500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics ((LINK))

As the editorial director of the music service Spotify, Sulinna Ong is in a perfect position to observe the latest trends in love songs. "Over 105 million users create their own playlists every Valentine's Day," she said. "One of the main themes is vintage sound. So, it's the real appetite for '50s and '60s music.

500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics

Nate Sloan, who teaches musicology at USC's Thornton School of Music, says that 70% of all hit songs are about love and relationships. Sloan's specialty is the history of pop and jazz, and when it comes to love songs, there's a lot of history.

USC's Baroque Sinfonia performed, for "Sunday Morning," a Spanish song that is 500 years old, in which the singer says he's in love with three different girls. "Very little has changed," said Sloan. "These are very universal and sort of timeless emotions that people tap into for a love song."

Few songwriters have found more fresh ways to say "I love you" than Grammy-winner and 14-time Oscar-nominee Diane Warren. Thirty of her songs have hit the Top 10, and 29 of them are about love and relationships.

Over the years, Warren has written thousands of songs. So, can you run out of ways to talk about love? "No. I don't think there's any exhaustion point," she said. "There's only so many notes, right? And so many words. But you can mix 'em up a million different ways and make something great.

"When you perform the song, you have to leave it all on the floor," Sloan said, "because that's what we're trying to get from a love song, is trying to get someone reaching their emotional peak. An incredible performer can turn a mediocre love song into a great one." 041b061a72