Nobody says you have to spend Valentine's Day with a date and a three-course meal to properly enjoy the "holiday." Whether you're single, boo'ed up, or not really sure how to classify your relationship, sometimes all it takes for a great V-Day is an equally stellar playlist—one that gives you an extra boost of self-love, a selection of great love songs, and a reminder that it's okay to be vulnerable.
Below, the best Valentine's Day songs ever—throwbacks included—for all of the hopeless romantics out there.
"Butterflies" - Kacey Musgraves
Most Romantic Line: "Now you're lifting me up, instead of holding me down / Stealing my heart instead of stealing my crown / Untangled all the strings round my wings that were tied."
"Conversations In The Dark" - John Legend
Most Romantic Line: "And you say that you're not worthy / You get hung up on your flaws / Well, in my eyes, you are perfect / As you are."
"The Bones" - Maren Morris
Most Romantic Line: "Call it dumb luck, but baby, you and I / Can't even mess it up, although we both try / No, it don't always go the way we planned it / But the wolves came and went and we're still standing."
"Time" - Fabolous ft. Roddy Ricch
Most Romantic Line: "I ain't gotta question myself, know you worth it / I don't want these hoes to surround my vibe / I just wanna double cup and get high / I just wanna bust down with you, we can just fly / I bought the new Rollie just so we can reset time."
"Electricity" - Dua Lipa & Silk City ft. Diplo & Mark Ronson
Most Romantic Line: "And even if I could / I wouldn't turn on you / And I would stop the world for you / You know I wanna let you know, I'll never let this feeling go / This love has no ceiling, I cannot deny."
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"I Run to You" - Lady Antebellum
Most Romantic Line: "We run on fumes / Your life and mine / Like the sands of time / Slippin' right on through / And our love's the only truth / That's why I run to you."
"Wife You Up" - Russ
Most Romantic Line: "I'm turning down the rest for you / If they call us foul I'm fighting all the refs for you / You make me a better me / I make you a better you."
"Mariners Apartment Complex" - Lana Del Rey
Most Romantic Line: "You lose your way, just take my hand / You're lost at sea, then I'll command your boat to me again / Don't look too far, right where you are, that's where I am / I'm your man."
"Thinkin Bout You" - Frank Ocean
Most Romantic Line: "Yes, of course / I remember, how could I forget? / How you feel? / And though you were my first time / A new feel / It won't ever get old, not in my soul / Not in my spirit, keep it alive / We'll go down this road / 'Til it turns from color to black and white."
"Lover" - Taylor Swift
Most Romantic Line: "My heart's been borrowed and yours has been blue / All's well that ends well to end up with you / Swear to be overdramatic and true to my lover / And you'll save all your dirtiest jokes for me / And at every table, I'll save you a seat, lover."
"Make Me Feel" - Janelle Monáe
Most Romantic Line: "Baby, don't make me spell it out for you / All of the feelings that I've got for you / Can't be explained, but I can try for you / Yeah, baby, don't make me spell it out for you."
"Sucker" - Jonas Brothers
Most Romantic Line: "I've been dancing on top of cars and stumbling out of bars / I follow you through the dark, can't get enough / You're the medicine and the pain, the tattoo inside my brain / And, baby, you know it's obvious."
"Drops of Jupiter" - Train
Most Romantic Line: "Can you imagine no first dance, freeze-dried romance / Five-hour phone conversation / The best soy latte that you ever had, and me."
"Fire & Desire" - Drake
Most Romantic Line: "I figure out you, you figure out me / We both a different breed / I'm followin' your lead, I ask you what you need / You say it's guaranteed."
"God Gave Me You" - Blake Shelton
Most Romantic Line: "On my own I'm only / Half of what I could be / I can't do without you / We are stitched together / And what love has tethered / I pray we never undo."
"All of Me" - John Legend
Most Romantic Line: "Give your all to me / I’ll give my all to you / You’re my end and my beginning / Even when I lose I’m winning."
"Kiss Me" - Ed Sheeran
Most Romantic Line: "And your heart's against my chest, your lips pressed in my neck / I'm falling for your eyes, but they don't know me yet / And with a feeling I'll forget, I'm in love now."
"Better" - Khalid
Most Romantic Line: "You say we're just friends, but I swear when nobody's around / I keep my hand around your neck, we connect, are you feelin' it now?"
"Mine" - Bazzi
Most Romantic Line: "Hands on your body, I don't wanna waste no time / Feels like forever even if forever's tonight / Just lay with me, waste this night away with me / You're mine, I can't look away, I just gotta say."
"My Favorite Part" - Mac Miller ft. Ariana Grande
Most Romantic Line: "Said, you just don't know how beautiful you are / And baby that's my favorite part / You walk around so clueless to it all / Like nobody gonna break your heart."
"Take Me Away" - Daniel Caesar ft. Syd
Most Romantic Line: "It seems you're heaven sent She loves to top me off / She's cut from the finest cloth, my love / Plus, we like to take it easy / All she wants to do is please me."
"A Moment Like This" - Kelly Clarkson
Most Romantic Line: "Well, I may be dreaming, but still lie awake / Can't we make this dream last forever? / And I'll cherish all the love we share / A moment like this."
"Thinking Out Loud" - Ed Sheeran
Most Romantic Line: "So honey now / Take me into your loving arms / Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars / Place your head on my beating heart / I'm thinking out loud / Maybe we found love right where we are."
"I Like Me Better" - Lauv
Most Romantic Line: "To be young and in love in New York City / To not know who I am but still know that I'm good long as you're here with me / To be drunk and in love in New York City / Midnight into morning coffee / Burning through the hours talking."
"If Only They Knew" - A Rocket to the Moon
Most Romantic Line: "'Cause no one knows you like I do / They don't see you like I do, baby / They'll try to, but if only they knew / They'll never come close to you."
"Inside Your Heaven" - Carrie Underwood
Most Romantic Line: "And I wanna be inside your heaven / Take me to the place you cry from / Where the storm blows your way / And I wanna be the earth that holds you / Every bit of air you're breathin' in / A soothin' wind / I wanna be inside your heaven."
"When I Look At You" - Miley Cyrus
Most Romantic Line: "When I look at you, I see forgiveness / I see the truth / You love me for who I am / Like the stars hold the moon."
"Won't Go Home Without You" - Maroon 5
Most Romantic Line: "It's not over tonight / Just give me one more chance to make it right / I may not make it through the night / I won't go home without you."
"Sparks" - Coldplay
Most Romantic Line: "My heart is yours / It's you that I hold on to / That's what I do / And I know I was wrong / But I won't let you down."
"Your Body Is a Wonderland" - John Mayer
Most Romantic Line: "Something 'bout the way your hair falls in your face / I love the shape you take when crawling towards the pillowcase / You tell me where to go and / Though I might leave to find it / I'll never let your head hit the bed / Without my hand behind it."
"Come On Get Higher" - Matt Nathanson
Most Romantic Line: "I miss the sound of your voice / Loudest thing in my head / And I ache to remember / All the violent, sweet / Perfect words that you said."
"Drew Barrymore" - Bryce Vine
Most Romantic Line: "You could be the renegade / Bonnie to a Clyde / Harrelson and Juliet / Legends never die."
"Iris" - Goo Goo Dolls
Most Romantic Line: "And I'd give up forever to touch you / 'Cause I know that you feel me somehow / You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be / And I don't want to go home right now."
"Kiss Me Slowly" - Parachute
Most Romantic Line: "I can see you there with the city lights / Fourteenth floor, pale blue eyes. / I can breathe you in. / Two shadows standing by the bedroom door, / No, I could not / want you more than I did right then, / As our heads leaned in.
"This Town" - Niall Horan
Most Romantic Line: "If the whole world was watching I'd still dance with you / Drive highways and byways to be there with you / Over and over the only truth / Everything comes back to you."
"A Thousand Miles" - Vanessa Carlton
Most Romantic Line: "It's always times like these when I think of you / And I wonder if you ever think of me / 'Cause everything's so wrong and I don't belong / Living in your precious memories."
"Wonderwall" - Oasis
Most Romantic Line: "Because maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me / And after all, you're my wonderwall."
"Loveeeeeee Song" - Rihanna
Most Romantic Line: "I don't wanna give you the wrong impression / I need love and affection / And I hope I'm not sounding too desperate / I need love and affection."
"Say You Won't Let Go" - James Arthur
Most Romantic Line: "I'm gonna love you till / My lungs give out / I promise till death we part like in our vows / So I wrote this song for you, now everybody knows / Finally it's just you and me till we're grey and old."
"Bloodstream" - Stateless
Most Romantic Line: "I think I might've inhale you / I could feel you behind my eyes / You gotten into my bloodstream / I could feel you floating in me."
"LOVE." - Kendrick Lamar ft. Zacari
Most Romantic Line: "So give me a run for my money / Sipping bubbly, feeling lovely, living lovely / Just love me."
"Take Care" - Drake ft. Rihanna
Most Romantic Line: "When you're ready, just say you're ready / When all the baggage just ain't as heavy / And the parties over, just don't forget me / We'll change the pace and we'll just go slow."
"No One" - Alicia Keys
Most Romantic Line: "You and me together / Through the days and nights / I don't worry 'cause / Everything's going to be alright."
"Clarity" - Zedd
Most Romantic Line: "'Cause you are the piece of me / I wish I didn't need / Chasing relentlessly / Still fight and I don't know why."
"I Won't Give Up" - Jason Mraz
Most Romantic Line: "When I look into your eyes / It's like watching the night sky / Or a beautiful sunrise / Well there's so much they hold."
"Crash Into Me" - Dave Matthews Band
Most Romantic Line: "Touch your lips just so I know / In your eyes, love, it glows so / I'm bare-boned and crazy for you / When you come crash / Into me, baby."
"I Try" - Macy Gray
Most Romantic Line: "I try to say goodbye and I choke / Try to walk away and I stumble / Though I try to hide it, it's clear / My world crumbles when you are not here / Goodbye and I choke."
"Love Like Crazy" - Lee Brice
Most Romantic Line: "Be a best friend, tell the truth, and overuse I love you / Go to work, do your best, don't outsmart your common sense / Never let your prayin' knees get lazy / And love like crazy."
"Bless the Broken Road" - Rascal Flatts
Most Romantic Line: "I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you / That every long lost dream lead me to where you are / Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars / Pointing me on my way into your loving arms."
"Africa" - Weezer
Most Romantic Line: "It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you / There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do / I bless the rains down in Africa / Gonna take some time to do the things we never have."
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Rachel Epstein is a writer, editor, and content strategist based in New York City. Most recently, she was the Managing Editor at Coveteur, where she oversaw the site’s day-to-day editorial operations. Previously, she was an editor at Marie Claire, where she wrote and edited culture, politics, and lifestyle stories ranging from op-eds to profiles to ambitious packages. She also launched and managed the site’s virtual book club, #ReadWithMC. Offline, she’s likely watching a Heat game or finding a new coffee shop.
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