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Hey Ya by OutKast Call Me Al, Paul Simon

“Every Breath you take” by the Police

So the incredibly sappy "True Companion" is romantic but my personal headcanon is that it's a vampire who's about to turn the person he's singing to. That might be a me problem.

I went to a wedding where the bride actually sang Bad Romance!

There are people (like a friend of mine) who believe Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” is about a perfect day.

Whitney Houston's Saving All My Love for You: It's not very easy, living all alone My friends try and tell me, find a man of my own But each time I try, I just break down and cry 'Cause I'd rather be home feeling blue

Springsteen, “She’s the One”

i had run into a concerning amount of people who seem to think Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is romantic it might be born from love but that's pure agony in a song

Landslide is a pre-breakup song but I’ve heard it at weddings

Cannibal Corpse - "I Cum Blood"

With or Without You.

In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins. It has a kicky beat until one listens to the words and then omg.

Closer, NIN I kid I kid

Definitely, You Are My Sunshine

I’m gonna go with the Dead Teenager Songs™️ of the ‘50s-‘60s, like “Running Bear”, “Tell Laura I Love Her”, “Teen Angel”, and “The Leader of the Pack”. A lot of them have to do with Daring to Love While Poor and Dying Tragically. The one that really goes for the Romeo & Juliet ending is “Patches”.

Every breath you take

Every Step You Take

Lou Rawls - "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" Peak toxic alpha wannabe

Hey There Delilah. Bro was basically stalking her, she left to get away from him IIRC

“do you really want to hurt me” Culture Club

One Last Time by Ariana Grande. She’s trying to get her ex to cheat on his current girlfriend.

this is more personal than universal but i dated someone and our song was for the longest time by billy joel, a song neither of us realized was about the joys of breaking up until after we broke up

Most of these replies suggest the same issue: people hear one line that sounds romantic and that’s enough for them, no more listening to lyrics necessary

I DJ’d/emceed weddings for a few years, and the amount of people that had a first dance or intro song of Stay With Me by Sam Smith blew my mind. The first line clearly states that it’s about a 1 night stand, and the chorus repeats “this ain’t love, that’s clear to see”. Amazing.

they don't think it's romantic per se but some people think of Dance Music by the Mountain Goats as a fun happy dancing song when it's literally about surviving growing up with an abusive parent

the one i love, by rem, is an all timer in this category. so many people have no idea what the fuckin words are to anything

Wild Horses

“Easy” The Commodores

LIPS OF AN ANGEL BY HINDER OH MY GOD

I was treated like a conspiracy theorist in my friend group for a bit because I was visibly alarmed whenever anyone dedicated "In the arms of an angel" to their significant other. It was a relief years later when I tentatively mentioned it sounds like it's about drug use and got "no duh" in reply

Thong Song

I'm not sure anyone thinks it's romantic, but My Sharona

"Help Me" by Joni Mitchell

It doesn't necessarily meet the criteria because we'll never know the motivations of the person who made it happen, but my mom is still mad that during her wedding reception they played Kenny Rogers' Lucille

I attended a wedding where the first song the DJ played after the ceremony (not the first dance song, thank god) was The Most Beautiful Girl by Charlie Rich For even more context, the DJ was a close friend of the groom, him DJing was his wedding present, and they’re divorced now

“One Way or Another” 😆

More Than Words. Telling the guy you love him is meaningless, if you loved him you would just fuck him. Put out or shut up. Women sing along but the words don't seem to register.

Every Breath You Take, White Wedding

In the same vein as “I’ll Be Watching You,” Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby” has some low key stalking vibes.

Young Girl … Gary Puckett & The Union Gap???

I won't say it's not romantic, but "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" is a very weird wedding song.

"Nobody Knows Me" by Lyle Lovett. Heard him describe it as "a cheatin' song about mexican food". Hear so many people think it is romantic when it's a song about an affair.

Brown Sugar by the Rolling Stones.

I was at a wedding where Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” (written by Willie Nelson) was the bride & groom’s song and I was gobsmacked! “I knew you’d love me as long as you wanted, and then someday, you’d leave me for somebody new” (& other verses) did not strike me as wedding day sentiments…!

The girls on the prom committee my senior year chose Tears In Heaven as the prom theme.

My wife’s FIRST wedding’s first dance was to “Careless Whisper”

They played “The One I Love” by R.E.M. at my senior prom and my friends and I were absolutely cackling at the couples dancing together to it.

Santeria

Every Breath You Take (The Police - which is who you should call if someone says these stalky things to you!!)

Love Song by Sarah Bareilles is such an awesome fuck you to the record label

'Driving with the Brakes On' - Del Amitri

One by U2…I attended a wedding where the couple used it as their first dance song and was gobsmacked

"Shame and Scandal in the Family" makes for a fun wedding song! 😀 youtu.be/L7Wgk2vpSFc?...

shawn elliott - shame and scandal in the family .HDYouTube video by Louis *Jukebox.Productions*youtu.be

Tears In Heaven

My ex-wife and I were discussing our wedding song and she suggested 'You're All I Need' by Motley Crue because it was totally us In the song he kills her so no one else can have her 😂

Elvis Costello - Alison

The first dance song at our wedding was “Hey Ya.” We just wanted to dance.

“Your Love” by the Outfield All about messing around while “Josie’s on a vacation far away.”

One couple in my high school had With or Without You by U2 as their song

I remember middle/high school discussions about whether The Cars "My Best Friend's Girl" was really romantic. One time someone said something along the lines of "think about it from the girls and best friends perspective".

Eurythmics - Would I Lie to You? (Or maybe it was just me)

I'm stupid and listened to a lot of music on AM radio in cars, so the lyrics didn't always get through, but I always thought "Long Cool Woman" was about a long cool woman who had it all.

I adore A Rainy Night In Soho, and it does *start* well, but it ends with the singer sinking into alcoholism having lost the love of their life, soooo

I knew a couple in high school whose slow dance song was Forever Young by Alphaville

We went to a wedding (on Long Island) where the groom/mother dance was to Sweet Child O'Mine.

One by U2. That is not a love song, it is a serious relationship crisis in 4/4 time

REM, The One I Love

Lips of an Angel

Every breath you take

Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen

"Stop the World and Melt with You" by Modern English is meant to be WAY more literal than people realize

idk re romantic but “Hallelujah” is just not doing what TV/movies think it does

This one’s just funny, because I was a kid, but: Around the age of 10, I told anyone who would listen that the first dance at my wedding was going to be to “I’ll Make Love To You” by Boyz II Men, because it was just so romantic! (Bonus: I turned out to be a sex-averse aegosexual.)

Father Figure by George Michael is creepy AF, and I will always give stink-eye to folks who like it.

Prince - When Doves Cry Why do the most toxic relationships always produce the best sex? Seems like a design flaw.

"Santa, Baby"

Our DJ played "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" at our wedding. We were shocked and then we ROLLED with it. Because it was one of our karaoke standards. People thought it was hilarious. But we hadn't asked for that. WTH was the DJ thinking?

Cracklin' Rosie... it's about wine, not a woman named Rosie.

Possession, by Sarah McLachlan. "I will be the one to hold you down, kiss you so hard...and after I'll wipe away the tears. Just close your eyes, dear". Don't get me wrong, I love her music, but much like "Angel", the song is not what you think it's about...

My group was once asked to sing Saving All my Love for You for a first dance at a wedding. We refused.

Better Man by Pearl Jam. Whoooooo boy that is not a happy song.

lowest-hanging fruit answer: Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".

I'm pretty sure nobody's mentioned Crash Into Me by Dave Matthews Band yet, which I find mildly shocking.

The entire Fleetwood Mac catalog. Don't get me wrong, "Rumors" is and always will be one of my top ten albums, but if they had a single song that wasn't about cheating in some way I can't think of it off the top of my head.

haha i second Cherry Wine. also, Never Let Me Go by Florence & the Machine... literally about (her fixation with) death by drowning

you can sleep while I drive!!!!

Pour Que Tu M’aimes Encore by Celine Dion is not really very romantic if you really pay attention to the lyrics (at least the original French ones). It’s about a girl saying she would basically debase herself and change everything about herself for a guy to like her.

Was at a wedding where the first dance was Linger by The Cranberries. “And I swore, I swore I would be true And honey, so did you So why were you holding her hand?” Didn’t read the lyrics, or complicated relationship?

REM, “The One I Love”

“You’re Gorgeous” by BabyBird is generally very, very misunderstood.

Do you like pina coladas

God Only Knows by the Beach Boys

Metallica - unforgiven 3

More Than Words

I was a party DJ when I was younger. The number of people who requested Better Man by Pearl Jam for their weddings and engagement parties still haunts me.

This is almost too easy, but I'll get it out of the way: "Baby, It's Cold Outside" oh also "Hallelujah"

For some reason Sirius's Happy Oldies station keeps playing Lightning Strikes, which is a song by a man telling the girl to wait for him while he fools around with other women. One day, he'll settle down and marry her. Not romantic.

I have heard Hey Ya played at weddings

Oh, I almost forgot my personal favorite example of this genre. Are you familiar with Heart's 'All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You'???

Billy Joel's Only The Good Die Young, which is about manipulating your Catholic school girlfriend into sex.

Every Breath You Take.

“The One I Love” - R.E.M.

A Case of You by Joni Mitchell

At a former colleague's wedding they played "Paradise By the Dashboard Light." Which is ... maybe actually the most romantic Meat Loaf song?

"I drove all night", Roy Orbison.

Hallelujah is used as a religious song, but Not At All Religious.

I will always love you by whitney Houston. My cousin played it at his wedding.

Cherry Wine - Hozier. I’ve heard of people playing it at weddings 😬

“L’chaim—To Life!” from Fiddler on the Roof. This one drives me up a wall.

This is almost certainly a middle schoolers have weird ideas about love thing but, I remember someone insisting "Livin' La Vida Loca" was about how great falling head over heels in love was.

At the first wedding I attended as a young adult with my own friends getting married, the wedding song was Close My Eyes Forever (Lita Ford and Ozzy). I think they had a Disney themed cake.

ABBA the winner takes it all is dark

Girls just wanna have fun in the original version

"Isn't she lovely" - Stevie Wonder It's about his daughter. It's used as a wedding song ALL THE TIME!

Happy Together by the Turtles. I’m obsessed with its combo of seemingly-ecstatic chorus, stalker-y verses and absolutely haunted minor-key music.

Perfect Day (Lou Reed)

Surprised no one's mentioned "I Don't Know How To Love Him" in the thread yet. I have heard that played at a wedding. There might have been some snickering when they got to the lines "And I've had so many men before/In very many ways he's just one more."

"Reasons" by Earth Wind & Fire. In the recent documentary of the band, singer Philip Bailey apologizes to everyone who played it at their wedding

some forgotten EDM/ a Bottom five hit in the US: Sunscreem, "Love U More" thebottomfive.wordpress.com/2025/01/29/s...

Sunscreem—“Love U More”Entered Top 40: April 10, 1993  5 weeks  Peaked at: 36 British techno group Sunscreem had a run of UK club hits throughout the ’90s. “Love U More” was their only US Hot 100 appearan…thebottomfive.wordpress.com

Wuthering Heights, Kate Bush.

Apparently Mr. Brightside by The Killers. I heard it played at a wedding. IT IS ABOUT CHEATING. 😬

U2, "One"

Here Comes Your Man by The Pixies

The winner has to be "every breath you take" by The Police.

A lot of people miss the Good Riddance and just call Green Day’s song “Time of Your Life.” It’s about a breakup. 🥰

I am retrospectively sorry I didn’t save my wedding playlist (that I curated like a complete freaking nerd) because there were some interesting choices from my husband in there. Pretty sure I tried to veto Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer”.

In The Summertime “If her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal If her daddy's poor, just do what you feel”

Every bresth you take

Object by ween

I recently attended a wedding of a couple who have been together since high school, and at that wedding they played Jack & Diane, which horrified me because it’s about being tied down to depressing obligations early in life. But they see it as a celebration of love, so 🤷🏻‍♀️

Where the Wild Roses Grow, by Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue 🤔 I'm genuinely at a loss but murder is sexy and romantic to some people, I guess?? It's a fantastic song, but not romantic. There's been a lot of songs that made me realise people do NOT listen to the lyrics over the years

How Am I Supposed to Live Without You, Michael Bolton Talk about unrequited love and incel vibes hahaha

"No Children" by The Mountain Goats. Many many many people get engaged to this song at live shows. Not sure why!

I'm ace, aro, autistic & sex repulsed, & one of the funniest things you can do if you're tired of "love" songs like this is take everything SUPER literally. Way more fun than 500 songs about sex. I have 3 Buffy X Glee TV show seasons plotted out by doing this that will NEVER make it to the screen.😆

“You Are My Sunshine”, hands down.

Banquet by Bloc Party