Don’t get me wrong. There are certainly times and places for songs that reflect a full span of man’s romantic experience: puppy love, infatuation, crushes, mere butterflies, sex, etc. The reason I love music is because it allows even our rawer, more crude emotions to be immortalized in sensational art. But, sometimes when I listen to music, I feel disappointed with romantic lyrics that have no depth. I get tired of boy bands who sell their all-woman audiences shallow, poppy tunes, and performers who sell sex. Don’t get me wrong, I dig One Direction’s Best Song Ever every now and then. But do you know that feeling when you hear an elderly couple talk about the day they met? Thatfeeling of realness? Most of the time, I want to feel like that when I listen to love songs. Here are some songs that give me that feeling:

1. As – Stevie Wonder

Did you know that true love asks for nothing
Her acceptance is the way we pay
Did you know that life has given love a guarantee
To last through forever and another day

2. We Were Raised Under Grey Skies – J.P. Cooper

I found the touch of your hand in the breeze and the light of your smile in the sun rays You should know I hear the sound of your voice in music, so I speak with you everyday

3. You Take My Breath Away – Tuck and Patti

You've watched my love grow like a child
Sometimes gentle and sometimes wild
Sometimes you just take my breath away

4. In My Life – The Beatles

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new

5. Dear No One – Tori Kelly

I'd love to have a soulmate
And God'll give him to me someday
And I know it'll be worth the wait

6. Angel – Jack Johnson

She could make angels
I've seen it with my own eyes
You gotta be careful when you've got good love
Cause the angels will just keep on multiplying

7. Songbird - Fleetwood Mac

And I wish you all the love in the world,
But most of all, I wish it from myself
And the songbirds keep singing,
Like they know the score,
And I love you, I love you, I love you,
Like never before, like never before

8. Touching Heaven - JohnnySwim

I won't be holding my breath for chariots
I'm not just waiting for skies to part
You've been my glimpse of Kingdom right from the start
And you got me touching heaven

9. Ordinary People - John Legend

I know I misbehaved and you made your mistakes
And we both still got room left to grow
And though love sometimes hurts
I still put you first
And we'll make this thing work but I think maybe we should take it slow

10. Ordinary Heart - Emily King

Maybe I don't want to let you down
Tell you that I'll always be around and miss my cue
I can be a lover and a fool
Every now and then I lose my cool that's what I do

11. Love - Musiq Soulchild

Through all the ups and downs, the joys, and hurts
Love
For better or worse I still will choose you first

12. Overjoyed - Stevie Wonder

Over time, I've been building
My castle of love
Just for two, though you never
Knew you were my reason
I've gone much too far
For you now to say
That I've got to throw my castle away