Ten Love Songs by Denver Musicians, From the Sweet to the Creepy

Trigger warning: Below is a list of ten excellent love songs by Denver musicians, past and present. So if you live here, you may have had your heart broken by one of these people at some point in your life. In fact, one of these songs may even be about you. Denver's a small town; proceed accordingly. And on that note, Happy Valentine's Day!



Christie Front Drive, "Valentine"
Denver's legendary emo outfit Christie Front Drive didn't last that long in the mid-'90s, but that didn't stop it from influencing hundreds of bands — up to and including a group it once did a split single with, Jimmy Eat World. Songs like "Valentine" are the reason why. Released in 1996, the song is all smoldering buildup, a romantic mantra whose only lyrics are "It's in my soul / It's in my heart," chanted until the whole thing gorgeously unravels. Richter now lives in New York and has a new project called Suburban Eyes, which already promises to be a pretty heart-rending affair.



Dzirae Gold, "Dance Monkey"
Haven't we all felt like puppets at one point or another in a relationship? Denver singer-songwriter Dzirae Gold makes that point hypnotically with the gauzy R&B of "Dance Monkey." The video says it all: She and drummer Sebastian Garcia take turns being made up as a marionette while the other pulls the strings, singing: "Move for me, move for me, move for me / And when you're done, I'll make you do it all again." Which is kind what we all want and what we all fear, depending on how you read it.



Firefall, "Just Remember I Love You"
Boulder's own classic-rock hero Jock Bartley has kept Firefall going since the band's formation in 1974, mostly thanks to the enduring greatness of a string of soft-rock hits in the '70s. Of those lovelorn anthems, 1977's "Just Remember I Love You" remains the most soaring and swoon-worthy. In it, Firefall's former frontman Rick Roberts gently, sensitively reminds his lover that, well, love makes everything better. It's about as deep as a Hallmark card, but then again, sometimes that's all you need.



The Fluid, "Our Love Will Still Be There"
In the mid-'80s, the Fluid started mixing punk, glam, garage rock and what was soon to become known as grunge. The group wound up recording for Sub Pop and even releasing a split single with Nirvana. But the Fluid was never quite a grunge band, and that's extra evident on its cover of "Our Love Will Still Be There." Originally recorded by the Troggs in 1966, it's a paean to everlasting togetherness that's apocalyptic and bubblegummy at the same time. The Fluid's entire catalog was given the deluxe reissue treatment by Sub Pop last year, so it's the perfect time to fall in love (or renew your vows) with one of Denver's most ass-kicking musical exports.



John Denver, "Annie's Song"
John Denver's heart-on-sleeve ditties were never accused of trafficking in subtext, and that's definitely the case with "Annie's Song." The smooth, sweet hit from 1974 was written for and about his wife, whose name was — wait for it — Annie. Denver doesn't bother messing around with subtle poetic allusion; he just spills his guts out to his lady love in the plainest language and most beautiful melodies. "Annie's Song" is as dorky and sappy as love jams come, and that's exactly why we adore it.



Midwife, "Vanessa"
Love songs don't have to be happy, of course. But when they're downright eerie, that's a whole other vibe. Under the artistic guise of Midwife, Denver's Madeline Johnston has become internationally renowned for her murky, melancholic dirges. She doesn't change that formula one bit on "Vanessa." Ghostly to the point of ghastliness, Johnston intones, "I knew that I would always love you / And I always knew that you’d run." Sounds kind of innocently glum, right? Only the way she whispers the words, it feels like she's singing them while standing over this poor Vanessa person's body with a dripping knife.



The Milk Blossoms, "Dancing"
It's not always easy to immediately understand what Harmony Rose, the creative mastermind behind the Milk Blossoms, is singing about. That's the way it should be. Most of her lyrics are as enchantingly ethereal as her music, although she does hit the heartbreak nail on the head with a delicious waltz titled 'Dancing." In a rare show of total straightforwardness, Rose recalls a dreamy date at a beachside boardwalk, beginning with a daybreak embrace and ending with a turn of a house key — and presumably a full-circle return to bed.



Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, "A Little Honey"
"I'm so lonely, feeling heavy love," sings Nathaniel Rateliff on the simultaneously tender and funky "A Little Honey." Rather than being another of the raucous rave-ups that he and his Night Sweats are known for, the song is a mid-tempo soul banger bursting at the seams with brokenhearted yearning. And those horns? Where the Night Sweats' brass-and-reeds players usually punctuates Rateliff's party-time marching orders, here they carry him aloft on a swaying tide of drunken love.



Ron Miles, "Dancing Close and Slow"
When Ron Miles died in 2022 at the age of 58, Denver lost one of its defining jazz voices — and so did the entire world. Miles had long earlier broken out into the jazz universe at large, yet in many ways, it felt like he was just getting started. On his 2014 song "Dance Close and Slow," an original composition featuring his longtime trio partners of guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Brian Blade, he redefines the sensation known as sultry. With lingering melodic lines and a waltzy sway, the song swings like the hips of a couple in the throes of unrushed seduction. Who needs lyrics when the music is this steamy?



Suitable Miss, "All We Could Have Been"
There's a thin line between love and hate — and the same goes for romance and regret. Suitable Miss sits at the top of the heap of Denver's pop-punk renaissance, and as with all the best pop-punk, the group's sugary love songs exist with a twist of bitterness. Leader Sarah Perez isn't just brushing off someone who did her heart wrong, though; she's aiming that regret right back at herself: "I hate my selfish heart / I'll never let you in." It may not be the rosiest of Valentine's, but it's a dose of hard-knock reality that makes the quest for true love feel that much more epic.