Hawaii Romance Festival | Most Romantic Songs

These 20 songs were selected by a survey of over 100 music industry professionals, including songwriters, publishers, producers, vocalists and journalists. The poll is held annually in order to add 20 more songs to each year’s Hawaii Romance Festival.

Sheet Music	SONG TITLE/INFORMATION
	“(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” is a 1967 single released by American soul singer Aretha Franklin on the Atlantic label. The song, co-written by the celebrated songwriting-producing team of Carole King and Gerry Goffin, was a big hit for Franklin (reaching number #8 on the Billboard Hot 100) and became a standard song for her. It was recorded by Carole King on her landmark 1971 album Tapestry, and by Mary J. Blige, whose 1995 version, from the soundtrack of New York Undercover, also charted. Rod Stewart did a version, entitled “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Man” for his album Smiler. Céline Dion also recorded this in 1995 for the Tapestry Revisited album.
	“All the Way” is a song written by Jimmy Van Heusen, the lyrics by Sammy Cahn. The song was published in 1957 by Maraville Music Corp and was introduced by Frank Sinatra in the movie The Joker Is Wild where it won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Sinatra also had the best-selling recorded version of the song.
	“Always on My Mind” is a song originally recorded by Brenda Lee and released on June 12, 1972, with music and lyrics by Johnny Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson Thompson. Elvis Presley’s version reached number 16 on Billboard magazine’s Hot Country Singles chart in 1972. The song was also recorded by Willie Nelson. Released in the spring of 1982, the song raced to number one on Billboard magazine’s Hot Country Singles chart that May, spending two weeks atop the chart. The song also did very well on Top 40 radio, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
	“At Last” is a 1941 song written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren and first performed by Glenn Miller. Although the song was a major hit for Miller, it was largely forgotten until it was covered by blues singer Etta James. James was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, for her rendition of “At Last.” The song became James’ signature song and was the third in a string of successful songs from her Chess Records debut album At Last!. Upon the song’s release in April 1961, it became her second number-two R&B hit and crossed over to pop radio, reaching number forty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100.
	“Fly Me to the Moon” is a pop standard song written by Bart Howard in 1954. It was first recorded in 1954 by Kaye Ballard, and released by Decca Records as catalog number 29114. In 1956, it was recorded by Portia Nelson for her album, Let Me Love You. The same year, Johnny Mathis recorded the song, this was the first time the title “Fly Me to the Moon” appeared on a record label. In 1962, an instrumental version was recorded as “Fly Me to the Moon – Bossa Nova” by Joe Harnell, which became the biggest chart hit version of the song, reaching #14 on the U.S. pop singles charts. Frank Sinatra recorded the song on his 1964 album It Might as Well Be Swing, accompanied by Count Basie, in an arrangement by Quincy Jones. This became the rendition with which many people identify the song with.
	“How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” is a song composed by Michel Legrand, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman for the 1982 film Best Friends, where it was introduced by Patti Austin and James Ingram. It was one of three songs with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 55th Academy Awards.
	“I Say a Little Prayer” is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick in 1967. The song was Warwick's second single from her Scepter Records album The Windows Of The World, following the LP’s title track. The tune reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1967 and was a certified million seller by the RIAA. The single later appeared on the LP Dionne Warwick's Golden Hits, Part Two and is considered one of Warwick's signature songs.
	“I Will Always Love You” is a song written and originally performed by American country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton (first released as a single in 1974) and then most famously recorded by American pop/R&B singer Whitney Houston.
	“I've Got a Crush on You” is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It is unique among Gershwin compositions in that it was used for two different Broadway productions, Treasure Girl (1928), and Strike Up the Band (1930).
	“I've Got You Under My Skin”is a song written by Cole Porter. It became a signature song for Frank Sinatra, and became a top 10 hit for The Four Seasons in 1966. It has also been recorded by Steve Barton, Michael Bolton, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, Dinah Washington, Michael Bublé, James Darren, Cesare Siepi, Al Bowlly, Neneh Cherry, and many others. Written in 1936, it was introduced in the Eleanor Powell MGM musical, Born to Dance, in which it was performed by Virginia Bruce. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song that year.
	“In the Wee Small Hours” is a music piece written by David Mann, the lyrics by Bob Hilliard . The song was recorded by Frank Sinatra on February 17, 1955, and published in 1955 as the lead track on Sinatra’s album In the Wee Small Hours.
	“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” is a 1957 folk song written by Ewan MacColl for his wife, Peggy Seeger. It was popularized by Roberta Flack and became a breakout hit for the singer after it appeared in the film Play Misty for Me. Though the song first appeared on Flack’s 1969 album First Take, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 and won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year three years later.
	“The Very Thought of You” is a pop standard published in 1934, with music and lyrics by Ray Noble. In addition to Noble’s own hit recording of the song with his orchestra, featuring the vocals of Al Bowlly, there was also a popular version recorded that same year by Bing Crosby. A decade later, the song was on the charts again in a version by Vaughn Monroe. Doris Day sang the song in the 1950 movie Young Man with a Horn, a fictional tale partly based on the life of early jazz trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke. In 1961, “The Very Thought of You” was on the charts again in a rhythm & blues version recorded by Little Willie John, and three years later a rock and roll version by Ricky Nelson reached #19 on the Billboard chart.
	“The Way We Were” is the title song to the 1973 movie The Way We Were, starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. The song was written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman; and scored by Marvin Hamlisch. Barbra Streisand is best known for singing “The Way We Were” and her version is the one used for the movie. The song won the Academy Award for Best Song. It also made AFI's list of top 100 songs from film; it was ranked number eight.
	“Till There Was You” is a song written by Meredith Willson for his 1957 musical play The Music Man, and which also appeared in the 1962 movie version. Promotional copies of the 45 rpm single, Capitol P3847, were released on November 26th, 1957, even before the Broadway production had premiered on December 19th. Produced by Nelson Riddle, it featured his orchestra and 17-year-old vocalist Sue Raney. In 1959, Anita Bryant recorded a single, which reached #30 on the Billboard Hot 100; a 1962 instrumental version by Valjean was also popular. The Beatles’ version was included on their albums With the Beatles (UK Release, 1963), Meet the Beatles (US Release, 1964).
	“Time After Time” is a jazz standard written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne. It appeared in the 1947 movie It Happened in Brooklyn and has been recorded by many artists, including Frank Sinatra, Harry Connick Jr., The Isley Brothers, Connie Francis, Carly Simon and The Temptations.
	“Unforgettable” is a popular song written by Irving Gordon. The song was published in 1951. The most popular version of the song was recorded by Nat King Cole in 1951, with the famous arrangement written by Nelson Riddle. Forty years later, after his death, the recording was edited to create a duet with his daughter, Natalie, which won three awards at the Grammy Awards of 1992: Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance.
	“We’ve Only Just Begun” is The Carpenters’ signature song. Although it was recorded in early 1970, it is still much in demand as a wedding anthem. Written by the songwriting team of Roger Nichols (music) and Paul Williams (lyrics), the song originally debuted in a commercial for Crocker Citizens Bank in California in 1970, with Williams providing the vocals. It is ranked #405 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
	“What a Wonderful World” is a song by Bob Thiele (using the pseudonym George Douglas) and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released as a single in early fall 1967, and was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. The song was not initially a hit in the United States, where it sold fewer than 1,000 copies, but was a major success in the UK, reaching number one on the UK singles chart. It was also the biggest-selling single of 1968 in the UK. The song made Louis Armstrong the oldest male to top the charts, at sixty-six years and ten months old.
	“Wind Beneath My Wings” is a number-one single by Bette Midler from the soundtrack of the film Beaches. It was named Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards of 1990. Written by Larry Henley and Jeff Silbar, the song has also been recorded by Sheena Easton, B.J. Thomas, Perry Como, Lee Greenwood, Willie Nelson, Kiki Carter, Nana Mouskouri, Sonata Arctica, Judy Collins, Colleen Hewett, Kris Shay and many others.

View 2007’s Most Romantic Picks