Category Archives: 1990s songs

The best 500 songs from the 1990s. Lyrics, meanings and interpretations from your favorite musicians. Radiohead, REM, Weezer, No Doubt, Alanis, Jewel, and Guns and Roses. See which of your favorite 90s bands and artists rank highest on the greatest songs of all-time lists.

1990s songs, heartbreak

#140 Unbreak My Heart- Toni Braxton

admin Leave a comment

Don’t leave me here with these tears/
Come and kiss this pain away.

“Unbreak My Heart” by Toni Braxton is an epic breakup song that gets looked over in the “best of” lists because of its soft rock label. However, this Braxton and Warren combination might be the finest work of both of their careers.

We really feel like Braxton is singing about her own breakup; she has made the song her own. We feel the pain in her voice. She delivers a great performance and doesn’t go too overly-diva in the vocal runs department. She is pretty restrained. Which is good.

“Unbreak My Heart” is beautifully written and produced and it sounds great. A lot of that comes from the quality of the song. The song is well crafted and has a great melody and verse. Production makes some unique choices that help make the song like the nylon string guitar solo, and the hand-clapping (or is that snapping?) for the percussion in the first half of the song.

Unbreak My Heart Lyrics

Don’t leave me in all this pain
Don’t leave me out in the rain
Come back and bring back my smile
Come and take these tears away
I need your arms to hold me now
The nights are so unkind
Bring back those nights when I held you beside me

Un-break my heart
Say you’ll love me again
Undo this hurt you caused
When you walked out the door
And walked out of my life
Un-cry these tears
I cried so many nights
Un-break my heart
My heart

Take back that sad word goodbye
Bring back the joy to my life
Don’t leave me here with these tears
Come and kiss this pain away
I can’t forget the day you left
Time is so unkind
And life is so cruel without you here beside me

Un-break my heart
Say you’ll love me again
Undo this hurt you caused
When you walked out the door
And walked out of my life
Un-cry these tears
I cried so many nights
Un-break my heart

Don’t leave me in all this pain
Don’t leave me out in the rain
Bring back the nights when I held you beside me

Un-break my heart
Say you’ll love me again
Undo this hurt you caused
When you walked out the door
And walked out of my life
Un-cry these tears
I cried so many, many nights
Oh, un-break my

Un-break my heart, oh baby
Come back and say you love me
Un-break my heart, sweet darlin’
Without you I just can’t go on
Can’t go on

Say that you love me, say that you love me
Tell me you love me, un-break my
Say that you love me, say that you love me
Tell me you love me, un-break my

written by Dianne Warren

1990s songs, couples songs

#124 All The Man That I Need- Whitney Houston

admin Leave a comment

And in the morning when I kiss his eyes/
He takes me down and rocks me slow.

Whitney Houston’s “All The Man That I Need” is an incredibly well-written song. It rightfully gets overshadowed by Whitney’s amazing performance. I think Whitney Houston is one of the most under-rated performers—to music critics. Like what are they listening to?

Of course, fans adore her.

The way that Whitney hits the high notes on this song has practically ruined 20 years of American Idol and The Voice and the like. Every female singer thinks they should try to do something like this. They shouldn’t. They just shouldn’t. It would be like someone in a slam dunk contest sticking his tongue out. It has already been done by the best. Find a new gimmick.

All The Man That I Need Meaning — Whitney

Back to the song, the lyrics are remarkable sensual. It features the lyrics “he fills me up”. I suppose that could be interpreted in different ways. Perhaps she is talking “spiritually or emotionally”. I think the sax solo sounds good. Also, I like the finger-snapping. You can rarely go wrong with that.

All the Man That I Need Lyrics

I used to cry myself to sleep at night
But that was all before he came
I thought love had to hurt to turn out right
But now he’s here
It’s not the same, it’s not the same

He fills me up
He gives me love
More love than I’ve ever seen
He’s all I’ve got
He’s all I’ve got in this world
But he’s all the man that I need

And in the morning when I kiss his eyes
He takes me down and rocks me slow
And in the evening when the moon is high
He holds me close and won’t let go
He won’t let go

He fills me up
He gives me love
More love than I’ve ever seen
He’s all I’ve got
He’s all I’ve got in this world
But he’s all the man that I need

written by Dean Pitchford / Michael Gore

1990s songs, family problems

#116 The Last Song- Elton John

admin 1 Comment

Tonight we touched on the things that were never spoken/
That kind of understanding sets me free.

Elton John’s “The Last Song” is a beautiful deep cut from John and Bernie Taupin. The music is good, the lyrics are great. “The Last Song” tells the story of a father and son who are estranged. One of them is sick…who don’t know who, but it is told from his perspective. I imagine it is the father. He is sick and dying.

He gets an unexpected visit from his son, who has come to see him on his death bed. His spirits are lifted and they begin to say the things that they should have said years ago. In the end he simply says, “I guess I misjudged love between a father and his son.”

“The Last Song” is the only song that can consistently bring me to tears. This might be the only piece of art that consistently does so. The combination of the maudlin music with the sad but also uplifting story about the father and son is just too much. The production is well done. Notice how minimalist it is. It truly is difficult to convey this much with so little.

Lyrics The Last Song
Yesterday
you came to lift me up
As light as straw and brittle as a bird

Today I weigh less than a shadow on the wall
Just one more whisper of a voice unheard

Tomorrow
leave the windows open
As fear grows please hold me in your arms
Won’t you help me if you can to shake this anger
I need your gentle hands to keep me calm

‘Cause I never thought I’d lose
I only thought I’d win
I never dreamed I’d feel
This fire beneath my skin

I can’t believe you love me
I never thought you’d come
I guess I misjudged love
Between a father and his son

Things we never said come together
The hidden truth no longer haunting me
Tonight we touched on the things that were never spoken
That kind of understanding sets me free
‘Cause I never thought I’d lose
I only thought I’d win
I never dreamed I’d feel
This fire beneath my skin
I can’t believe you love me
I never thought you’d come
I guess I misjudged love
Between a father and his son

written by Elton and Bernie Taupin

Top 500 Greatest Rock Songs of All-time