With love month finally dawning upon us, we’re reminded of how our special someone can give us unexplainable tingles in our spines and butterflies in our stomachs while making us feel special and appreciated at the same time.
And where words often fail to explain this musing and intricacy of life, music can always step up to the task. This is why we’ve curated a special Valentine’s Day playlist for you and your partner or whoever you choose to spend the day with, to make the day extra special while you’re driving around in your rental car.
Featuring more than 6 hours of meticulously selected 90s Classics, timeless love songs and Australian favourites, this should be more than enough to keep the mood going during this most romantic of days.
Our Top 10 Picks from the Playlist
While we want to highlight each of the songs in our February Playlist, more than a hundred songs will turn this article Biblical in length. So here are our top ten favourites from our list of tunes and a quick backstory of each for how they became synonymous with expressions of love, romance and endearment—whether unrequited or reciprocated. Without further ado, and in no particular order, here are our best playlist picks for this love month:
(Everything I Do) I Do it For You – Bryan Adams
This masterpiece from 1993 tells the story of a man who can’t fully express how he feels for fear of being rejected. So, he decides to bottle up his emotions and would rather sacrifice his own happiness for that tiny sliver of hope that his love will show through his actions when his words are left unsaid. While fear of rejection is a common theme for poetry and prose, this beautifully arranged piece withstood the test of generational standards and continues to be one of the most popular songs of its genre.
Come Away with Me – Norah Jones
This romantic anthem’s soulful melody wrapped around poetic lyricism, despite its gentleness, strikes strong feelings of emotion. It’s about lovers taking a leap of faith from living in the mundane and embark on a journey of romance and unknowns. It showcases the essence of how love will always be there, regardless of where life takes you.
I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing – Aerosmith
This rocking power ballad has never faltered since it was released in 1998 as part of the Armageddon soundtrack. The persona in the story deeply expresses how they never want to miss a single moment with their partner, even during the most uneventful moments of their time together—after all nothing is ever uninteresting when you’re in love.
Kiss from a Rose – Seal
Though this song was released in 1994, it was a night back in the mid-1980s when Seal woke up at three in the morning with the lyrics stuck in his head. He quickly wrote the song down, which he describes as a raw and honest song of love and hope. The piece’s brilliant arrangement, paired with Seal’s creativity and vocal prowess paved the way for this 90s song to become an instant classic.
Linger – The Cranberries
Written in the early 90s by the late Dolores O’Riordan, this song tells the story of two people who are living with ghosts of their past associations. While newfound love is hard enough on the gut, emotions become more complex when one can’t get over past relationships. This slow-burning ballad with iconic guitar riffs and emotional vocals has made it a fan of multiple generations since it first came out.
Endless Love – Lionel Richie and Diana Ross
This 1981 romantic ballad was written for a movie of the same name, which starred Martin Hewitt and Brooke Shields. Aside from spending nine weeks in the Billboard Hot 100, this piece bagged a Golden Globe, a Grammy and an Academy Award nomination. This song describes a couple’s deeply committed and everlasting love of one another, arranged in a Motown production style.
I Just Called to Say I Love You – Stevie Wonder
Though this song was released in 1984 for the movie, Woman in Red, its reach went way beyond its initial audience. Stevie’s song is a strong testament to the power of love and how even the simplest of words can carry a great deal of expression. With several Academy and Grammy nominations under its belt, this timeless classic will surely remain in Valentine’s playlists for generations to come.
She’s The One – Robbie Williams
The infectious pop-rock song’s catchy chorus hit the airwaves back in 1997, and it tells the narrative of a man who’s been longing to find someone to fill the void in his heart. The song expresses gratitude and devotion one can only express towards “the one” and encourages us to never think twice to take a chance on love.
Love Will Keep Us Alive – Eagles
An instant classic since Day 1, this 1994 release has ever since earned multiple covers due to its perfectly arranged melody and earnestly expressed message. The narrator in the song talks about how the power of love can help us endure anything, even if it seems that our world is falling apart. It’s a timeless sentiment about how love is the most powerful force and can keep us going through the toughest of times.
How Deep Is Your Love – Bee Gees
This Australian-grown group released this song back in 1977 as part of their Saturday Night Fever Album. According to Barry Gibbs, the song’s success was mostly from the simplicity of the message making it resonate easily with almost every story where love is the main character. During this period in music where New Wave and Punk Rock were gaining a foothold on the mainstream scene, this refreshing tune broke industry trends and became a number 1 hit around the world.
Pair the Perfect Tunes with the Perfect Car
Now, what better way to listen to these songs than driving down to a romantic destination with that special someone? At Alpha Car Hire, we have a hefty selection of vehicles where you’ll surely find the perfect fit for your needs. Whether you’re all for that intimately cozy compact car or a full-sized SUV to compliment the grandiosity of your affection, we can offer the cheapest rates every time.