This essay first appeared in the NPR Music newsletter. Sign up for early access to articles like this one, listening recommendations and more. I love the word "heartthrob." It stops you whether you ...

Some of the most romantic-sounding hits hide much heavier truths. Over the years, millions of listeners have slow-danced, proposed, or even walked down the aisle to songs that were never meant to ...

Once an artist releases a song into the world, they lose control of its public interpretation, which has led to a lot of downright creepy, weird, or even hateful songs being mistaken as love songs.