These Songs Will Make Every Romantic Swoon

The actual dating world may be harsh, but the world at large loves to cater to the hopelessly romantic among us via Ryan Gosling movies, Nicholas Sparks novels and yes, cheesy love songs. Ignoring the obvious problems with the way women are raised to pine for their Prince Charming, you have to admit: love really is a many-splendored thing. From the butterflies in your stomach when you meet someone new, the goosebumps that pop up the first time they touch you, romance is fantastic. And there's perhaps no better way to fully submerse yourself in that feeling than with the dreamiest love songs you can find.

Love — falling in and out of it, finding it where you least expect it, looking for it in the wrong places — has been the inspiration for art in all its forms pretty much since the beginning of time. But no medium is better suited to expressing the complexities of the emotion than music, hands down. There are plenty of songs that document the sad parts of love, but we're not here to talk about that. These songs are for the hopeless romantics and they express the wonderful emotions that can come along with giving yourself to another person.

Katy Perry, "Teenage Dream"

Since we're all friends here and this is a judgment-free zone, I'll admit that I think I actually cried real tears when I heard this song for the first time. It probably sounds extra weird considering this is a fast-paced pop track, but it just made me feel so nostalgic for being young and in love for the first time. It helps that I was falling in love again when this came out, too. It's just dreamy (pun intended) and perfect.

Coldplay, "Yellow"

I'm sure lots of girls grow up fantasizing about some guy writing them a love song one day, and whoever the lucky girl was that inspired "Yellow", she got her wish. You know you've got it good when a guy thinks the stars in the sky shine just for you. Sigh!

Beyonce, "Drunk In Love"

Bey & Jay have been together for years, and they're still as hot for each other as they ever were. I think that's something all couples should aspire to, even if we don't get quite as wild as they do. But now that I'm saying that, maybe we should aspire to get wilder, too.

Drake, "Hold On, We're Going Home"

Katy Perry once said this is the perfect song to make out to, and she's totally right. The beat is great, Drake's voice is delicious and it's just totally the kind of song that makes you want to get close to someone sexy.

Snow Patrol, "Chasing Cars"

An absolute classic, and one that I hesitate to say too much about. It's legendary and needs no explanation.

Florence + The Machine, "Howl"

Falling in love can be messy and make you feel completely crazy in the most maddening way. Florence Welch captures the beast that love creates in all of us, especially when it's new, and she does it perfectly.

Adele, "Make You Feel My Love"

This might be a cover, but that doesn't matter. Adele's voice is beautiful and heartbreaking and could make you cry just singing the phone book, so taking on such a blissfully sappy song like this just makes it even better.

Ben Howard, "Only Love"

I'm not sure if this song (or Ben Howard) ever made it over to the US, but it was massive when I was living in the UK and that's because it's great. I love when guys with guitars get all sentimental. What can I say? I'm a sucker!

Ellie Goulding, "Starry Eyed"

Ellie manages to nail down that frantic butterfly feeling perfectly both lyrically and with the beat of "Starry Eyed" and even all these years later, it's still one of my favorites.

Image: Getty Images