There are love songs, and then there are over-the-top romantic songs. These are three of the sappiest love songs that have ever been released, which all came out in 1978.
“You’re The One That I Want” by Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta
Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta team up for “You’re The One That I Want” for the movie Grease, starring both of them. The song is written by John Farrar.
“You’re The One That I Want” says, “I got chills, they’re multiplying / And I’m losing control / ‘Cause the power you’re supplying / It’s electrifying … You’re the one that I want / Ooh ooh ooh, honey / The one that I want / Ooh ooh ooh, honey.”
The song was a big hit for both Newton-John and Travolta. The actress once recalled how challenging it was to film the scene for Grease where the two sing this song.
“It was a hot day,” she recalls. “And I wasn’t allowed to drink because I wasn’t allowed to go to the toilet. And as they had to sew me into that outfit, it would take too long to get in and out of.”
“You Needed Me” by Anne Murray
Written by Andy Goodrum, “You Needed Me” appears on Anne Murray’s Let’s Keep It That Way album. A No. 1 hit for Murray, she reveals she almost let the song get away.
“It was in a box,” Murray tells American Songwriter. “I was listening to a lot of songs, and it ended up in a box that said, ‘Listen to again,’ a small box. And so, when I started listening again to these few songs that I had put aside, I had to sit down when I heard them. How could I have so casually set that aside? … When I listened, I went, ‘Oh my God.’ I tucked it under my arm, and I put a hold on this song. I couldn’t believe my good fortune.”
The sweet song says, “You gave me strength to stand alone again / To face the world out on my own again / You put me high upon a pedestal / So high that I could almost see eternity / You needed me, you needed me.”
“Too Much Heaven” by the Bee Gees
The Bee Gees had a two-week No. 1 hit with “Too Much Heaven”. The song is written by band members and brothers Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, and Maurice Gibb. It appears on their Spirits Having Flown record.
“Too Much Heaven” says, “I can see a new tomorrow / Everything we are will never die / Loving’s such a beautiful thing / When you are to me, the light above / Made for all to see our precious love.”
On Barry Gibb’s 2021 Greenfields album is a version of this song, sung with Alison Krauss.
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