For Valentine’s Day this year, we asked WUWM staff to share the love songs that pull at their heartstrings, spark memories and simply make them feel good. Lake Effect’s Xcaret Nuñez brings you the mixtape.
"Forever" is off my favorite Charli XCX album called, how i'm feeling now, which she completely produced in about a month during the COVID-19 lockdown. My current partner and I had been dating for about six months when the song came out, but we were dating long distance at the time. And this was one of the first songs we dedicated to each other, and ended up playing often on our radio show together when we were DJs in college. So, this song makes me feel really nostalgic about developing my first love, and I love how we've adapted this song to feel like it's our own. We still love jamming out to it whenever it comes on.
– Xcaret Nuñez, Lake Effect producer
"So Amazing" by Luther Vandross
Luther is the master of the love song, number one. I could have picked many from him, but the reason I like this one is his vocals are so pure on it. He can do runs, he can do all kinds of vocal acrobatics, but the way he sings this song is really pure, and it's not really even so much about the words. Every time I hear this song, I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but a single tear will run down my face. And I don't even realize it's happening until it happens. So, there's just something about the song that hits me really deep inside every time I hear it, and that's why it's my favorite.
– Lauri Jones, operations director and Here & Now host
"How Can You Live If You Can’t Love How Can If You Do" by Wednesday
The title of this song is actually pulled from a quote from James Baldwin's novel Another Country, and the song speaks on the paradox of love and how it both sustains us and makes us so happy, but also challenges us. And I like that, because love isn't always cliche and grandiose and so perfect and pure and nice. Love is imperfect, and it does challenge us. I like this song because the lyrics feel very everyday to me, even the way that the singer sings. Nothing is showy, it seems very authentic and real, and that's why I like it.
– Erin Bagatta, community engagement and audience development coordinator
Doris Day is just an amazing singer to begin with. So, that stands out because she just does such a great job. But the song itself has so many things that happen after the film. [The song] really cemented Doris Day as a gay icon, because at the time the film was released, most people kept their crushes secret, and this song became an anthem for the LGBTQ+ community. After this song came out, it also sold a million copies. It reached number one on the Billboard chart. It also won the 1954 Oscar for Best Original Song and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
I first saw the film [Calamity Jane] on a whim… and we just became obsessed with the movie. It just was a nice, light, time in such a weird, uncertain time, because [we watched this] during COVID. So for me, it's the love of friendship that you can experience. This song, for me, is connected to that… So I just think so fondly of watching this film with my friend and just being blown away by it… So anytime I need a boost, I just queue up “Secret Love.”
– Audrey Nowakowski, Lake Effect co-host and producer
"I Choose You (Acoustic)" by Kiana Ledé
There is a pure nostalgia aspect to [loving this song]. My wife actually showed it to me, and it was a song that we used in our wedding ceremony and something that we used in our wedding video. When we were going through the process of planning the wedding, as soon as I hear it, it just sends me back to a really magical time in our lives. Aside from just the pure nostalgia, another thing that I like about it, that I really resonate with, is the central message of the song. I think that love is certainly an emotion and it's an experience. I think there's a lot of power in that. But also, I do fundamentally believe that love, ultimately, is a choice. When we talk about the love that endures all things, conquers all and is the most powerful force in existence, you have to make a conscious decision to continue to love yourself. To continue to love your partner, to continue to love the people around you and your family. So, that's one of the reasons why it really speaks to me.
– Rob Larry, All Things Considered host and digital producer
The harmonies [in this song] literally make me melt… D’Angelo’s voice, the falsettos, that he can get to somebody harmonizing with him, and then the super slick piano chord at the end. It's so smooth. It's so sexy. It's just an amazing song. I kind of rediscovered [this song] just this past year, and played it probably more than 100 or 200 times during the election season. I love the lines “I love it when we're cruising together. The music is played for love. Cruisin' is made for love,” et cetera, et cetera. And interestingly, Smokey Robinson, the Motown great, did the original version of this song. It was written in 1979 and in the book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Story Behind the Song, he was asked what “Cruisin’” means to him, and his answer is always the same, “whatever you want it to be.” And I totally love that, because you can just groove out to this song. It doesn't have to be about love or romantic love, but it can be whatever you want, and the lyrics just hit you. They make you melt.
– Maayan Silver, General Assignment Reporter
WUWM’s Valentine’s Day 2025 mixtape
