22 Pop-Punk + Emo Love Songs That Are Even Better on Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day playlists may traditionally be dominated by R&B jams and cheesy pop ballads, but rock fans know there are other — way better — options, which is why we've assembled 22 of our favorite pop-punk and emo love songs. It's a mix of beloved hits, heartfelt one-hit wonders and lesser-known gems.

For every relationship that's started in a mosh pit, every couple that got matching tattoos and every millennial who still dreams about their high school crush — this list is for you.

Blink-182, “M+M’s”

Best lyric: “'Cause when I'm with you there's nothing I wouldn't do / I just want to be your only one”

There’s an awkward charm to “M&M’s,” one of Blink-182’s more underrated gems. Mark Hoppus handles lead vocals, pining after a girl he’s fallen for and hoping she feels the same way.

It’s simple and sweet, while also being undeniably catchy. Plus, there are references to masturbation and suicide — this is a Blink-182 song, after all.

Story of the Year, “Until the Day I Die”

Best lyric: “Until the day I die, I'll spill my heart for you”

Story of the Year’s debut single is a powerful declaration of love, even when a relationship gets chaotic. The lyrics chronicle a tumultuous romance, filled with both adoration, pain and hate.

It’s a rollercoaster of emotion, punctuated by the intense vocals of singer Dan Marsala.

Paramore, “Still Into You”

Best lyric: “It's not a walk in the park to love each other / But when our fingers interlock, can't deny, can't deny you're worth it”

Yes, it was a major hit — and feels like an obvious choice for this list — but there’s just no escaping the endearing joy of Paramore's “Still Into You.” Across three minutes and 30 seconds, Hayley Williams leads a heartfelt anthem to the unpredictability of romance.

See, love doesn’t have to make sense — when two people are meant for each other, it just somehow works. Of course, the great irony is that “Still Into You” was inspired by Williams’ relationship with Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory. They broke up in 2017, four years after the single’s release.

Yellowcard, “Only One”

Best lyric: “Here I go / Scream my lungs out and try to get to you / You are my only one”

Can a song be romantic, even if it ends in heartbreak? We say yes and Yellowcard seem to agree. The band’s 2003 power ballad “Only One” is a soaring, emphatic ode to the one who got away, inspired by frontman Ryan Key’s real-life breakup.

Say Anything, “Alive With the Glory of Love”

Best lyric: “I won't let them take you, won't let them take you / Hell no, no, oh no / I won't let them take you, won't let them take you”

The only song — at least, that we’re aware of — that somehow turns life in a concentration camp into a tale of undying love. Inspired by his grandparents, who were both Holocaust survivors, Say Anything singer Max Bemis crafted the story of a couple whose passion and devotion can’t be extinguished by evil.

It’s a triumphant song about love conquering all and we still get energized every time it starts to play.

We the Kings, “Check Yes Juliet (Run Baby Run)”

Best lyric: “Run, baby, run / Forever we'll be / You and me”

This breakout single for We the Kings perfectly encapsulated the heart-on-your-sleeve romance of early 2000s emo and pop-punk.

Unbridled youthful excitement pours out of every note, as frontman Travis Clark sneaks his lover out of her parents’ home for a whirlwind night of excitement.

Taking Back Sunday, “MakeDamnSure”

Best lyric: “And we lay, we lay together just not / Too close, too close (How close is close enough?)”

The passion is fiery and intense on Taking Back Sunday’s 2006 hit “MakeDamnSure.” Frontman Adam Lazzara finds himself consumed by the object of his affection, determined that the two of them should be together.

Do lyrics such as “I'm gonna make damn sure / That you can't ever leave” border on obsession? That’s in the ear of the beholder.

My Chemical Romance, “The Only Hope for Me Is You”

Best lyric: “We'll have to make it on our own / Face all the pain and take it on / Because the only hope for me is you alone”

Leave it to My Chemical Romance to set a romantic song upon a doomsday backdrop. As the world crumbles around him, Gerard Way sings about the person he loves — the only one who can help him conquer the dark realities their faced with. It’s romance on a cinematic scale — exactly how MCR like it.

Something Corporate, “Punk Rock Princess”

Best lyric: “If you could be my punk rock princess / I would be your garage band king / You could tell me why you just don't fit in / And how you're gonna be something”

Andrew McMahon harnesses power chords to pop punk perfection on this track from 2002’s Leaving Through the Window. “Punk Rock Princess” finds McMahon yearning for a girl that seems just out of reach, but that doesn’t stop him from dreaming about what their life together would be like.

The Starting Line, “The Best of Me”

Best lyric: “We got older, but we're still young / We never grew out of this feeling that we won't give up”

Relationships require a lot of time and effort and even then there’s no guarantee things will work out. On their 2003 hit “The Best of Me,” the Starting Line chronicles a couple who have grown up together, weathering the highs and lows of a long-term romance. There’s forgiveness, frustration, miscommunication and redemption all within the song, wrapped together in a vibrant pop-punk package.

NOFX, “Falling In Love”

Best lyric: "Death don't seem so bad / When I'm with you, my only love / So close your eyes, kiss me one last time / We're gonna die, but not our love"

Fat Mike and his NOFX crew will never be accused of being hopeless romantics, yet this track off of 1997’s So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes is low-key emotional. It tells the story of a couple embracing their final moments on earth, expressing their devotion moments before their demise.

The heartfelt song is delivered in a frenzied punk package, running at just two minutes in length.

Dashboard Confessional, “Hands Down”

Best lyric: “And you stood at your door with your hands on my waist / And you kissed me like you meant it”

Occasionally love brings along a moment, so perfect you wish it would never end. That’s the feeling that’s captured in “Hands Down,” Dashboard Confessional hit single from 2001. Frontman Chris Carrabba’s voice drips of vulnerability as he chronicles an amazing, yet fleeting, romance, culminating with a passionate kiss.

The Get Up Kids, “I’ll Catch You”

Best lyric: “Your arms in mine / Any time / Wouldn't trade anything / You're still my everything”

While many songs on this list express love in a grand, cinematic fashion, the Get Up Kids go the opposite direction on this 1999 track. “I’ll Catch You” is beautiful in its vulnerability, as frontman Matt Pryor expresses his undying devotion over a stark piano-based arrangement.

Roughly halfway through the tune, the band opens things up for a moment of powerful passion, before toning it down once more to close.

Jimmy Eat World, “For Me, This Is Heaven”

Best lyric: “When the time we have now ends / When the big hand goes round again / Can you still feel the butterflies?”

Beloved godfathers of emo Jimmy Eat World deliver a declaration that love is worth fighting for on this track from 1999’s Clarity.

The message of “For Me This Is Heaven” is simple, yet eternal: life is short, our moments with the ones we love won’t last forever (even if we want them to), so let’s embrace the time we have.

The Used, “I Caught Fire”

Best lyric: “So kiss me like you did / My heart stopped beating”

The opening guitar riff to “I Caught Fire” tricks you into believing you’re about to hear another of the Used’s defiant bangers.

Instead, the band offers up its most romantic lyrics, a welcome yet unexpected change of pace for the group. The heartfelt subject does nothing to dull the power of frontman Bert McCracken’s distinctive voice, as he passionate sings about melting in his lover’s eyes.

Alkaline Trio, “Clavicle”

Best lyric: “I wanna wake up naked next to you / Kissing the curve of your clavicle”

Across an energetic acoustic guitar riff, Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba tells the story of a woman he can’t stop thinking about. Six months ago her saw her for the first time, a week ago he got the (liquid) courage to finally talk to her, now they’re flirting over the phone and all he can think about is lying next to her.

The Wonder Years, “Flowers Where Your Face Should Be”

Best lyric: "I saw you last night in my dream / I'm gonna marry you underneath driftwood from Crescent City"

After more than a decade together, the Wonder Years showed impressive musical maturation with their sixth studio album, 2018’s Sister Cities. The band always boasted fantastic lyrics, but here the depth of their writing got even more personal, as best exemplified by the heartwrenching song “Flowers Where Your Face Should Be.”

The gorgeous tune slowly builds as frontman Dan Campbell recalls seeing his love in a dream, his voice buoyed by swirling instrumentation that heightens the emotion.

Box Car Racer, “There Is”

Best lyric: “Do you care if I don't know what to say? / Will you sleep tonight? Will you think of me?”

Tom DeLonge has never been afraid of getting emo-tional. The punk legend wears hard on his sleeve with this track from his short-lived side project, Box Car Racer.

“There Is” isn’t so much a declaration of love as it is a yearning for connection. You can practically hear DeLonge staring at the window, gazing at the sky as he ponders whether there’s anyone in this world who will truly understand him.

Fall Out Boy – “Alone Together”

Best lyric: “Let's be alone together / We could stay young forever / Scream it from the top of your lungs”

Fall Out Boy’s evolution has gone something like this: hardcore beginning, pop punk breakout, ascent to stadium rock. “Alone Together” firmly fits in the latter category, a lush, soaring tune about the eternal fire of young romance. It’s the kind of love song you sing along to at full volume.

Pierce the Veil, “Kissing in Cars”

Best lyric: “As we wake up in your room / Your face is the first thing I see / The first time I've seen love / And the last I'll ever need”

One of Pierce the Veil’s lesser known tracks — it was only on the Japanese version of 2010’s Selfish Machines before later getting released as a bonus song in 2013 — “Kissing in Cars” is emotional, powerful and deeply relatable.

The song’s lyrics revolved around a couple that broke up, but the love they still have for each other is too strong to keep them apart. They decide to give it another try, even if the odds seem stacked against them.

Head Automatica, “Beating Heart Baby”

Best lyric: “Baby is this love for real? / Let me in your arms to feel / The beating of your heart, baby”

Sometimes love can be wild, confusing and even anxiety provoking.

Head Automatica tap into that frenetic energy on their 2004 single “Beating Heart Baby.” The energetic track bubbles with urgency, as the romance between frontman Daryl Palumbo and his partner endures despite each party’s frustrations with the other.

Motion City Soundtrack, “This Is for Real”

Best lyric: “This is the best thing I've ever had for real”

There’s something wholesome about this single off of 2007’s Even If It Kills Me. “This Is for Real” plays like the honest confession of a man who has tried everything to find happiness, but the only thing that actually brings it to him is being in the presence of his love.

It’s well trodden lyrical territory, but Motion City Soundtrack’s pop-punk charm keeps it exciting rather than cliche.