Sophie (Chanko) Dare

Nothing conveys the emotions of love quite like a song. Sweet love songs have always been some of my favorites, since I'm a real sap and I'll cry happy tears at just about anything that's remotely emotional.

I've been dating my lovely boyfriend, Peter, for a year and a half now, after being friends all throughout our late teenage years. Putting on some cute songs and slow dancing in the living room is a favorite pastime of ours, so I wanted to share the songs that are special to me for all of you to enjoy, and maybe even share with your significant other this Valentine's Day!

(This holiday for celebrating love is only four days away, so this is a strategically placed reminder to anyone who may have forgotten to make some plans for you and your S.O... you're welcome!)

I Will Always Be Yours – Ben Rector

https://open.spotify.com/track/4m1lB7qJ78VPYsQy7RoBcU?si=pjAjI1OuQESLLapLAmAaBA

Ben Rector writes some of the sweetest love songs out there, with an easygoing writing style that hearkens back to the days of James Taylor and John Denver. This song has some real 80's flavor, with prominent synths and piano, and talks about how no matter what troubles come, the other person will always be there and belong to them.

In a world where things come and go, the only thing I can't afford to lose is you

If My Heart Was A House – Owl City

https://open.spotify.com/track/6c6t0aQOtVUZTxRQTlEkZQ?si=GlbmWKOCS5atNulzs81UJg

I've loved this song since I was in middle school, and its 6/8 time is just asking to be slow danced to. Owl City songs have a totally unique sweetness to them, with colorful metaphors, dreamy instrumentals, and quirky, creative lyrics, and this track is just so soothing and lovely.

Circle me and the needle moves gracefully

Back and forth, if my heart was a compass you'd be North

Risk it all cause I'll catch you if you fall

Wherever you go, if my heart was a house you'd be home

I Wanna Know – The Timbre of Cedar

https://open.spotify.com/track/0O63tJjpjW8Mqa6wk1mPiv?si=A_PedKfiRqy33xz5suR8ZA

My friends wrote this song! Marrissa and Sam (the couple pictured in the single artwork) are both bandmates and soulmates, and any song they play about love is made even better knowing that they're married and they really mean it. This one expresses the desire to always want to continue to talk with the one you love and learn even more about them each day.

I’m just trying to read behind your eyes

Do we have the same question?

Do I want to risk the last goodbye
to tell you what I’m thinking?

I don't think I can drive another mile

Without telling you the words caught on my tongue

Lover – Taylor Swift

https://open.spotify.com/track/0bzbvANY6oETSJLc0wlVGY?si=-7W5_5u3QdS4caKkyeNQWw

I didn't know if I'd ever say that Taylor Swift would make a song that's wedding-worthy, but here we are. It's honestly a wonderful feeling to have grown up with Taylor's music, hearing her sing about young love and heartbreak, and now having it come full circle, with her writing songs about really feeling like she's found the one. The song sounds almost theatrical, and it feels like the security of being with someone you know, trust, and love.

Can I go where you go?

Can we always be this close forever and ever and

Take me out, and take me home

You're my, my, my, my lover

The Gambler – fun.

https://open.spotify.com/track/1Y5wYXgX9dHwSKZdQNHEhV?si=dYx68bP9T2-ZkgXaxUJncQ

This one has a very special place in my heart- it's one of “our songs.” It tells the tale of living a simple life, meeting for the first time, then raising children, moving to new places, and growing old together.

I swear when I grow up, I won't just buy you a rose, I will buy the flower shop, and you will never be lonely

Even if the sun stopped waking up over the fields, I will not leave, I will not leave 'till it's our time

So just take my hand, you know that I will never leave your side

Us Against The World – Coldplay

https://open.spotify.com/track/5zyfzNnBzN7f7PVkJFnW2g?si=r5ZP79C9QsSYkMlu4Qu-Og

Coldplay's acoustic ballads from their earlier albums are just incredible, and this is no exception. It speaks of love being a safe haven throughout the grand expanse of life.

And sing slow it down

Through chaos as it swirls

It's us against the world

Extraordinary Magic – Ben Rector

https://open.spotify.com/track/6twjbQiAbWOMUt4S8RoDbk?si=mBWJKIoIQY2IbuAc5Nl2bw

He's so nice, I had to include him twice. This is a sweet piano ballad that really showcases Ben Rector's songwriting skills, and tells how love is nothing short of a miracle.

You won't believe it, strange as it sounds

Extraordinary magic follows you around

And the camera can't catch it, you won't see it in the mirror

If I say look behind you, you turn around, it disappears

But I see it, I see it

I swear I do, I see extraordinary magic in you

Still Fallin' – Hunter Hayes

https://open.spotify.com/track/5nqD7Un5BOLlnk5AjfXZRJ?si=tjD2jOUfQrKpuvOkd_k5YQ

On this track, Hunter Hayes sings about how even after knowing someone for years, having true love still keeps things exciting, and growing a relationship deeper with time doesn't get rid of the initial sparks.

But after all this time, you'd think I'd be used to the pull of your gravity

And after flying so high for so long, who would think I'm still learning, still burning, still fallin'

All This Time – OneRepublic

https://open.spotify.com/track/48FuVo0KwE3N7Fqmc8cT4r?si=RW_HuNNjQFSj5mlSyMdYJA

This is another throwback all the way to 2009- this album was one of the first I ever owned on CD, and even as a middle schooler, I could tell that this song was really special. It captures the feeling of being lost in the world, but knowing that the right time and place would bring love into your life.

All this time
we were waiting for each other

All this time
I was waiting for you

We got all these words, can't waste them on another

So I'm straight in a straight line
running back to you

Learning How To Love – Colony House

https://open.spotify.com/track/631hvSSsxGYT3DOBVVS4qM?si=VnKtiJtKSdSEh9HqD8IU1A

Now THIS is a song I've sobbed in my car to. It came along right at a time when I came to terms with some unhealthy and rude behaviors that had become habits for me, and I knew that I had to change for the sake of the people around me, as well as my relationship. It's still a romantic song about growing together and having to figure out what truly loving actually is, but the concept carries so much weight. It's hard work to change toxic things about yourself, but it's worth the blood, sweat, and tears to make yourself a better person for the one you love.

Trust me

You took my hand and said “trust me”

You took my heart and said “love me
with who you are, not with who you were”

I've been waiting for things to change in my heart again

I've been changing while waiting on, keep taking steps for you

I've been changing, but I'm still learning how to love

Every Road – Simonne Bruck

https://open.spotify.com/track/6al2D9xrXUalEdwpRAZ9k7?si=szatLAwbT5ywB44xHsn2Xg

Last, but certainly not least, this wonderful ukulele tune evokes the soaring, light feeling of being so in love you can't describe it. I have a full review of this song as well as the EP it's on, you can read it here!

It was like breath in my lungs when I first laid my eyes on you

Almost too good to feel when you came out of the blue

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