I’ve been drawn toward love songs for a long time. Mostly on the assumption they were all written about Cyndi and me. I may not agree with every lyric, but I can enjoy the song and appreciate the fact they wrote it just for us.
Paul McCartney once wrote, “There were accusations in the mid-1970s – including one from John – that I was just writing silly love songs.” Paul then went on to sing:
Some People Wanna Fill The World With Silly Love Songs.
And What’s Wrong With That?
I’d Like To Know, ‘Cause Here I Go Again
Silly love songs often describe the best parts of life; and besides, I’ve always been more McCartney than Lennon.
Cyndi and I married on July 28, 1979, so this summer is our 46th anniversary. We feel fortunate and blessed to have each other, and we want to share that with people close to us. And so, for you, here is my 2025 playlist of love songs.
This practice started in 2007, as a project for Iron Men. I collected my favorite love songs into a playlist and gave them away. Since there were always more songs to put on more lists, I kept doing it. Now, this is my 19th list. In the beginning I made CDs and gave them away, but starting in 2020 I began creating playlists on Spotify. Mostly because, as was pointed out to me, few people had CD players anymore.
Music is a deep root for Cyndi and me. We first met in a high school band hall in 1973 in Hobbs, NM – I played trombone, Cyndi played percussion. We rediscovered each other and started falling in love at a North Texas State University One O’clock Jazz Band concert featuring Bill Watrous, in Denton, TX, in 1976. We’ve been playing music together ever since – in our church orchestra, in the Midland College Jazz Band, and on several mission trips with Global Missions Project. It’s impossible for us to separate love from music.
To listen to the playlists (I have them all, back to 2007), follow this link. It’ll make me happy if you listen to them. Let me know which are your favorites. I hope at least one of them will soften your heart and push you toward your own true love.
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1 This Will Be (An Everlasting Love), Natalie Cole, 1975, … “Together forever, throughever, whatever, you and me”… Cyndi and I recently attended the O’Conner/Norris wedding, and Mr. and Mrs. (Chase and Bethany) Norris left to this song. It lit up the entire room. You could feel the air vibrating as they joyfully walked up the aisle.
2 Conga Heartbeat, 2025, … My friend Rabon used AI to compose this song, based on one of the stories (one among many) of how Cyndi and I first met. It’s scary how swinging this arrangement is. I hope you can listen to it through Spotify, but if not, write to me, I’ll send a copy of the file.
3 Dancing In the Moonlight, Bossa Nova Covers, Mats & My, 2020, … “It’s a supernatural delight, everybody was dancing in the moonlight” … After our June trip to Brazil, I couldn’t resist including a couple of bossa nova tunes. This song contains one of my favorite lyrics of all time: You can’t dance and stay uptight.
4 How Deep Is Your Love, The Bird and The Bee, 2007, … “How deep is your love?”
5 What the World Needs Now Is Love, Steve Tyrell, Burt Bacharach, Martina McBride, Rod Stewart, James Taylor, Dionne Warwick, 2018 remaster, … “What the world needs now is love, sweet love, it′s the only thing, that there’s just too little of.” … This has become our (Cyndi’s and my) favorite version of this 1965 classic Burt Bacharach/Hal David song. It may be the only pop hit to begin with a euphonium solo.
6 All I Do Is Dream of You, Michael Buble’, 2009, … “All I do is dream of you the whole night through.” We played this same arrangement in a recent jazz concert with members of the MC band, the OC band, and the UTPB band, and it’s lived in my head ever since.
7 We’re in This Love Together, Al Jarreau, 1981, … “We’re in this love together, we got the kind that lasts forever” … We used to tell our kids that all love songs were written specifically for the two of us. Especially this one, of course, since it plainly says, “like Berries on the vine, it gets sweeter all the time.”
8 Be Without You, Dave Barnes, 2020, … “Girl, I’m still learnin’ pieces of you, all these little encores that I never knew” … It often surprises me that after 46 years of marriage preceded by 2-1/2 years of dating, Cyndi and I still learn new things about each other.
9 If You Were the Rain, Stephen Day, 2016, … “I you were the rain, I’d be saying, well, I wanna play in the rain” … Thinking about rain makes me happy.
10 I Will Always Be Yours, Ben Rector, 2018, … “But no matter who I might become, or who I’ve been before, I will always be yours” … As we both continue to change year after year, I’m always yours.
11 Your Love Has Lifted Me Higher And Higher, Rita Coolidge, 1977, … “When you wrap your lovin’ arms around me, I can stand up and face the world again” … I’ve loved this song for decades; I can’t believe I never used it on one of my previous lists.
12 Our Love, Gregory Porter, 2012, … “How did we meet? This is the question of our love” … I have a collection of stories telling how we met. They are sort of mostly true.
13 Say You Love Me, Kurt Elling, 2025, … “Cause when the lovin’ starts and the lights go down, and there’s not another living soul around” … When I shrink the world down as far as it will go, I see only two people – Cyndi, and everyone else. There’s not another living soul around.
14 Swayin’ to the Music, Done Again, 2012, … “And we’re slow dancin’, swayin’ to the music, just me and my girl” … Cyndi turned me into a dancer (well, not a great one, but a lucky one).
15 Meet Me In Montana, Dan Seals & Marie Osmond, 1985, … “Won’t you meet me in Montana? I want to see the mountains in your eyes” … We joined our son Byron and daughter-in-law Angela for a week in Montana in July, and this song lived in my head the entire time. I love the line, “I want to see the mountains in your eyes.”
16 Ends of the Earth, Lord Huron, 2012, … “To the ends of the earth, would you follow me? There’s a world that was meant for our eyes to see” … Cyndi and I hope to spend adventures together for many more decades. We discovered this song from the movie soundtrack to A Walk In The Woods.
17 You Belong To Me, Ben Taylor, 2006, … “Fly the ocean in a silver plane, See the jungle when it’s wet with rain, Just remember when you’re home again, You belong to me”
18 Kiss on My List, Daryl Hall & John Oates, 1980, … “Your kiss is on my list.” … I remember well our first kiss; I realized in that moment Cyndi had been waiting for me to step up.
19 Night And Day, Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, 1970, … “Night and day, you are the one.” … Again, in honor of our trip to Brazil, here is Sergio Mendes, who introduced Brazilian bossa nova to the pop-music world.
20 Tell Her About It, Billy Joel, 1983, … “Tell her about it, tell her everything you feel, Let her know you need her, let her know how much she means” … Most of our dating life was long-distance, and in the early years I wasn’t good at telling Cyndi how I felt about her. As a result, I almost lost her. And so now, Billy Joel and I both say, “Tell her about it.” Don’t waste time making her guess. Even after all these years together … tell her about it.
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“I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32
Birthday Ride: Level 69
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