” off her 2010 album Speak Now, is no different - it was allegedly inspired by Owl City frontman Adam Young, whom Swift met in New York but never ended up dating. In the song, she muses on the power of love at first sight and wonders if her lingering feelings were reciprocated.
Swift reportedly incorporated the word “wonderstruck” into the lyrics after an email Young sent to her after their meeting: “Sorry I was so quiet. I was just wonderstruck meeting you." When he got wind of a song released in his honor, he quickly released his own version of “Enchanted.”
I’m pacing back and forth
Wishing you were at my door
I’d open up and you would say
“Hey, it was enchanting to meet you”
All I know is I was enchanted to meet you
In love?Buy at
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15‘Crazy In Love’ - Beyoncé
Genre: R&B/funk
What It’s About: Written about feeling head over heels for someone, “Crazy in Love” marks a major moment in Beyoncé’s career; it was her breakout single in 2003, post-Destiny’s Child. It also features a rap verse from her future husband Jay-Z, making this a canon event for the power couple.
The song’s catchy melody opens with a horn sample from “Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)” by The Chi-Lites. And with lyrics about the intoxicating feel of a love that can “do what no one else can,” the song went on to nab two Grammy Awards that year. It was also the only song in 2003 to top the charts in both the US and the UK.
It’s the way that you know what I thought I knew
It’s the beat that my heart skips when I’m with you
But I still don’t understand
Just how your love can do what no one else can
In love?Buy at
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16‘Just A Kiss’ - Lady A
Genre: Country
What It’s About: Telling the story of a tender goodnight peck, 2011's “Just A Kiss” captures the emotions of two people just starting out in a new relationship. They know they’ve found something special and want to take things slowly, because moving too fast might mess up their connection.
Lady A singer Hillary Scott later revealed the lyrics were in part inspired by her relationship with musician Chris Tyrell: “all the butterflies and that optimistic feeling that this person could be ‘the one.'” The couple ended up marrying in 2012 and have since had three children together.
I know if we give this a little time
It’ll only bring us closer to the love we wanna find
It’s never felt so real
No, it’s never felt so right
In love?Buy at
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17‘Is This Love’ - Bob Marley & The Wailers
Genre: Reggae
What It’s About: A potent political songwriter, Bob Marley was in and out of Jamaica when “Is This Love” was released in 1978. He dedicated it to his wife, Rita, and wrote about the joy of feeling deeply in love. They “share the shelter” together, Marley riffs, and for her, he’ll sweetly “provide the bread.”
While it didn’t have the sharp political notions of some of Marley’s previous works, his label boss, Chris Blackwell, said the song “reflected how he was feeling” and had a “very summery, carefree feel.”
I wanna love you
I wanna love and treat you right
Every day and every night
We’ll be together
With a roof right over our heads
In love?Buy at
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18‘Take Care’ - Drake
Genre: Hip-hop
What It’s About: This legendary Rihanna collaboration features the beat and hook from “I’ll Take Care of U,” a 2010 song by Jamie XX and Gil Scott-Heron that is itself a sample of a 1950s track by singer/songwriter Brook Benton.
In Drake’s hands, it becomes a silky smooth rap reflection on past relationships with heartbreak, as well as a desire to do better in the future. Sensual and introspective, Rihanna’s verse notes that, while she knows her lover has been hurt in the past, she will take better care of him if he lets her.
When you’re ready, just say you’re ready
When all the baggage just ain’t as heavy
And the party’s over, just don’t forget me
We’ll change the pace and we’ll just go slow
You won’t ever have to worry
You won’t ever have to hide
In love?Buy at
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19‘Fruta Fresca’ - Carlos Vives
Genre: Tropical pop
What It’s About: With a complex arrangement of regional instruments like the guiro, guacharaca, and gaita joining more familiar electric guitar, bass, and drums, “Fruta Fresca” has remained a vibrant celebration of life and love since its release in 1999.
In an interview with Billboard, artist Carlos Vives said the song came out of a desire to represent his Colombian heritage as well as his other homes, Miami and Puerto Rico: “a tropical person from a tropical land,” as he described himself. The lyrics are full of happiness and sensuality as Vives compares a lover’s kiss to fresh fruit, taking him to heaven where they can sleep with the angels.
May they say on the radio that I truly love you
May they say it in the newspapers and after soap operas
And on a sign that says like you, there is no other
May they say it in China, may they say it on the moon
In love?Buy at
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20‘I Am You, You Are Me’ - Zico
Genre: K-pop
What It’s About: Released in 2016, this whimsical song expresses Zico’s (real name Woo Ji-ho) beliefs that his current relationship was the work of destiny. It combines electronica synths with Korean language lyrics, and despite his friends’ doubts, Zico raps, he knows the relationship will outlast the “honeymoon stage.”
He praises his girlfriend the way most women hope - “You are the prettiest when you don’t have makeup on” - and gushes about how even his music tastes have changed from hip-hop to acoustic. “I will be incomparably better to you” than that “trash” ex-boyfriend, he promises.
If our hearts are the same
Two will become each other
You are me, I am you
We make a pretty picture
In love?Buy at
