Learning Life's Lessons Through Love Songs
Love songs can be educational for all ages including children because the best written ballads can teach people about relationships. It's interesting that almost all the top selling recording artists of all time have had huge number one hits that were beautiful love songs. Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender" and "How Deep Is Your Love" by The Bee Gees are a few of the most popular love songs of all time.
Suitable Ballads for Children
Even though ballads are thought of as soft and easy songs, sometimes lyrics about adult relationships may not be suitable for children. Many love songs, however, are intended to convey emotion about a relationship, which are some of the best songs to consider teaching children. There are also many songs that focus more on the concept of love than one on one relationships, such as "All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles and "What A Wonderful World" sung by Louis Armstrong.
Some of the most powerful love songs are used for first dances at weddings. Popular songs for the first dance as a married couple includes "Could I Have This Dance (For the Rest of My Life)" by Anne Murray, "True Love Ways" by Buddy Holly, "We've Only Just Begun" by The Carpenters and "Endless Love" by Diana Ross Lionel Richie. It's amazing how such moving songs have endless popularity years and even decades after their release. Some of the most touching love songs that describe the power and happiness that love can bring include "The Rose" by Better Midler and "Evergreen" by Barbra Streisand. However, due to the sophisticated and wide melodic range of the Streisand hit, learning the song requires a lot of vocal practice.
Disney Love Songs
Some of the best love songs for young people come from Disney motion pictures made for children such as Cinderella and The Lion King. The song "The Sweetest Sounds" was used in the former and was written by one of the most successful songwriters of all time, Richard Rodgers of the team Rodgers and Hammerstein. It was originally written for the 1962 Broadway musical No Strings and covered in 1964 by Andy Williams. Whitney Houston recorded the song in 1997 for the movie Cinderella, in which she starred.The song is about how love is waiting somewhere for the storyteller.
From The Lion King soundtrack came the Elton John hit ballad "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" in 1994. The lyrics were written by Tim Rice, set to music by Elton John and in 1994 it won an Oscar for "Best Original Song" and a Grammy for "Best Male Pop Vocal." Elton John's version played over the closing credits while another version was recorded by voice actors for the animated lion sweethearts since childhood, Simba and Nala. Rice wrote other movie themes with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Elton's recording featured backing vocals from Kiki Dee, who recorded one of the most loved duets of all time with Elton John called "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart."
Bugs Have Feelings Too
Many times it takes children to remind us that other living creatures have feelings, which comes out in their reactions to cartoons and cute stories about animals and even insects. That's why the nursery rhyme "Fiddle Dee Dee" is a fun song for kids. It's about a fly who marries a bumble bee. Featured in the 1949 film It's A Great Feeling, the lyrics were written by Sammy Cahn while the music was composed by Jule Stein, who wrote or collaborated on many Broadway scores and 20th century classics, including the Christmas tune "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"