5 Love Songs From The '80s That Sound Even More Emotional Today

The 1980s featured a barrage of new sounds, artists, and nearly too many hits to remember. Rock tunes blasted to new heights, pop found new life, and genres like R&B and hip-hop began to flourish. But across all types of music, what thrived were the love songs.

Lots of love songs top the charts every year, but the ones that remain are the ones that offer some kind of unique value: a perspective, a songwriting style, a complex detail of this most complex feeling. The tracks here weren't just atop the charts, but have found longevity with fans to this day due to their captivating arrangements, catchy vocals, and, of course, emotional lyrics, among more.

In this list, we've mixed a number of classic tunes with all different themes, sounds, and styles. These songs all evoke something special and unique in how they approach love, and are still as catchy and emotional as the day they were released. Whether you're looking for a classic pretty love ballad, a more desperate cry of longing, or something smooth and suave, we've gathered these five songs from the 1980s that have aged impressively and hold up as timeless expressions of love.

The British indie rockers delivered a number of hits over the years, with each of their albums being released during the '80s before their 1987 breakup, and the tender and often-desperate lyrics of frontman Morrissey made for a number of classic love songs. "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" is the most popular for good reason. The track begins wistful and young, "Driving in your car / Oh, please don't drop me home," and continues in its bewitched desperation throughout its runtime.

The track never charted particularly high, but has found longevity with a 2x platinum certification in the UK and over 1 billion streams on Spotify alone. The most famous lyrics of the song lead off its chorus, and capture the essence of the gut-wrenching cry: "And if a double-decker bus crashes into us / To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die."

"There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" is undeniably groovy as it is painful, and the secret to its success may be the seamless melding of the two. The Smiths crafted a tune endlessly catchy, gorgeously produced and played, and about as fun to sing along to as it gets.

Sade didn't reach full heights until the '90s and beyond, but the band's sophomore album, "Promise," is filled with excellent cuts, led by its opening track, "Is It a Crime," a groovy and jazzy cry of near-desperation to a lost lover.

"Is It a Crime" is arguably the strongest track in the band's stacked discography, no matter what the modern streaming numbers of other (still great) songs may tell you. Lead singer Sade Adu — just one of some '80s musicians you may have forgotten about — absolutely rocks this six-and-a-half minute track, dropping chilling vocal runs and highs that turn a simple-intended song — "Is it a crime? / That I still want you, and I want you to want me too" — into a grandiose masterpiece of raw, unfiltered emotion.

Instrumentally, the song feels very live and loose, a mark of the band's early playing, and Sade wails over the swing, "My love is wider than Victoria Lake / Taller than the Empire State / It dives, it jumps / I can't give you more than that, surely you want me back." The saxophones and keys pair perfectly with the stunning vocals, and any listener is surely left wrecked in its wake.

"Hallelujah," the classic song once rejected by Cohen's label, Colombia Records, has lived on as a complex and visceral tale of love and loss. Cohen, who wrote novels, poetry, and more in addition to his music career, is best known musically for his deep rasp and intricate lyrics in his folk and rock songs— and likely is even more known for this song in the hands of other singers, as Jeff Buckley, John Cale, and Rufus Wainwright.

"Hallelujah," Cohen's version, released in 1984 alongside his album "Various Positions," is a swinging and lush ballad featuring a backing choir, and builds up to sweeping choruses that repeat "Hallelujah." The verses too draw on biblical allusion to paint a depth of desire and need, among other interpretations.

The song's overall ambiguity paired with its poetic, vivid imagery creates a classical feel that allows the romance within to be heightened. It's a smooth listen nonetheless, with a pretty chord structure and a sensual, raw longing that make it stand out among other love songs of the era.

This smooth late '80s song was among the heights of New Edition, an R&B and pop group that helped popularize the subgenre of new jack swing. "Can You Stand The Rain" was released in 1988 with the group's fifth studio album, "Heart Break." The sound is definitively '80s, with a rich and smooth arrangement fronted by soulful vocals.

It's a simple tale of love, asking a lover if they'll stay around through tribulation, with the pre-chorus, "But I need somebody / Who will stand by me / When it's tough, she won't run / She will always be right there for me," and continuing into the chorus, "Sunny days, everybody loves them / Tell me, baby / Can you stand the rain?"

Each vocalist delivers their all, and despite the track's simple and straightforward structure, it's still compelling through its five-minute runtime. "Can You Stand The Rain" is a dramatic and lush ballad that captured something special in 1988, and it paved the way for countless other R&B acts to follow.

Among the most classic of the many hits of the '80s, "I Want to Know What Love Is" is arguably the definitive love song of the era. In this track, Foreigner captures much of what made this moment of music great: smooth synths and keys, gorgeous vocals, and a slow cinematic breakdown that feels as though the track is spinning around and around in your ears toward a grand climactic conclusion.

Released as the lead single from the band's 1984 album, "Agent Provocateur," the power ballad is simple but effective, and lets sincerity take simple lyrics into deep-felt meaning in its chorus: "I wanna know what love is / I want you to show me / I wanna feel what love is / I know you can show me."

With noticeable roots in gospel, backed in its second half by choirs, "I Want to Know What Love Is" is a powerfully evocative tune that is entrancing throughout its five-minute runtime. Rock fans everywhere may have heard it a million times, but it's worth an intentional revisit away from the radio, where it may just bring back that first-listen magic once again.