One of the most exciting holidays in February is almost here, Valentine’s Day! This means couples celebrating their love for each other, big red/pink hearts taking up the majority of grocery store aisles, best friends having “Galentine’s Day” together, singles celebrating the fact that they’re happy without a romantic partner, candy and chocolates being eaten. Here are a few songs to listen to this Valentine’s Day to help you get into the spirit to celebrate the holiday!

“Valentine” by 5SOS

Lyric: “Throw balloons, teddy bears and the chocolate eclairs away. Got nothing but love for you, fall more in love every day.”

A must-have song you need to listen to on this romantic holiday is “Valentine,” not only because the song title is quite literally dedicated to Valentine’s Day, but also because of the tender lyrics and the truthful meaning behind them. “Valentine” may be dedicated to Valentine’s Day, but the message behind the song is about how couples shouldn’t be celebrating this love-celebrating holiday by getting meaningless gifts for each other every year. Instead, couples should be celebrating their love for each other by recognizing that spending time with each other is what matters most. Listening to this song with your best friend or significant other will show you that the true meaning of Valentine’s Day is being with your loved ones, not buying gifts that represent your love for someone you care for.

“Adore You” by Harry Styles

Lyric: “I’d walk through fire for you, just let me adore you.”

Another good song to listen to on Valentine’s Day is one of Harry Styles’ most recent yet extremely loved songs, “Adore You.” The message behind Styles’ song is about a selfless love where one lover would do anything for their partner, including walking through fire for them, because they just want to be able to adore their partner without the expectation of anything in return. “Adore You” might sound a bit like unrequited love when you listen to it because of lyrics such as, “You don’t have to say you love me, you don’t have to say nothing. You don’t have to say you’re mine,” but in reality, Styles’ song is much more passionate because it stresses how, in love, partners can love each other and commit selfless acts for each other without the expectation of receiving something in return because true love means giving yourself completely and wholly to your partner.

“Sweater Weather” by the Neighbourhood

Lyric: “And if I may just take your breath away, I don’t mind if there’s not much to say.”

Perhaps The Neighbourhood’s most famous song, “Sweater Weather” is one of the best songs to listen to on Valentine’s Day as its romantic lyrics will highlight the sentimental theme of Valentine’s Day. This song may be ideal for couples to listen to because of its sensuality and overall theme about two people romantically coming together over sharing a sweater. Additionally, its unfiltered, loving and dark pop theme will have you realizing the importance of having an emotional connection with someone where you care so much for each other that you forget about the rest of the world, whether it’s a friend or significant other.

“I Wanna Be Yours” by Arctic Monkeys

Lyric: “Secrets I have held in my heart, are harder to hide than I thought. Maybe I just wanna be yours. I wanna be yours, I wanna be yours.”

If you’re a big fan of indie songs, “I Wanna Be Yours” is the ideal song for you to listen to this Valentine’s Day. Resembling a love letter and somewhat a poem, the lyrics in “I Wanna Be Yours” emphasizes a deep connection between two people in which one of them will do anything to be the other’s anchor because they love them and want to become romantically involved. This song is perfect to listen to on Valentine’s Day with your partner because it will help you realize that while love has its fair share of sacrifices, the greater gift is having someone to call yours. 

“Meet Me In The Pale Moonlight” by Lana Del Rey

Lyric: “Hello you are lookin’ so fine, so fine. Fantasy about you’s like a gold mine, gold mine.”

One of Lana Del Rey’s many unreleased songs, “Meet Me In The Pale Moonlight” is an upbeat and enchanting song which perfectly fits Valentine’s Day mood. With the song recently becoming more well-known, many people have praised Lana for her artistic genius, asking for the song to finally be officially released. Not only has this song received more views and listens on Youtube within the past few months, but it’s also gained popularity on TikTok, with many people on the app using her song as the background sound for their videos because of its overall aesthetic quality. Although the lyrics give off an “unrequited love” feeling, the song’s dreamy theme and Lana’s angelic voice make it feel all the more romantic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHn9oMcKWsg

“Somebody to Love” by Queen

Lyric: “Can anybody find me somebody to love?”

Released by Queen in late 1976 for their album “A Day at The Races,” “Somebody to Love” is the most iconic song you can listen to on Valentine’s Day, no matter who you’re celebrating the holiday with. Compared to all the other songs on this list, “Somebody to Love” isn’t the most romantic, but it highlights the importance of love and how everyone needs a bit of love in their life despite all the challenges, struggles, and heartbreak that come along with trying to find it. Listening to this song will help you appreciate everyone in your life you’re close to, and maybe it’ll also help you realize that while love is fickle, everyone needs somebody to love at some point whether it’s platonic, romantic, familial, or self-love. 

“Infinity” by Jaymes Young

Lyric: “Oh darling, my soul you know it aches for yours. And you’ve been filling this hole since you were born, oh.”

One of the most romantic songs you can listen to with your partner on Valentine’s Day is “Infinity” because of its poetic lyrics regarding romance and a type of infinite love. Young writes about a type of love you’ll have forever — an eternal love that you never want to give up or let die because it’s the type of love where you ache to be with each other, it’s the type of love where you just complete each other. Not only did Young’s song win the hearts of many of his fans, but once you listen to it your heart will also be stolen by the captivating lyrics.

“Like You Do” by Joji

Lyric: “Lost in the blue, they don’t love me like you do. Those chills that I knew, they were nothing without you.”

Another song you should listen to this Valentine’s Day, despite its melancholic and longing mood, is “Like You Do.”  Joji sings about a relationship where he has doubts and insecurities, believing that he and his partner are going down different paths and they’ll eventually break up – which will only cause him pain because nobody loves him like his lover does and nobody ever will. “Like You Do” highlights the part of relationships that aren’t usually talked about: insecurities and fear. While this may be a bittersweet song to listen to on Valentine’s Day, there are alluring components and themes that make this a good song to listen to on Valentine’s Day. Despite Joji singing about his doubts, he also says that this relationship has brightened his days and he doesn’t want to lose his partner because he doesn’t want to lose the love he has with them. Ultimately, people do have their fair share of insecurities in relationships and not everything can be peaches and cream. 

“Lover of Mine” by 5SOS

Lyric: “You’re the only thing that I think I got right, I’ll never give you away. ‘Cause I already made, already made that mistake.”

One of 5SOS’s more emotional songs, “Lover of Mine” is a more somber and reminiscing type of song to listen to on Valentine’s Day, if you’re not big on listening to super romantic songs. Even though “Lover of Mine” may seem like it’s leaning towards a more romantically bittersweet song about a couple, it highlights the honest difficulties that couples go through throughout the duration of their relationship and how they need to work through these challenges so they can appreciate the happier times coming in the future.

“Greatest Love of All” by Whitney Houston

Lyric: “Because the greatest love of all, is happening to me. I found the greatest love of all, inside of me.”

An important song you should definitely listen to this Valentine’s Day, whether you’re spending the day with a partner, best friend, family member, or are even just spending the day by yourself, is “Greatest Love of All.” Unlike all other songs on this list, this song isn’t about romance or relationships, it’s about the importance of self-love. Whitney Houston sung this song because she struggled through many issues throughout her childhood, career, marriage and entirety of her life but she wanted her song, “Greatest Love of All,” to help people realize how crucial self-love and self-care is because if there’s one thing a person needs to have throughout their life is love for themselves. If you don’t give yourself the love you deserve and need, how can you love another? Valentine’s Day celebrates couples’ love for each other, sure, but you should also celebrate your love for yourself. Celebrate yourself!