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A favorite English love song Posted by on Feb 9, 2016 in Culture

Image by jm scott on Flicker.com.

Image by jm scott on Flicker.com is licensed under CC BY 2.0

To get in the mood for the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday we are going to look at English love songs.

Do you have a favorite English-language love song? If you don’t yet, hopefully you will by the end of this post.

Before you begin reading though here are few musical related vocabulary words you will see in this post:

tune(s) – a slang word that means melody or song
crooner – a slang word that means male singer, who usually sings sentimental songs
serenade – music sung or played by one person to another person as an expression of love

I couldn’t possibly write about love songs in English without mentioning the singer Barry White. Barry White is known for his many romantic tunes.  Mr. White was an American singer-songwriter with a distinctive deep voice and long running career beginning in the 1960s. He sang until he died in the early 2000s. When I think of English love songs, I think of Barry White. Here are a few of his classic love songs; you will definitely want to look up these songs on YouTube if you have never heard them.

Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe
You’re the First, the Last, My Everything
Just the Way You Are

Barry White certainly isn’t the only love song crooner out there though. If you want to find more English love songs, maybe so you can put together a romantic serenade for your Valentine, definitely check out this top-10 list of English love songs from the American music company Billboard.

Or maybe you would prefer to do something a little more original, like write your own English love song. I can help with that too!

Here are some tips I have gathered from various online sources about how to write a love song.

* Be expressive and show your passion – a love song is not subtle (subtle = delicate of difficult to understand) it is grandiose (grandiose = impressive)

* Be personal – make the love song unique to you and the one you love

* Use metaphors to express your love (Here are two Transparent Language blog posts on metaphors: https://blogs.transparent.com/english/metaphors-and-similes/ and https://blogs.transparent.com/english/make-a-metaphor/)

* Avoid clichés (If you don’t know what a cliché is – check out this post.)

* Use some rhymes in your song – rhymes make a song sound sweeter

* Tell a story in your song – hopefully your story with your Valentine will be a love story!

Whether you rely on an old classic to serenade your love this Valentine’s Day or you create your own love song I hope you have a Valentine’s Day full of love!

In closing I have a video of another classic English-language love song. I bet there isn’t a reader out there who hasn’t heard this song before…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNyKDI9pn0Q

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About the Author: Gabriele

Hi there! I am one of Transparent Language's ESL bloggers. I am a 32-year-old native English speaker who was born and raised in the United States. I am living in Washington, DC now, but I have lived all over the US and also spent many years living and working abroad. I started teaching English as a second language in 2005 after completing a Master's in Applied Linguists and a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults' (CELTA). Since that time I have taught ESL in the United States at the community college and university level. I have also gone on to pursue my doctorate in psychology and now I also teach courses in psychology. I like to stay connected to ESL learners around the world through Transparent Languages ESL Blog. Please ask questions and leave comments on the blog and I will be sure to answer them.