Love and Marriage

Songs idealizing marriage — if sometimes only fleetingly or implicitly — used to be pretty common in popular music, even in '60s rock. I am insufficiently up-to-date to know whether that's still the case, but here are some old examples, with a bonus or two at the bottom of the post. (Happy anniversary, Linda, a few days early.)

"Wedding bells are going to chime":

"Some day my name and hers are going to be the same":

Audio only"

"A lifetime of devotion."

Audio only:

"Then he asked me to be his bride."

"When I come home, I'll wear your wedding ring."

"A Pretty Girl to Love Me/With the Same Last Name as Mine (Gram Parsons, audio only)

"Let's Walk up to the Preacher/and Let Us Say I Do"

"Would you marry me anyway . . ."

. . .  to marry you and take you home.

"Hey, Paula, I want to marry you"

I hope we won't be hearing (or seeing) anything like this again:

Or this:

Then again,

John Hartford thinks otherwise: "And it's knowing I'm not shackled/By forgotten words and bonds/And the ink stains that are dried upon some line . . ."

There are plenty of divorce and break-up songs, especially in country music. I decided to include this one because of the jubilant lyrics and the delightful intro:

And in a much more depressing vein: