The 100 Best Indie Love Songs
14 February 2020, 13:57 | Updated: 14 February 2020, 14:11
Get ready for Valentines Day with our Top 100 Indie love songs. It's the perfect playlist to win over your crush or tell your partner how much you care...
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Oasis - Slide Away
"Let me be the one / that shines with you." An epic love song from the Gallaghers, in this peerless track from their debut album Definitely Maybe.
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Paul Weller - You Do Something To Me
The Modfather comes over all peculiar in this timeless song from his 1995 album Stanley Road.
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The Stone Roses - Ten Storey Love Song
"Take my hand baby I'm your man / I got love maybe enough for two." Ten storeys! He's that into you! This was the lead track for The Stone Roses' long, long awaited album The Second Coming (1994).
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The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
"And if a double decker bus / Crashes into us / To die by your side / Is such a heavenly way to die." The most unlikely romantic sentiment ever. courtesy of this Queen Is Dead album track.
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David Bowie - "Heroes"
"I, I will be king / And you, you will be queen / Though nothing will drive them away / We can beat them - just for one day" Bowie's most inspirational, anthemic lyric that was the title track of his 1977 album.
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Blur - To The End
"Well you and I collapsed in love..." They've made it to the end... of what, though?
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Catfish And The Bottlemen - Cocoon
"You go all red like the first time – I love it when you do that / God, I love it when you do that."
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Courteeners - Take Over The World
"I think it's time for me and you to take over the world," says Liam Fray. And who are we to argue?
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The Cure - Lovesong
"However far away, I will always love you." Robert Smith wrote this for his wife's wedding present. 'Nuff said.
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The Maccabees - Toothpaste Kisses
“Cradle me, I’ll cradle you / I’ll win your heart with a woop-a-woo!” God, we’ll miss these guys.
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Oasis - Wonderwall
"Are you gonna be the one that saves me?" Noel's absolute classic of a lyric.
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Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?
"Do I wanna know / If this feeling flows both ways? / Sad to see you go / Was sort of hoping that you'd stay." Curious chat from Alex Turner.
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Courteeners - That Kiss
Liam Fray sums up the perfect moment exactly: "We probably shouldn't have danced to that song."
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Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
“If I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?” Wistful romance from Gary Lightbody.
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The Verve - Sonnet
"Yes, there's love if you want it / Don't sound like no sonnet, my lord." Ashcroft breaks our hearts again. The bastard.
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The Wannadies - You And Me Song
“You and me / Always / And forever.” A great tune for when you're at the top of your game.
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Oasis - Songbird
"She's a little pirate in my mind / Singing songs of love to pass the time." A surprisingly sweet moment from Liam.
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Guns N' Roses - November Rain
One for the wedding, obviously. "And it's hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain."
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The Killers - Read My Mind
"Can you read my mind?" Yes, try and work out what they're thinking...
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The Cure - Friday I'm In Love
"I Don't Care If Monday's Blue / Tuesday's Grey And Wednesday Too / Thursday, I Don't Care About You / It's Friday I'm In Love". Robert Smith can't wait to see you!
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Wolfman featuring Pete Doherty - For Lovers
"I'm running away with you / That's all I ever do." One of Pete's more tender moments.
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Foo Fighters - Everlong
Dave Grohl's most tender and affecting moment: "If everything could ever be this real forever."
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The White Stripes - I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself
Jack White covers Dusty Springfield. Now that it’s over, he’s literally driven to distraction.
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Elbow - The Bones Of You
"And I'm five years ago / And three thousand miles away." Because sometimes you can't shake off those memories.
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Blink-182 - I Miss You
"Don't waste your time on me / You're already the voice inside my head." They may rock out, but here's one of their gentler moments.
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Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
"Wait... they don't love you like I love you"." So moving it made Karen O burst into tears.
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Coldplay - Fix You
A song of strength and support from Mr Martin: "Lights will guide you home / And ignite your bones / And I will try to fix you."
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The Stone Roses - Sally Cinnamon
From the Roses' early years. Is it a true story, or just a letter that’s been found? “Then I put the letter back / In the place where it was found / In the pocket of a jacket / On a train in town.”
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The Smiths - Hand In Glove
This is NOT like any other love, this one is different... from Morrissey and Marr’s debut single.
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Courteeners - How Good It Was
"I try not to think of you but think of nothing else." Liam Fray looks back on a great love affair.
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Maximo Park - Books From Boxes
Another song for when it all has to end.
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Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream
Despite his daft outfit, Luke Steele will still be your shoulder to lean upon.
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The Darkness - I Believe In A Thing Called Love
They may be daft, but this song is spot on.
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Supergrass - Late In The Day
Musing on your lover when you're all alone at sunset.
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Suede - Stay Together
Brett Anderson knows how to do the heartbreaking anthem.
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Biffy Clyro - Many Of Horror
Forget what Matt Cardle did to it, this is still a great song.
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The Subways - Rock And Roll Queen
When teenage rock and roll dreams come true.
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The Smiths - Girlfriend In A Coma
Sad yet funny... romantic yet tragic. Classic Morrissey.
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Jose Gonzalez - Heartbeats
Jose turns electropop into acoustic bliss, thanks to this Knife cover.
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Florence And The Machine - Cosmic Love
Ms Welch sings of love from the heavens.
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Ash - Girl From Mars
An ode to an intergalactic lover, from young Tim Wheeler.
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Shed Seven - Chasing Rainbows
Rick Witter gets all romantic.
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The xx - VCR
The song for when you just want to Netflix and chill.
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Ash - Shining Light
More romance from Ash, a beautiful love song.
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The Zutons - Valerie
The original and best.
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Coldplay - Yellow
Chris Martin wrote a song for you. Here it is.
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Blur - Out Of Time
From Damon Albarn's bittersweet period.
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Muse - Bliss
Everything about you is so easy to love says Matt Bellamy.
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Mystery Jets - Two Doors Down
Simple, old fashioned teen romance.
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Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire
A song for the lovers.
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Richard Ashcroft - A Song For The Lovers
Britain's biggest romantic balladeer sends one out for all of you.
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The La's - There She Goes
Forget the nonsense about this being about heroin, it's just a great love song.
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Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone
A fractious relationship finally comes good in this Humbug track.
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The Killers - Dustland Fairytale
One of Brandon's more perplexing lyrics, but one of the band's most romantic.
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Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
For some reason, this encapsulates a great summer romance perfectly.
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Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight Tonight
Those strings! Marry me now!
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Kings Of Leon - On Call
Caleb is there for you. Although he doesn't seem to happy about it...
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The Kooks - Naive
Sounds like a tricky relationship about to kick off.
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Arctic Monkeys - 505
Lusty, longing thoughts from Alex Turner in a mystery hotel room.
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The Cardigans - Lovefool
Sometimes love makes you silly, yes.
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Muse - Starlight
Muse's most delicate moment…
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Razorlight - I Can't Stop This Feeling I've Got
Calm down, Johnny! Have a cold shower or something.
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Snow Patrol - Run
Others may try to ruin it, but this is still a classic.
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Kings Of Leon - Pyro
For when you don't want to go there, but you have to.
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Bloc Party - Two More Years
Pure emotional angst from Kele. It'll be better soon, honest.
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Jeff Buckley - Grace
The most romantic voice ever?
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The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl
It bears repeating.
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Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine?
"I guess what I'm trying to say is I need the deep end / Keep imagining meeting, wished away entire lifetimes / Unfair we're not somewhere misbehaving for days."
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Ben Howard - Only Love
"And I'll be yours to keep / A wind in the shadow, a whale song in the deep."
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Vance Joy - Riptide
"I swear she's destined for the screen / Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you've ever seen, oh."
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Wolf Alice - Don’t Delete The Kisses
“Me and you were meant to be in love,” sings Ellie Rowsell in this shy and wistful pledge of love. “I look at your picture and I smile / How awful's that? I'm like a teenage girl / I might as well write all over my notebook.”
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The xx - Say Something Loving
“You say something loving / It's so overwhelming, the thrill of affection / Feels so unfamiliar.”
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Viola Beach - Boys That Sing
“And she told me that she loves a boy who knows how to sing / So I learnt how to sing.”
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The Stone Roses - Waterfall
“She’ll carry on through it all - she’s a waterfall.”
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The Cure - Just Like Heaven
A magical night for Robert Smith, kept for posterity as this classic 1987 song.
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Pulp - Something Changed
“Do you believe that there's someone up above? And does he have a timetable directing acts of love?” Jarvis Cocker does.
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Bon Iver - Skinny Love
"In the morning I'll be with you / But it will be a different kind." Justin Vernon rings the changes.
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Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've?)
Because sometimes you shouldn't go there.
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Aqualung - Strange And Beautiful
The best-known song from Matt Hales and star of an advert.
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New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
“Every time I see you falling / I get down on my knees and pray / I'm waiting for that final moment/You'll say the words that I can't say.”
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The Jam - English Rose
The gentler sound of young Mr Weller.
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Damien Rice - I Don't Want To Change You
"Wherever you are / Well, know that I adore you / No matter how far / Well, I can go before you / And if ever you need someone / Well, not that you need helping / But if ever you want someone / I know that I am willing."
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Arctic Monkeys - She Looks Like Fun
“Finally, I can share with you through cloudy skies / Every whimsical thought that enters my mind / There's no limit to the length of the dickheads we can be.”
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Peace - Lovesick
"I don’t wanna go to school / I don’t wanna take the call / I just wanna be a fool and get lovesick with you / I don’t wanna move my head, lay around and die in bed."
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R.E.M. - The One I Love
What a lovely sentiment. Or is it?
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The Smiths - Back To The Old House
Morrissey’s most devastating lines: “And you never knew / How much I really liked you / Because I never even told you / Oh, and I meant to.”
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Gerry Cinnamon - Belter
“She plays with lightning / I’m a hundred miles high / Dishing out the thunder/ Like a God inside the sky.”
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The Lumineers - Ho Hey
“I belong with you, you belong with me, you’re my sweetheart”
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Bloc Party - This Modern Love
"You told me you wanted to eat up my sadness / Well jump on, enjoy, you can gorge away..."
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Blossoms - Blown Rose
“I’m aching with you / We're breaking, I plead / Don't go easily my love.”
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Tom Odell - Grow Old With Me
"Grow old with me / Let us share what we see / And oh the best it could be / Just you and I..."
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Arctic Monkeys - Baby I’m Yours
“Baby, I'm yours / And I'll be yours until the stars fall from the sky / Yours until the rivers all run dry / In other words, until I die.”
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Elbow - One Day Like This
“Kiss me like a final meal / Yeah, kiss me like we die tonight…”
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Ben Folds - The Luckiest
“Now I know all the wrong turns the stumbles / And falls brought me here / And where was I before the day / That I first saw your lovely face / Now I see it every day / And I know that I am, I am, I am, the luckiest.”
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Weezer - Only In Dreams
“You can't avoid her / She's in the air / In between molecules of / Oxygen and carbon dioxide.”
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The Fratellis - Whistle For The Choir
“You're so sweet to try, oh my, you caught my eye / A girl like you's just irresistible.”
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Radiohead - All I Need
"I am a moth who just wants to share your light / I'm just an insect trying to get out of night / I only stick with you because there are no others / You are all I need."
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MGMT - Electric Feel
“She got the current in her hand / Just shock you like you won't believe / Sun in the amazon / With the voltage running through her skin / Standing there with nothing on / She gonna teach me how to swim…”
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Embrace - Gravity
“And I looked up at the sun and I could see / Oh the way that gravity turns on you and me..”
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Alt-J - Breezeblocks
“Please don't go, I'll eat you whole / I love you so, I love you so.”