With it being Valentine’s Day I decided to look at the bands I like and then look at their music, because they all have released love songs. But, each band has a semi-unique approach to it whether it is the subject matter or their own status and how they’ve dealt with it. I will only go through five artists that I like and give a overview of their discography that can count as a love song (or the opposite) and the history that lead to this.
AJR
AJR has a few love songs. “Livin’ on Love” is one from their Living Room album from 2015. They have a few from before Living Room, like Buy You a Rose. Other songs, like “Dear Winter”, “Growing Old on Bleecker Street” are about the struggles of love, and a bit that hope of what a future can be with someone. You have “Christmas in June” which is the struggle of love and fame. Contrasting those is a personal song called “My Play” where it’s a divorce song. Then reflecting on their love lives and wondering if there is a point to it.
One unique aspect of AJR and their love songs is the Turning Out trilogy. In three separate albums, a Turning Out song was released to tell a story. In the first song, it’s about a childhood perception of love as “Disney love”. In the second song, it’s about heartbreak and not really feeling in love but just trying to understand it. Finally, Turning Out Pt. III is about finding the one and what love really is because Ryan Met, who the Turning Out trilogy is based on got engaged.
AJR when discussing love talks about all sides. The positive, the negatives and even reflections on their parents’ love. It gives the broad spectrum but helps to communicate it to other people. They’re known for their music to be relatable and this is a reason why, so many of us grew up on Disney and have that skewed idea of a relationship or have divorced parents. Their discography has changed with time to show them maturing and understanding the difficulties that come with life.
Foster the People
Foster the People has an interesting track record when it comes to love songs. In their debut album, Torches there are three songs that are love songs and then one that could be considered a love song. “I Would Do Anything for You” is the most explicit with the lyrics about loving someone, but “Don’t Stop (Colors on the Walls)” and “Waste” are other examples of love songs or a description of love songs and then “Miss You” is an example of that pleading to get back into a relationship with someone. Supermodel doesn’t have any real love songs but it would be ignored by their 2017 album called “Sacred Hearts Club” where most of the songs tackle a form of love, from platonic to romantic and then even a spiritual relationship.
Then, in 2020 they released the EP In the Darkest of Nights, Let the Birds Sing (I wrote an article on that EP). That EP has songs all about love, with self love, familial love and then romantic love. The specifics of it being written when Foster got married in 2019 to Julia Garner, and lost his uncle around the same time which inspired “Lambs’ Wool” and when Isom lost his grandmother. But, in 2024 with their latest album Paradise State of Mind the song “Feed Me” is very metaphorical to express desires.
Similar to AJR, Foster the People’s view or songs about love have also expanded with time and experiences. But in Torches it was released in 2011, so Foster was around his mid 20’s and that’s relatively young to have a developed sense of what love is suppose to be. In the Darkest of Nights, Let the Birds Sing it is that sense of understanding the complexity of love while together or apart. I found out, while writing this that Mark Foster wrote his wife a song for their wedding and one day it might be released to the public but for the moment it’s just a project that could’ve fit on ItDoNLtBS since it is about love.
Glass Animals
Glass Animals is one of the weird examples, where it’s not the typical love songs. All of them are a more negative view of love, whether it’s reminiscing a past love or that love that never happened. In Zaba, there are two of those negative examples and in How to Be a Human Being there are also many examples of the toxicity and negativity with love. Contrasting the many negative examples there is two songs on HTBAHB where there is some sentimental love. “Agnes” can be interpreted as a love for a friend, and that mourning because the song is depressing. Then there’s “Youth” which is still depressing but it’s that love from a parent to a child.
With their album Dreamland, there’s still that recounting a love in both “Tangerine” and “Melon and the Coconut” and in their latest album ILYSFM it’s all about love and romantic relationships. Dave Bayley, the leader singer, says that it’s all different forms of love and it’s the case of different eras. The beginning of the album “Show Pony” basically is the start that the first love many people see is their parents love and their story how it unfolds; similar to the music video of “Tangerine”. But, other aspects is toxic relationships, one sided love and even love that was that “right place wrong time”.
But, this also comes down to the band themselves, none of the guys are in relationships (or if they are it’s a very private thing) but to reminiscent on old loves helped to form their album. This impacts Glass Animals because it’s not AJR or Foster the People where one of the main men is in a relationship but instead only reflects on the past, whereas AJR reflected on the past, present and future. It shows more of that longing ‘I wish we were back together’ mentality where Foster the People only had one of those songs. So Glass Animals has those heartbroken songs but also those lovestruck songs.
Saint Motel
Continuing onwards Saint Motel isn’t totally weird but it has some weird aspects. I know for certain the lead singer, AJ Jackson is married. But, continuing onwards a good portion of songs are love songs. Starting with something like “Happy Accidents” where it’s sharing how everything had to align for this couple to get together or “Origami” that calmness and safety someone feels with someone they admire. It’s a mix of emotions, mostly positive but it’s always the singer who is admiring a subject. One song, from their newest album (it will be released the same day this article is released) “Steady Hand” is that love that Jackson had when he welcomed his newborn. It’s that parental love of “I’ll be here for whatever happens to you,” and it’s a very sweet song. This isn’t the only familial love song, as “Sisters” is another one where it’s the appreciating love
One of their most famous songs “My Type” and that song is how the woman, the person the singer admires is his type. But, it’s revealed that his type is really anyone by the lyrics “You got a pulse and you are breathing,” so the compliment of being his type isn’t really that much of a compliment. It also plays into the confidence that the singer always has in a Saint Motel song when it comes to love. It never lacks confidence, like in Van Horn the lyrics “you’re a ten and I’m a four leaf clover” that there is this confidence but always a flirty lyrical sense that is always so interesting to experience and listen.
On a personal interpretation is the song, also from the newest album “Slowly Spilling Out” is still about love, but instead of that positive safe love it’s more that forgiveness. The song is very depressing, but the lyrics “And I still feel the pain / But I hope you get better” because the singer hated someone and it didn’t help them but they finally moved on, they finally felt free when they forgave them and turned their hatred into love.
twenty one pilots
twenty one pilots ever since Blurryface has had one love song on it. That’s because Blurryface was when the lead singer, Tyler Joseph got married. There’s always one song that is for his wife, Jenna in some way, shape or form. In previous albums, like Vessel there was a song he basically wrote to his mom; “House of Gold”. But, when it is a love song it tackles it in a different way. “Tear in my Heart” the first one, is about how it is real love, by the first lyrics of “Sometimes you gotta bleed to know / That you’re alive and have a soul”. It’s that to feel emotion and that purpose of life is that you need that pain, and even includes of a story of the two during the time when they were dating. Then in “Smithereens” it’s the love of how Joseph will protect his wife from anything, even if it’s someone who’s twice his size. “Formidable” is just that in depth feeling of what that emotion of love is, and that togetherness and partnership that the two have. Finally, “The Craving” is how Joseph sometimes feels like he’s not doing enough to say that he loves his wife. It’s that double edged sword where he does this for his wife, and he wrote this while surrounded by his wife and kids and just that alternative of what if it’s not enough. But, the music video for “The Craving” is just home videos of Jenna and Tyler in a sweet way to show the contrast of the song, a kind of timeline of how far they’ve come. It’s sweet.
The unique part of twenty one pilots is that, in addition to those love songs Jenna (and later on Debby Ryan, the wife of Josh Dun) are in parts of the music videos. Jenna has been in three music videos, “Tear in my Heart”, “Levitate” and “The Craving (Jenna’s Version) and both Debby and Jenna were a part of their Scaled and Icy Livestream Experience. But their wives, support them and even during the Clancy tour so many photos have been taken of either girl
What’s the take away?
I mean obviously, love songs. But, to see the variety of love songs or at least songs about love is interesting. It’s never really the same way of expression, because you have Glass Animals who has all of those negative songs about love or the subject matter is unrequited or toxic relationships but then the other side of the spectrum is Saint Motel which is that always getting the girl, that positive relationship and then a mix of the between from Foster the People’s real feelings of missing his wife when they’re away from each other to AJR showing how love matures and develops from a simple concept of “Disney love”. Then, twenty one pilot’s one song dedicated for his wife, it’s always beautiful to see the variety that occurs with love songs.
