The Art of a Love Song
First dance songs are usually love songs.
Love is the most powerful force on earth. It is the very lifeblood of a marriage, which is why a love song is such a good choice for your first dance.
As a professional wedding DJ, I really appreciate the craftsmanship of good love songs. There are many that are used by brides and grooms throughout the country all the time. The best are timeless, because they integrate a powerful lyric with a lovey melody.
Let’s use as an example a song you know whose melody was written way back in 1784 by a French guy named Jean-Paul-Egide Martini. The name of Monsieur Martini’s song was “Plaisir d’amour” (or in English, “The Pleasure of Love.”)
Listen to the embellished melody as performed by The Piano Guy’s Jon Schmidt:
Powerful lyrics define great first dance songs.
Some 177 years later, three American songwriters stumbled upon this tune and penned their own lyrics in a song they titled, “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” The writers, Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David, penned a particularly strong lyric with an opening line that touches upon the sacrificial nature of authentic love:
“Wise men say only fools rush in,
But I can’t help falling in love with you.”
One can’t help but think of the first responders at Ground Zero who rushed in to the burning Twin Towers. That’s what defines true love, sacrifice, and this song touches upon this potent force of nature.
The lyric concludes with astonishing impact in its simplicity:
“Take my hand, take my whole life, too,
For I can’t help falling in love with you,
For I can’t help falling in love with you.”
This line defines marriage, as two people give their lives to the other, just as it demonstrates the impact of a timeless love song: great lyric and great melody.
Listen to various artists make this song their own.
As a DJ, I marvel at the way top vocal artists make a love song their own. For example, listen to what the great Andrea Bocelli does with this song:
For a completely different take, here is how a group called ‘twenty one pilots’ performs the song, complete with ukulele as the main instrumental accompaniment!
The English group, UB40, gives it an irresistible reggae beat:
If you think you’ve heard it all, you haven’t. Listen to what Haley Reinhart of America Idol fame does with the song. Is this first dance material or what!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZeU7S2xKpA
Can it get any better than this? Well, 8 million people say yes! More than that many have listened to Michael Bublé’s silky smooth rendition on YouTube:
Am I missing anyone? Oh, there was this guy named Elvis who popularized the song in 1961. Some 22 million people have listened to his classic version on YouTube. Here’s what the fuss is all about:
There are a lot of other good first dance songs, and in fact, we wrote another blogpost on the subject called, “Top Ten Classic Songs for Your First Dance.” Check it out!
Why does Crestline Entertainment love entertaining at weddings like yours? Because we can play the music you want to hear sung by the artists you want to hear. We offer a mammoth song list so you can select the versions of your favorite songs you love most.
Even more, we can MC your event with the grace and timing honed by years of experience, so you can simply be “in the moment” on your wedding day and revel in the beauty of falling in love.
