Between Love And Hate: A Valentine's Day Playlist
A photo of the Ribaudo family tomb in the Staglieno Cimitero Monumentale in Genoa, Italy was used as the cover art for Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart." Courtesy of the artist hide caption
It's no question that people love to write songs about, well, love. These songs come in forms as varied as the artists who pen them: bitter breakup ballads; euphoric memories of puppy-dog infatuation; reflections on unrequited affection. But if love and hate exist on a spectrum, most songs seem to find themselves on one side or the other.
When we conducted an online poll last week asking for your favorite love and breakup songs, we were surprised to see many people picking the very same song for both categories, which got us thinking... Can the same song be both a great love song AND a breakup song?
Is there a song that can be both a great love song and a break up song?
— Bob Boilen (@BobBoilen) February 8, 2019
So, Bob Boilen posed the question on social media, asking you to tell us a song that is both a great love song and a great breakup song. Below, we've compiled the most frequently suggested tracks. With gut-wrenching lyricism and timeless melodic structure, these are the versatile standards that deserve heavy rotation at any point in a relationship.
Between Love And Hate: A Valentine's Day Playlist
Love Will Tear Us Apart
- by Joy Division
"When routine bites hard / And ambitions are low / And resentment rides high / But emotions won't grow / And we're changing our ways / Taking different roads / Love, love will tear us apart again"
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
- by Bob Dylan
"Dragon clouds so high above / I've only known careless love / It always has hit me from below / But this time around it's more correct / Right on target, so direct / You're gonna make me lonesome when you go"
Fade Into You
- by Mazzy Star
"I want to hold the hand inside you / I want to take the breath that's true / I look to you and I see nothing / I look to you to see the truth"
Either Way
- by Wilco
"Maybe you still love me, maybe you don't / Either you will or you won't / Maybe you just need some time alone / I will try to understand / Everything has its plan / Either way I'm going to stay right for you"
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
- by Paul Simon
"The problem is all inside your head she said to me / The answer is easy if you take it logically / I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free / There must be fifty ways to leave your lover"
Love Is a Losing Game
- by Amy Winehouse
"For you I was the flame / Love is a losing game / Five story fire as you came / Love is losing game"
Nothing Compares 2 U
- by Sinéad O'Connor
"Since you been gone I can do whatever I want / I can see whomever I choose / I can eat my dinner in a fancy restaurant
But nothing / I said nothing can take away these blues / 'Cause nothing compares/ Nothing compares to you"
Thin Line Between Love and Hate
- by The Pretenders
"The sweetest woman in the world / Can be the meanest woman in the world / If you make her that way, you keep on hurting her / She keeps being quiet / She might be holding something inside / That really really hurt you one day"
The full list on songs can be found on NPR Music's Spotify page.