Love makes the world go round. What better way to pass it on than through a love song? In anticipation of Valentine’s Day, we asked several reporters from The Lowell about their favorite love songs of all time, tasteful or trashy.

KT Kelly, Journalism 1 student: “Take Me or Leave Me” from Rent. “It’s about a couple with normal problems. It’s almost like the Marilyn Monroe quote, ‘If you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as Hell don’t deserve me at my best.’  Couples have to like each other and be with each other through thick and thin.”

Nicola Householder, Editor-In-Chief: “Love Will Tear us Apart” by Joy Division. “It’s deep because love usually brings people together, but in this song it brings them apart. It reminds me of all those John Hughes teen movies from the 1980s.”

Lia Russell, Journalism 1 student: “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry. “I can relate to it because it’s fun, catchy and danceable. It makes you feel happy and it’s one of Katy Perry’s songs that isn’t as packaged because she actually wrote it.”

Sean Lee, Editor-in-Chief: “The Way You Look Tonight” by Frank Sinatra. “When you say something like that to a girl, you are immortalizing the memory of them at a moment when they are so beautiful and special to you that it will always be a reminder of why you love them so much. It’s something I’d like to say to my girlfriend or wife on an occasion that I’d like to remember for the rest of my life.”

Adriana Millar, Reporter: “These Words” by Natasha Bedingfield. “I listened to it in third and fourth grade. The music video is really cute because it has little boom boxes in it. It’s a song anyone can dance to, even if they’re not in love.”

Ashley Wu, Editor: “Tongue Tied” by Faber Drive. “This song was one of the first songs my boyfriend introduced to me before we were together; now whenever I hear this song, I am reminded of him and it brings back memories of how we first met and got to know each other. It’s not the typical love song filled with sappy lyrics and it’s not super slow either.”

If you want to indulge your emotional side (or someone else’s) this Valentine’s Day, forget that six dollar Hallmark card and make it special with an mp3 of love.

Illustration by Julian Stickley