The genuine passion that spills out with every strum of a guitar and every simple note sung is palpable.

Most of these songs aren’t anything complicated production-wise.

Here are some of the defining love songs of the 1970s.

Mariah Carey and Harry Styles

10Annie’s Song

John Denver

John Denver’s lyricism was always nothing short of poetic.

You fill up my senses, come fill me again."

and “If a face could launch a thousand ships, then where am I to go?”

All four members stand in a field with tall plants. The one on the far left wears a black hat, a blue shirt and pants, and a red tie. Next to him one wears a blue coat with a white under shirt. The next one wears a black long sleeve with a black hat with a red ribbon. On the far right the one wears a blue coat, a muti colored handkerchief.

“If a face could launch a thousand ships

Then where am I to go?

All they ask is that they listen.

“Yeah, I know it’s kinda late.

Aerosmith poses together during an old photoshoot.

Hope I didn’t wake you,

But there’s something I just gotta say.

Know you’d understand.

It’s a gesture that shows how perfectly Croce wanted to get his words across.

John Denver, Elton John, and Christine McVie in front of an orange and yellow bright background.

She recorded it the next day, and it remains as one of the band’s most vulnerablesongs onRumours.

McVie’s late-night bout of inspiration lives on today as one of the greatest love songs of the 1970s.

That’s what “The Air That I Breathe” is about, anyway.

All he wants is someone to remain true to the person he met at the start.