This essay first appeared in the NPR Music newsletter. Sign up for early access to articles like this one, listening recommendations and more. I love the word "heartthrob." It stops you whether you ...

If you look at the Top 10 songs on the Billboard charts, odds are you’ll find nary a love song. Tracks about heartbreak, friendship and self-empowerment abound, but straightforward ballads about ...

The universal language of music has united generations of lovers since the beginning of time. Falling in and out of love, grasping at unrequited love, mourning love lost and succumbing to deep love ...

Logan Becker loves his song — it was written just for him. Logan has a rare connective tissue disorder, and in 2020, when he was 9, he received his personalized, upbeat anthem from the Songs of Love ...