Love songs for her: 61 picks for new love and long marriages

Late at night, with her asleep down the hall, you want one song that says the thing you keep almost saying. Send "First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes. It's mostly an acoustic guitar and a shaky voice, and it sounds like a man who can't believe his luck.

The rest of these love songs for her are sorted by where the two of you are, month two or year twenty. Sending one to a man instead? There's a separate list of love songs for him.

For the first few months

Songs about new love work best when they sound a little out of breath. Keep them light. You've known her a few months at most, and a song about growing old together can feel like you're measuring her finger for a ring.

"First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes (2005). Send it after the third date, once you've both stopped pretending to be busy.
"In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel (1986). The boombox song from the film Say Anything. Holding a speaker over your head outside her window is optional.
"You Send Me" by Sam Cooke (1957). Smooth enough for the first dinner you cook at your place.
"Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat (2008). A duet about falling for your best friend, if that's how you two started.
"Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon (2014). For the couple who met on a dance floor and still argue about who asked whom.
"I Knew I Loved You" by Savage Garden (1999). An Australian duo at their most earnest. She'll either laugh or tear up, and both count.
"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli (1967). When the horns come in, point at her. It's in the rules.
"Yellow" by Coldplay (2000). Everything she does turns yellow in this song, which is about where your head is in week six.
"I Like Me Better" by Lauv (2017). Young and in love in New York, talking until it's time for coffee. Good for a 1 a.m. text after she's gone home.
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" by The Beach Boys (1966). Two kids wishing they were old enough to live together. Fine to send if you're running a little ahead of yourself.

Slow ones for the kitchen at night

Midnight, the radio in the kitchen turned down low. Put on one of these romantic songs for her and she'll know what you're up to before the first chorus. Nothing here needs more dance floor than the gap between the fridge and the sink.

"Crazy Love" by Van Morrison (1970). Under three minutes long, so put it on twice. By the second time through she'll be singing.
"At Last" by Etta James (1960). The strings come in first. Take her hand before Etta does.
"Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley (1961). Its melody is borrowed from a French love song from the 1780s, so it's had some practice.
"The Lady in Red" by Chris de Burgh (1986). Yes, it's cheesy. If she's wearing red, she'll pretend to hate it and then dance anyway.
"Into My Arms" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1997). Nick Cave says he doesn't believe in an interventionist God, then asks one to leave her exactly as she is.
"Your Song" by Elton John (1970). Halfway through, he forgets whether her eyes are green or blue, and somehow that's the most romantic line in it.
"Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton (1977). Written while Eric Clapton waited for Pattie Boyd to get ready. Save it for when she's the one running late.
"Is This Love" by Bob Marley and the Wailers (1978). A roof over two heads and one single bed. Bob Marley makes a small apartment sound like plenty.
"Work Song" by Hozier (2014). An Irishman swearing that not even his own grave could stop him crawling home to her. Darker than the rest, in a good way.
"When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge (1966). Turn off the big light. The organ and Percy Sledge's voice will handle the rest.
"Make You Feel My Love" by Adele (2008). Adele covering Bob Dylan at a piano. Good for a kitchen so small you can't turn around.
"Unchained Melody" by The Righteous Brothers (1965). You'll both think of the pottery wheel in Ghost. Lean into it.

For your wife, years in

What do you play for a woman who has heard every song you own? One that admits how long it's been. These work for an anniversary dinner, or for a Tuesday when the tea's gone cold on the table and she's still talking to you anyway.

"Harvest Moon" by Neil Young (1992). Neil Young asks her to come out and dance again under the moon. Turn the porch light off first.
"Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran (2014). Still loving her at seventy, bad knees and all.
"Lovesong" by The Cure (1989). Synth strings, a gloomy bass line and the plainest words Robert Smith ever sang. Adele covered it in 2011, if she prefers that one.
"In My Life" by The Beatles (1965). That solo that sounds like a harpsichord is a piano, sped up. Play it when you're both remembering old apartments.
"Still the One" by Orleans (1976). Upbeat, which helps if you'd both rather dance than get misty.
"All of Me" by John Legend (2013). Chrissy Teigen got this one first. Your wife can have it now.
"Let's Stay Together" by Al Green (1971). Dinner music, with the good plates out and her cold feet on yours under the table.
"Songbird" by Fleetwood Mac (1977). Mostly Christine McVie and a piano, quiet enough for 11:40 p.m.
"Say You Won't Let Go" by James Arthur (2016). Verse one is a messy first night out. A few verses later he's bringing her breakfast in bed and taking the kids to school.
"Three Times a Lady" by Commodores (1978). Slow and a little formal. A 25th anniversary kind of song.
"Remember When" by Alan Jackson (2003). A whole marriage in one country song. Best for the year you've both lost count.

Songs she already has on repeat

Steal from her playlist. The easiest love songs to dedicate to your girlfriend are the ones already in her recently played, because she'll hear them again this week and think of you. Everything here is from the last 15 years, so she's probably heard most of it in a car or a coffee shop.

"Lover" by Taylor Swift (2019). It opens with Christmas lights left up till January, and it stays that cozy.
"Adore You" by Harry Styles (2019). If she's a Harry fan, you knew this was coming.
"Die with a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars (2024). The world is ending and the only plan is to be next to her. A big old-fashioned duet.
"Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish (2024). Billie Eilish, unusually sunny, promising to stay until the grave.
"I Wanna Be Yours" by Arctic Monkeys (2013). Alex Turner, slow and a little lovesick in the best way. Send it late at night.
"Golden Hour" by JVKE (2022). Piano at first, then a swell that sounds like a film score. Send it at sunset, obviously.
"Little Things" by One Direction (2012). Ed Sheeran co-wrote it. It's about loving the parts of her she'd rather you didn't notice.
"Riptide" by Vance Joy (2013). A Melbourne ukulele song about a girl who sings all the words wrong.
"Sucker" by Jonas Brothers (2019). Three brothers admitting they're completely gone on their partners, who all star in the video.

Country and folk love songs for her

Long drive home, her bare feet up on the dashboard. Country says love plainly and usually works a truck in by the second verse, while folk keeps things quiet enough to hear the rain on the car roof.

"Annie's Song" by John Denver (1974). Written for his wife, Annie, and sung like he's still a little stunned by her.
"Forever and Ever, Amen" by Randy Travis (1987). He promises to love her even if her hair goes gray or falls out completely. Sweet and funny in one go.
"Tennessee Whiskey" by Chris Stapleton (2015). A cover of an early-'80s country song, slowed way down and sung like it's last call.
"Die a Happy Man" by Thomas Rhett (2015). About his wife, Lauren, and one night of wine and dancing in the rain. Cook dinner at home and play it after.
"Amazed" by Lonestar (1999). Made for a living room slow dance. Turn it down a notch or the neighbors will join in.
"Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (2009). Whistling up front and a part in the middle where the two singers stop and just talk.
"Northern Sky" by Nick Drake (1971). Quiet English folk. Rainy nights only.
"Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton (1983). Kenny and Dolly, the duet everyone half knows. You sing her part badly, and she takes his.

In another language

Does she need to understand every word? Not if the voice does the work. These are sung in French, Spanish, Portuguese and Korean, and she'll get the meaning from the melody long before she looks up a translation.

"La Vie en rose" by Édith Piaf (1947). Play it with dinner and the window open, and don't bother translating.
"Quelqu'un m'a dit" by Carla Bruni (2002). Breathy French over a guitar, about hearing a rumor that you're still loved.
"Eres tú" by Mocedades (1973). Big Spanish harmonies. She only needs the two words of the title, and they mean "it's you".
"Me Enamora" by Juanes (2007). Colombian pop with a bounce. Send it after a good date, before you talk yourself out of it.
"Ai Se Eu Te Pego!" by Michel Teló (2011). Save it for when dinner turns into a party, because nobody sits still through this one.
"DNA" by BTS (2017). Mostly in Korean and all about feeling fated from the first look. If she's a fan, she'll judge your dance moves.

If you want her to laugh

Some nights a joke does more than a slow song. Send one of these with no explanation at all, then wait for the reply, which will probably be one word in capital letters.

"Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley (1987). The internet's favorite prank, and if you read the lyrics, a solid set of vows.
"Love Is an Open Door" by Kristen Bell and Santino Fontana (2013). If you've both seen Frozen, you know how this duet turns out. That's the joke.
"I Got You Babe" by Sonny & Cher (1965). Send it at 6 a.m. Anyone who's seen Groundhog Day will get it, and anyone who hasn't will think you're up early.
"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers (1988). Scottish twins offering to walk 500 miles, then 500 more. Reply with it when she asks you to go to the store.
"Grow Old with You" by Adam Sandler (1998). From The Wedding Singer, sung on a plane with Billy Idol helping out. Silly, and sweeter than it has any right to be.

Pairing a song with a message

Before her alarm goes off, send the song with one line of your own above it. Keep the line short and specific. "Morning, Nia. This came on in the car and I sang it badly for you" gives her something to answer, which a paragraph about your feelings rarely does. For more openers in that spirit, these good morning texts for her pair well with anything on the slow list.

Anniversaries deserve more. Write a short letter with a memory or two in it and put the song at the bottom, like a P.S. that plays. If the letter part freezes you, start with these love letter prompts. By lunch, if she still hasn't replied, one honest word: she's probably at work, so leave it alone.

A song with her name in it

Her name in a chorus is hard to scroll past.

Every song above was written about somebody else, which is fine. If you want a song for her that nobody else could send, HeartCraft's song card makes one from what you tell it. You say who it's for and share a few memories, like the hotel room with the broken lamp or the song from your first concert. If her name is Sofia, the chorus sings Sofia, and your story goes into the lines.

You choose the language and the feel. It's ready in about 10 minutes and arrives on your WhatsApp or email as a link you can forward to her or play across the dinner table. More than 250,000 songs have been made on HeartCraft so far. No occasion needed, either, since a just-because song works fine on a Tuesday.

Last questions before you send it

Is a sad love song a bad idea to send her?

Usually, yes. Plenty of love songs for her turn out to be breakup songs by the second verse, so listen all the way through before you send one.

How many songs should I send at once?

One. A playlist makes a lovely birthday present, but a single song with a line from you is easier to open on a phone and harder to skip.

What if she doesn't like the song I picked?

Ask what she'd have picked, then play hers next. You'll learn more about her taste from that one answer than from any list, this one included.

Can any of these be a first dance song?

Yes. Start with the kitchen list, since every song on it works at a slow sway with no steps to learn.

The rest of these love songs for her are sorted by where the two of you are, month two or year twenty. Sending one to a man instead? There's a separate list of love songs for him.

For the first few months

"First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes (2005). Send it after the third date, once you've both stopped pretending to be busy.
"In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel (1986). The boombox song from the film Say Anything. Holding a speaker over your head outside her window is optional.
"You Send Me" by Sam Cooke (1957). Smooth enough for the first dinner you cook at your place.
"Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat (2008). A duet about falling for your best friend, if that's how you two started.
"Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon (2014). For the couple who met on a dance floor and still argue about who asked whom.
"I Knew I Loved You" by Savage Garden (1999). An Australian duo at their most earnest. She'll either laugh or tear up, and both count.
"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli (1967). When the horns come in, point at her. It's in the rules.
"Yellow" by Coldplay (2000). Everything she does turns yellow in this song, which is about where your head is in week six.
"I Like Me Better" by Lauv (2017). Young and in love in New York, talking until it's time for coffee. Good for a 1 a.m. text after she's gone home.
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" by The Beach Boys (1966). Two kids wishing they were old enough to live together. Fine to send if you're running a little ahead of yourself.

Slow ones for the kitchen at night

"Crazy Love" by Van Morrison (1970). Under three minutes long, so put it on twice. By the second time through she'll be singing.
"At Last" by Etta James (1960). The strings come in first. Take her hand before Etta does.
"Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley (1961). Its melody is borrowed from a French love song from the 1780s, so it's had some practice.
"The Lady in Red" by Chris de Burgh (1986). Yes, it's cheesy. If she's wearing red, she'll pretend to hate it and then dance anyway.
"Into My Arms" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1997). Nick Cave says he doesn't believe in an interventionist God, then asks one to leave her exactly as she is.
"Your Song" by Elton John (1970). Halfway through, he forgets whether her eyes are green or blue, and somehow that's the most romantic line in it.
"Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton (1977). Written while Eric Clapton waited for Pattie Boyd to get ready. Save it for when she's the one running late.
"Is This Love" by Bob Marley and the Wailers (1978). A roof over two heads and one single bed. Bob Marley makes a small apartment sound like plenty.
"Work Song" by Hozier (2014). An Irishman swearing that not even his own grave could stop him crawling home to her. Darker than the rest, in a good way.
"When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge (1966). Turn off the big light. The organ and Percy Sledge's voice will handle the rest.
"Make You Feel My Love" by Adele (2008). Adele covering Bob Dylan at a piano. Good for a kitchen so small you can't turn around.
"Unchained Melody" by The Righteous Brothers (1965). You'll both think of the pottery wheel in Ghost. Lean into it.

For your wife, years in

"Harvest Moon" by Neil Young (1992). Neil Young asks her to come out and dance again under the moon. Turn the porch light off first.
"Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran (2014). Still loving her at seventy, bad knees and all.
"Lovesong" by The Cure (1989). Synth strings, a gloomy bass line and the plainest words Robert Smith ever sang. Adele covered it in 2011, if she prefers that one.
"In My Life" by The Beatles (1965). That solo that sounds like a harpsichord is a piano, sped up. Play it when you're both remembering old apartments.
"Still the One" by Orleans (1976). Upbeat, which helps if you'd both rather dance than get misty.
"All of Me" by John Legend (2013). Chrissy Teigen got this one first. Your wife can have it now.
"Let's Stay Together" by Al Green (1971). Dinner music, with the good plates out and her cold feet on yours under the table.
"Songbird" by Fleetwood Mac (1977). Mostly Christine McVie and a piano, quiet enough for 11:40 p.m.
"Say You Won't Let Go" by James Arthur (2016). Verse one is a messy first night out. A few verses later he's bringing her breakfast in bed and taking the kids to school.
"Three Times a Lady" by Commodores (1978). Slow and a little formal. A 25th anniversary kind of song.
"Remember When" by Alan Jackson (2003). A whole marriage in one country song. Best for the year you've both lost count.

Songs she already has on repeat

"Lover" by Taylor Swift (2019). It opens with Christmas lights left up till January, and it stays that cozy.
"Adore You" by Harry Styles (2019). If she's a Harry fan, you knew this was coming.
"Die with a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars (2024). The world is ending and the only plan is to be next to her. A big old-fashioned duet.
"Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish (2024). Billie Eilish, unusually sunny, promising to stay until the grave.
"I Wanna Be Yours" by Arctic Monkeys (2013). Alex Turner, slow and a little lovesick in the best way. Send it late at night.
"Golden Hour" by JVKE (2022). Piano at first, then a swell that sounds like a film score. Send it at sunset, obviously.
"Little Things" by One Direction (2012). Ed Sheeran co-wrote it. It's about loving the parts of her she'd rather you didn't notice.
"Riptide" by Vance Joy (2013). A Melbourne ukulele song about a girl who sings all the words wrong.
"Sucker" by Jonas Brothers (2019). Three brothers admitting they're completely gone on their partners, who all star in the video.

Country and folk love songs for her

Long drive home, her bare feet up on the dashboard. Country says love plainly and usually works a truck in by the second verse, while folk keeps things quiet enough to hear the rain on the car roof.

"Annie's Song" by John Denver (1974). Written for his wife, Annie, and sung like he's still a little stunned by her.
"Forever and Ever, Amen" by Randy Travis (1987). He promises to love her even if her hair goes gray or falls out completely. Sweet and funny in one go.
"Tennessee Whiskey" by Chris Stapleton (2015). A cover of an early-'80s country song, slowed way down and sung like it's last call.
"Die a Happy Man" by Thomas Rhett (2015). About his wife, Lauren, and one night of wine and dancing in the rain. Cook dinner at home and play it after.
"Amazed" by Lonestar (1999). Made for a living room slow dance. Turn it down a notch or the neighbors will join in.
"Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (2009). Whistling up front and a part in the middle where the two singers stop and just talk.
"Northern Sky" by Nick Drake (1971). Quiet English folk. Rainy nights only.
"Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton (1983). Kenny and Dolly, the duet everyone half knows. You sing her part badly, and she takes his.

In another language

"La Vie en rose" by Édith Piaf (1947). Play it with dinner and the window open, and don't bother translating.
"Quelqu'un m'a dit" by Carla Bruni (2002). Breathy French over a guitar, about hearing a rumor that you're still loved.
"Eres tú" by Mocedades (1973). Big Spanish harmonies. She only needs the two words of the title, and they mean "it's you".
"Me Enamora" by Juanes (2007). Colombian pop with a bounce. Send it after a good date, before you talk yourself out of it.
"Ai Se Eu Te Pego!" by Michel Teló (2011). Save it for when dinner turns into a party, because nobody sits still through this one.
"DNA" by BTS (2017). Mostly in Korean and all about feeling fated from the first look. If she's a fan, she'll judge your dance moves.

If you want her to laugh

Some nights a joke does more than a slow song. Send one of these with no explanation at all, then wait for the reply, which will probably be one word in capital letters.

"Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley (1987). The internet's favorite prank, and if you read the lyrics, a solid set of vows.
"Love Is an Open Door" by Kristen Bell and Santino Fontana (2013). If you've both seen Frozen, you know how this duet turns out. That's the joke.
"I Got You Babe" by Sonny & Cher (1965). Send it at 6 a.m. Anyone who's seen Groundhog Day will get it, and anyone who hasn't will think you're up early.
"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers (1988). Scottish twins offering to walk 500 miles, then 500 more. Reply with it when she asks you to go to the store.
"Grow Old with You" by Adam Sandler (1998). From The Wedding Singer, sung on a plane with Billy Idol helping out. Silly, and sweeter than it has any right to be.

Pairing a song with a message

A song with her name in it

Her name in a chorus is hard to scroll past.

Last questions before you send it

Is a sad love song a bad idea to send her?

Usually, yes. Plenty of love songs for her turn out to be breakup songs by the second verse, so listen all the way through before you send one.

How many songs should I send at once?

One. A playlist makes a lovely birthday present, but a single song with a line from you is easier to open on a phone and harder to skip.

What if she doesn't like the song I picked?

Ask what she'd have picked, then play hers next. You'll learn more about her taste from that one answer than from any list, this one included.

Can any of these be a first dance song?

Yes. Start with the kitchen list, since every song on it works at a slow sway with no steps to learn.