These ten songs express everything about love in a more unusual way.
Love is like any feeling — complicated, personal, multifaceted. Finding the right words for this is not always easy. But you can rely on poets and songwriters to express even the most complex aspects of love in new, creative (and sometimes grotesque) ways. Here are ten songs that rethink love.
1. “Famous Last Words (An Ode to Eaters)” — Ethel Cain, 1017 ALYX 9SM
It’s not the first Ethel Cain song to deal with cannibalism, but it’s a hauntingly beautiful track nonetheless. Based on Luca Guadanigno’s horror romance “Bones And All,” it speaks of a love that can only be fully expressed through the consumption of the body one loves.
Lyrics: “Eat of me baby, skin to the bone / Body on body, until I’m all gone / But I’m with you, inside”
2. “We’ll Never Have Sex” — Leith Ross
Love that isn’t based on physical intimacy: Leith Ross’ “We’ll Never Have Sex” was already making the rounds on TikTok as a work-in-progress. Many were attracted to the idea of being loved without the expectation of sex, but rather finding security through emotional closeness.
Lyrics: “You look perfect / You look different / I don’t wonder about your indifference / If I told you / Could never touch me / You’d come over and say I looked lovely”
3. ““Spiracle” — Flower Face
With this track, Flower Face almost obsessively names all the aspects of her lover that she wants to claim as her own. This includes the beautiful things, but also the ugly, the complicated and the repulsive. A track that becomes increasingly hectic and thus manages to express a deep desire.
Lyrics: “I want your quiet, your screaming and thrashing / The salt on your lips and the hands that God gave you / And I want your violence, your silent sedation / Your moon eyes, your telescope, morbid fixation“
4. “Number 13” — Nothing But Thieves
Calling this track a love song might seem a bit questionable, but we’ll go for it. Because “Number 13” is about a love that you hate but still feel. As Connor Mason sings in the chorus: “There’s something about your love that makes me want to kill it”.
Lyrics: “And from there you’re so easy to please / Give me a kiss like a kick in the teeth / my bloody lip never tasted so sweet”
5. “Inside Your Mind” — The 1975
A love so obsessive that one considers hurting one’s loved one just to get closer to them. The lyrics quickly make it clear that these feelings are probably one-sided. By no means a healthy expression of love (or any other feeling), but an interesting exploration of extreme obsession.
Lyrics: “I’ve been watching you walk / I’ve been learning the way that you talk / The back of your head is at the front of my mind / “Soon I’ll crack it open just to see what’s inside your mind”
With a discography that is almost entirely about a complicated and abusive relationship, Vessel frontman continues to find new words to describe the complex feelings towards a person who hurt him. Because despite the serious consequences that came with this relationship, he can never deny that love was once there. In “Alkaline” he describes his lover with metaphors about chemistry and physics and manages to tell a story of clear desire.
Lyrics: “Let’s talk about chemistry / ‘Cause I’m dying to melt through / To the heart of her molecules / ‘Til the particles part like holy water / If anything / She’s an undiscovered element / Either born in hell or heaven sent / Either way I’m into it”
7. “The Bug Collector” — Haley Heynderickx
In “The Bug Collector,” Haley Heynderickx would do anything for her partner to banish his demons. These come in the form of any reptiles whose hostility the lover may even only imagine. But regardless of whether that is the case, Heynderickx will ensure that the animal is removed from the house and her partner finds peace again.
Lyrics: “And there’s a millipede / Angry on your carpet / And I must admit / He’s staring with a vengeance / Oh, and I digress / ‘Cause I must make you the perfect morning / I’ll try my best / To prove that nothing’s out to get you”
8. “Would That I” — Hozier
After metaphors about chemistry and physics, there are now metaphors about botany and fire. Many of Hozier’s lyrics draw on elements of nature, but “Would That I” creates a beautiful new image. He describes his former relationships as trees, but his new love is a fire that manages to make the ones that came before completely disappear from his mind.
Lyrics: “So in awe, there I stood as you licked off the grain / Though I’ve handled the wood I still worship the flame / Long as amber of ember glows / All the “would that I’d loved” is long ago”
9. “No Children” — The Mountain Goats
“No Children” is another song that describes a more complicated, fictional love. The couple that the track is about are disillusioned with the world, the people around them and, one might think, themselves. But no matter what terrible things they wish for others and themselves, they realize that they should still die together.
Lyrics: “I am drowning / There is no sign of land / You are coming down with me / Hand in unlovable hand / And I hope you die / I hope we both die”
10. “Vampire Empire” — Big Thief
“Vampire Empire” is a 2023 track from Big Thief and may seem a little out of place on this list. But the disintegration of love is also part of the feeling. Love is still the focus of the lyrics, only they are about feeling strong desire for a person who would like to suck you dry like a vampire.
Lyrics: “I wanted to see you naked / I wanted to hear you scream / I wanted to kiss your skin and your everything / I wanted to be your woman / I wanted to be your man / I wanted to be the one that you could understand”