14 of the Best Hard Rock Songs About How Love Is Hard

If we've learned anything about love over the years, it's that it's a heavy subject.

It bites, it bleeds, it brings you to your knees. Whether you're too young, too fast, too big or too good-looking, love is something everybody needs—even if you don't know what it is and want someone to show you. 

The point is whether it's good or bad, love is hard. And love inspires an awful lot of music, including some of the biggest songs by some of our favorite hard rocking bands.  

The following 14 songs are in no particular order because we love them equally and hope you do too!

Def Leppard - "Love Bites"

Def Leppard is sometimes described as the Nickelback of the '80s, which is maybe a little too harsh, but give them credit for this song. "Love Bites" is pretty much sums up everything you feel during a break up. It's poetic in its lack of pretense, and you gotta admit that riff in the chorus is as tasty as any chocolate-covered strawberry!

Bad Company - "Feel Like Making Love"

"Feel Like Making Love" is basically one of the sexiest rock songs of all time. You can practically hear Paul Rodgers' chest hair bristling through his shirt as he delivers the lyrics in that majestic voice of his. 

AC/DC - "You Shook Me All Night Long"

Perhaps no band before or since AC/DC embraced the double-entendre quite like they did. "You Shoot Me All Night Long" is full of subversively sexual lyrics that most kids don't get until they're not kids anymore. 

But besides the subliminal messages at place, this song is actually pretty sweet when you think about it. 

Guns N' Roses - "Sweet Child O' Mine"

If you've ever worked at a music store, you no doubt hate "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses because of that damn ear worm of an intro that everybody seems to play when they pick up a Les Paul. Even Slash admits he's grown tired of the song at points in his life. 

But if you strip away the fact that you probably never want to hear "Sweet Child O' Mine" ever again, you can admit it's a truly beautiful song in all respects. Whether is the heartfelt lyrics or Duff McKagan's melodious bass line, this one checks all the boxes. 

Mötley Crüe - "Too Fast For Love"

What is this song about? Not really sure, but considering it's a Mötley Crüe song, it's probably about sex. Crüe had a funny way of setting rules in its sogns, "Too Fast For Love," "Too Young to Fall in Love," "10 Seconds to Love," "This Ain't a Love Song" and so on.

Led Zeppelin - "The Lemon Song"

Speaking of double-entendres, this song is one of the less tactful examples, and also doesn't really paint a very pleasing picture. What is the titular lemon supposed to be? And if it is what we think it is, is squeezing it really the best way to go about this whole thing? 

The more I think about it, the more I regret bringing it up. Probably should have just used "Whole Lotta Love" as an example here, but I was trying to dig deeper for Zeppelin. There's no turning back now.

Aerosmith - "Love In An Elevator"

Something like 20 percent of marriages are between couples who met at work (or school), so it's only right that some band tap into the tricky dynamics of lusting after a co-worker. Aerosmith did that with one of the most famous songs about having an affair, "Love In An Elevator."

Unfortunately, Aerosmith never wrote a song about when HR finds out. 

Extreme - "More Than Words"

Let's put it this way: "More Than Words" was such a good song, it nearly ruined Extreme's career. The Boston-based hard rock band stuck the ballad on its 1990 album, Pornograffitti, right after a song Queen's Brian May says contains the greatest guitar solo he's ever heard.

The stripped-down acoustic ballad is about how the phrase "I love you" loses its meaning when it's used too often among too many people.

Scorpions - "Still Loving You"

Scorpions could write a hard rock ballad with the best of them. Some say they keep writing the same one over and over, but it's still a goodie! "Still Loving You" is all the passionate, anthemic, arena-rock you could ever want in a tune to blast from a boombox towards your crush's bedroom window. 

Queen - "Somebody To Love"

Queen has so many incredible love songs, it was hard to figure out which one to include on this list. I went with "Somebody To Love," it could have easily been "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "Love of My Life," "Play the Game," "You're My Best Friend," "One Year of Love" and on and on and on. 

The Beatles - "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"

While the Beatles weren't a hard rock band, their influence on rockers of all degrees can't be understated. "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is a favorite cover target of rock or soul bands thanks to its slow triplet groove and intense vocals, which leave plenty of room for embellishment.  

Foreigner - "I Want to Know What Love Is"

Another in a long line of hits  by Foreigner, "I Want to Know What Love Is" is a great song for anyone who has trouble expressing their feelings. 

Skid Row - "I Remember You"

No one could tear up a ballad with equal parts talent and goofball charm than Sebastian Bach. "I Remember You" is a beautiful, positive song about how the relationships we have as young people shape who we are. It's a break-up song with no hard feelings. Good for anyone who's recently single on Valentine's Day and could use a good cry. 

Heart - "Crazy On You"

For the last song on our list, we're going with one about how we'd all like to end Valentine's Day...

What's your favorite hard rock love song? Let us know in the comments!


Photo: Getty Images


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