Music is the selective recreation of reality through sounds. It creates patterns of sound that convey emotion, moods, and behavior. It is a powerful medium to express emotion. It recreates aspects of our lives that are recognizable. A piece of music may be quick moving, expressing energy, purposefulness, or excitement.
Music as an attraction tool isn’t really a new idea in behavioral research. Charles Darwin, the renowned father of revolutionary genetics, wrote centuries ago in his book Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex that females choose their mates based on skills and behavioral traits, including courtship behaviors of musical ability and inclusion of wooing songs.
Weddings, anniversaries and even first dates tend to be all the more memorable when a couple include a special song on their big day in order to mark their celebrations.
We all have our “personal soundtrack”. We pick them because they remind us of good times or bad times, good people, special people and sweet memories.
The”soundtrack of my life”.
1.
UNCHAINED MELODY. A popular song by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret is one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century. It is estimated that it spawned over 500 versions in hundreds of different languages..
Unchained Melody reappeared on the billboard charts in 1990 after The Righteous Brothers’ recording was used in the blockbuster film
Ghost. There was a reissue of the 1965 original Righteous Brothers single which received a lot of airplay, but sales were minimal since it was only available as a 45 RPM single. This version packed at No. 13. There was also a 1990 re-recording of the song which was available only as a cassette single. The re-recorded version saw minimal airplay, but excellent sales. It peaked at No. 19. For eight weeks, both versions were on Hot 100 simultaneously. This re-release of the song topped the U.S. adult contemporary chart for two weeks in 1990. It reached No. 1 in UK, becoming the UK’s top selling single of 1990; it also later reached No. 1 in Australia, staying at number one for seven weeks through November 1990 into January 1991.
Personally I consider this to be the most romantic song ever written and The Righteous Brothers rendition in 1965 to be pure genius. The melody, the words the feelings it evokes are the ideal and dream of true love
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrK5u5W8afc
2.
THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT. This song as featured in the film
Swing Time, which won in the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. It was written by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields and was popularly performed by Frank Sinatra.
This song was also popularized by musical legends like Tony Bennet, Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Buble, Joey McIntyre, Rod Stewart, Andy Williams, Ray Quinn, and Steve Tyrell.
The song was also performed by The Lettermen and became a hit for them in 1961 (Billboard No. 13pop, No. 3, easy listening). Billie Holiday also recorded this song in 1926.
The song is so beautiful and it has been an all time favorite wedding music.
Watch video: Michael Bubble: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVBU7Xw9BpE
3.
SI TU TE ATREVESS. “If You Dare” is a romantic ballad about an intense and impossible love. It is written and produced by Manuel Alejandro and performed and produced by Luis Miguel and released as the first single from the album
Complices.
The track was first played on March 30, 2008 in the Unites States in the show “Reporte Ultima Palabra” and the next day on “El Show de Piolin”, one of the highest rated radio shows for the Latin community.
In September 21, 2008, the video “Si Tu Te Atreves” reached 30,000,000 views in You Tube; also reached 4,000,000 views in December 1, 2008, turning Luis Miguel in the most viewed Mexican singer in the entire site.
Luis Miguel is an international star who is loved for both his well produced albums and his strong live performances. He is the only Latino artist in U.S. to have two Spanish-language albums, Romance and Segundo Romance that went platinum.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uci3NaoSLE4
4.
AMAZED. The ballad ”
Amazed” became the Lonestar’s biggest crossover hit in 1999 having spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the country charts. It later reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Lonestar the first country act to top both Hot Country Songs and Hot 100 charts since 1983, when Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton accomplished the same feat with “Islands in the Stream.
While ‘Amazed’ has not only proved to be Lonestar’s biggest hit to date, the 1999 song has proved any even bigger hit among UK couples selecting an accompanying track for that unforgettable first dance peaking at No. 1 in the Top Ten Wedding Songs of 2007 in UK.
Watch video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJyJwbAa1i8
5.
JUST THE WAY YOU ARE. This is a love song from Billy Joel’s 1977 pop rock album, The Stranger. It was written as a birthday gift to Joel’s wife Elizabeth Weber. After they divorced, Joel said that when performing the song, he would imagine what he would eat for dinner or what he would do after the show, or even accidentally sing alternate lyrics written by Liberty de Vitto (“She took the dog, the house, the car”). This was his first US Top 10 (No. 3) and UK Top 20 single, and it was also Joel’s first gold single in US.
“Just the Way You Are” won the 1978 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
This song is always No. 4 in the list of anniversary songs and peaked at No. 1 in the Top Ten Valentine’s Day Songs (Music-News.Com, January 16, 2009).
Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUMmMXYotOA
6.
TEARS IN HEAVEN. This is a balled written by Eric Clapton and Will Jennings about the pain Clapton felt following the 1991 death of his four year old son, Conor, who fell from a 3rd story window in his mother’s friend’s New York City condominium. By all accounts, the death was simply a tragic accident, and Clapton was distraught for months afterwards. This song is one of Clapton’s most successful, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the US. The song also spent three weeks at No. 1 on the American adult contemporary chart in 1992.
Tears in Heaven is a heart breaking magnificent father and son love song.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRsJlAJvOSM
7.
I HONESTLY LOVE YOU. This song was a worldwide pop hit single for Olivia Newton John in 1974. It was Newton John’s first No. 1 single in the US and Canada, thus making her a household name in North America.
The song topped the charts in America and went on to sell over two million copies, being certified Platinum. It also reached No. 1 for three weeks on the Adult contemporary charts and No. 6 on the Country charts and won Grammy Awards for Female Pop Vocal Performance and Record of the Year.
I Honestly Love You, a sweet, light song of romance is a bittersweet confession of illicit infatuation.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0zRNz4PVnM
8.
CARELESS WHISPER. A 1984 single by Wham! Released by Epic Records in the UK, Japan and other countries; and by Columbia Records in North America. It was released as a single and became a huge commercial success on both sides of the Atlantic.
It reached No. 1 in twenty five countries, selling about six million copies worldwide.
Careless Whisper, a beautiful sexy, slow jam with that famous saxophone part tops the list of most favorite honeymoon songs. It is also reviewed as one of sexiest songs. ” I got breathlessly aroused at 20 first time I heard it, and this composition still works its magic on me so many years later. . . ” according to an Amazon Costumer Review.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VqHorjSMA8
9.
NO ORDINARY LOVE was featured prominently in the 1993 film Indecent Proposal, though it was not included on the film’s soundtrack album. It is the lead single from the English group Sade’s fourth studio album, Love Deluxe in 1992. The song won a Grammy Award for Best R&B; Performance by a duo with Vocal in 1994.
Pinoy Rockband Urbandub did a cover of this song, which was included on the EMI Music Philippines 2005 compilation Full Volume – The Best Pinoy Alternative.
Sade always did have that kind of seductive voice that made you want to get naked. A beautiful song superbly scripted and one to make your heart melt and yearn. Deeply moving.
Sade’s No Ordinary Love tops the list of songs that couple choose to tie the knot to.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYA6e-_s8ac
10.
WORDS. This is my best love song ever.
This song is written and sung by the Bee Gees and was featured in the film The Mini Mob in 1968.
Words has been recorded by many other artists. Among them are a hit version by Rita Coolidge in 1978 and Boyzone in 1996. This single by Boyzone was their fifth single and their first No. 1 hit single in UK.
Two more singles followed in early 1968, the ballad “Words” peaked at No. 15 in US and No. 8 in UK.
“Its only words and words are all I have to take your heart away.” I gave my heart to someone who loved this song when I was fifteen. And so to me, its reliance on minor harmonies serves to communicate a sense of bittersweet longing and wistful nostalgia.
Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn9cHegvcFI
