If you hate romantic / coupley stuff, look away now

[liv]

I am looking for romantic music. Primarily for the wedding, but also for my general life. I like songs with words, and I usually care about the actual meaning of said words, so I would like to find some songs that are not accidentally break-up songs (which seem to get chosen as wedding music disturbingly often). And if possible I would like songs that are not creepy and stalkerish and obsessive, and songs which don't imply that finding The One is the ultimate aim of life.

Any style is fine; I'm just trying to brainstorm ideas here. I like rock better than r&b and I like baroque and early music better than classical, but those preferences are not set in stone. Also, any language is fine; languages I actually know are English, Swedish, French, German, Hebrew and Latin (and I can sort of kind of understand Spanish, Italian, Ladino, Norwegian and Yiddish), but if you know a good example in a language I'm completely ignorant of, then I will trust you to pick something with non-offensive words. I am particularly hoping for songs that mention weddings (for obvious reasons of aptness), and songs that mention May / springtime / summer, cos two potentials I have in mind are Telemann's Schmückt das frohe Fest mit Maien and Fauré's setting of the Victor Hugo poem Puisque mai.

This bit is more of a long shot, but I especially especially want songs that would work for communal singing, which is to say stuff that's reasonably simple musically and / or reasonably well-known, and preferably out of copyright or otherwise public domain. But not hymns. There may be no songs at all in this category, but I reckon several of my friends have a better chance of knowing about them (if they do exist) than I do.

All suggestions gratefully received (yes, even facetious ones)!

Comments

[hatam_soferet]

Now is the month of Maying?

[kass]

Thank you; now you've got Thomas Morley stuck in my head. :-)

[liv]

You know what would be the most awesomest thing ever? If you and darcydodo and pseudomonas could sing that! There are a few problems with this, like the fact that D doesn't answer emails, and the giant LACK of a tenor, and logistical problems caused by evil geography, but if it could be made to happen it would be superduper lovely.

[emperor]

I was going to suggest this; I remember conducting the CU troubadours doing it :)

[kass]

There's a lovely setting of "Set me as a seal upon your heart," which uses words from the Song of Songs (in English) which works well for multipart communal singing. (I believe you can find a recording of it here.)

[liv]

Thank you! I am a bit nervous about settings of texts because it's not supposed to be a Jewish wedding. But Set me as a seal is very lovely; indeed I read it when one of our officiants got married last year.

Unfortunately your link goes to something entirely different, in spite of claiming to be the song you're referring to. I can't easily find a version online to listen to, partly I think because "the Elizabethans" is a very generic name for a group and all my searches are pulling up every possible instance of Elizabethan or Elizabethan style music.

[janinedog]

Amazed by Lonestar was the wedding song we used. I love it. :)

[liv]

Aww, that is very pretty. It's not the kind of music I usually listen to, but it is incredibly romantic without being creepy. Thankyou!

[lotesse]

Rufus Wainwright's settings of Shakespearean sonnets are the most romantic songs I've ever heard. "A Woman's Face" is kinda gay for a wedding :) but his "Sonnet 29" (when in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes) is just lovely.

[liv]

That's a thought, thank you. I was a bit off Shakespeare's sonnets because they're such a wedding cliché, but a musical version might work really well. Kinda gay isn't inherently a problem, except that I'm not sure if it isn't a bit mean for an opposite sex couple to choose among the very few gay options available when 99.9% of all romantic stuff is heterosexual.

[kerrypolka]

Oh yes, his Sonnet 29 was our last dance at our wedding last year!

[emperor]

"I sat down under his shadow with great delight", set by Edward Bairstow?

Lots of folk songs are at least about love/sex; they are variable romantic...

[emperor]

Queen - "You're my best friend"
Monteverdi - "Ohimè, se tanto amate" ? [ISTR the words might be a bit dodgy, I can't exactly recall]

[liv]

Yeah, I think if we are going to try for communal singing, folk songs are the way forward. They are least easy to sing, but I wonder about choosing something that's familiar enough to a critical mass of people that it won't end up just being embarrassing.

I generally favour songs that are about love and sex without being capital-R Romantic. Our culture is really weird about sex and weddings; everybody knows that weddings are partly about celebrating sexuality, but there are only certain ways of expressing that that are socially accepted, most of which I don't like (you may kiss the bride / with my body I thee worship / telling dire, hairy sexist jokes during the speeches). But songs about sex in language that's old enough for the innuendos not to be immediately obvious are probably less likely to offend than the modern day equivalent, which would probably be described as "raunch".

The Bairstow is ever so nice, thank you for that. This post has led me to a whole new field of options involving English settings of romantic Biblical texts!

I don't think any of these are wedding-suitable

[kaberett]

Freshlyground - Pot Belly (interracial music video!), I'd Like (queer music video!)

um will think of others when more awake

[liv]

Thank you, those are both really lovely songs. I am going to be very picky and reject Pot belly on the grounds of that even though; it's clearly trying to be fat positive, but it's not quite there. I think I might be buying myself some of their music, though.

[zarhooie]

I like this one: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/paramore/theonlyexception.html

And here's a list of Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers songs... Which don't fit the "everyone knows this song" criteria, but they're my favorites, so.

http://lyrics.wikia.com/Roger_Clyne_%26_The_Peacemakers:Easy
http://lyrics.wikia.com/Roger_Clyne_%26_The_Peacemakers:Tell_Yer_Momma <--this one is my parents.
http://lyrics.wikia.com/Roger_Clyne_%26_The_Peacemakers:Love,_Come_Lighten_My_Load
http://lyrics.wikia.com/Roger_Clyne_%26_The_Peacemakers:Maybe_We_Should_Fall_In_Love
http://lyrics.wikia.com/Roger_Clyne_%26_The_Peacemakers:Love_Is_The_Road

[liv]

Thank you, that's a really cool collection. I like the way they're sweet without being too schmaltzy. And some of them are quite appropriate to the situation. Definitely good options, cheers!

[zarhooie]

And I'm REALLY surprised that no has linked to this yet...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCbD8nsxcd8

[liv]

LOL that is completely awesome, and I didn't know it at all.

[siderea]

This bit is more of a long shot, but I especially especially want songs that would work for communal singing, which is to say stuff that's reasonably simple musically and / or reasonably well-known, and preferably out of copyright or otherwise public domain.

So, here in this Cambridge, we get up way too early on May 1, hie down to the river bank and all together sing a lot of songs in English, many of which I understand are traditional to the Padstow and Helston May celebrations. As I recall, most of the songs are not particularly about love, excepting the (not Padstow trad :) "Wild Mountain Thyme (Will ye go lassie go)" They include "Hallantow" and "Unite and Unite". I'm struggling to remember the others (it's been a while since I've attended).

[liv]

That's a thing in Oxford too, I used to join in (as a spectator) when I was a student. However I think it's a quaint elite university tradition thing, rather than music that you can reasonably expect everyone to know. May carols have potential to be an alternative to hymns, as they're definitely meant for communal singing and quite often aren't overtly religious, though some of them are just weird.

[siderea]

How do you feel about 1970s folk-pop ballads? For straight up schmoop, I'm a sucker for the Shaw Brothers' cover of Seven Daffodils. John Denver is one of the go-to guys in this vein: "Follow Me" and Annie's Song. Another classic from the period was Longer by Dan Fogelberg.

[liv]

It's a musical tradition I'm pretty much completely unfamiliar with, so I don't have any feelings yet. I will investigate some of your suggestions and see how they grab me. Thank you!

[gool_duck]

Have an love song
I'm His Girl by 'Friends'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5VNumNJyqE

"
And I can be proud that I'm his girl
'Cause I know that I'm good all by myself
See I don't need his love
I really want him, right

And he can feel good that he's my guy
'Cause he knows
It don't mean that he's just mine
I don't wanna own him, or control him
I just want our souls to be aligned
"

[liv]

Aww, that's an incredibly sweet song (and catchy, too). It has just the sort of lyrics I keep complaining don't exist! Thanks very much for pointing me to that.

[shreena]

It's quite silly but we had You're The One That I Want as our first dance. Partly because it's a quickstep which is the ballroom dance that I am best at and therefore most competant to teach, but also because it's a fun song.

I also like Dreaming by the Everly Brothers. Bit cheesy but All You Need is Love. Also, In My Life is another Beatles song that I think could work. And, I want to Hold Your Hand. Actually, Beatles are good..

Savage Garden - Truly, Madly, Deeply.

That's about all I have.. turns out most of my favourite bands don't really do straightforward love songs..

[iddewes]

I'm very fond of this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bXmGKvadDc I don't know if it would be suitable but it is really lovely. I have their album and it is available at least as MP3 on amazon. Canadian band.