1 March 2023
A romantic and inclusive first dance song is perfect for same-sex couples planning a wedding. It will help them make their special moment more meaningful, memorable, and fun!
We’ve compiled 15 awesome LGBTQ-friendly first dance songs, which include popular favorites as well as classical pieces. Some songs were performed by loud and proud LGBTQ artists, which makes them inclusive and appropriate.
No matter what kind of music you prefer, there should be something here perfect for your upcoming wedding.
1. Love is Love – Culture Club
Lyrics:
You don’t have to touch it to know
Love is everywhere that you go
You don’t have to touch it to feel
Love is every second we steal
Culture Club is an English rock band featuring Boy George on lead vocals. The song talks about how everyone needs love and how one can get it because love is real, love is everywhere, and love is there waiting for you. Always.
2. Your Song – Elton John
Lyrics:
So excuse me forgetting but these things I do
You see I’ve forgotten if they’re green, or they’re blue
Anyway the thing is what I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I’ve ever seen
The lyrics of the song were penned by Bernie Taupin, long-time writing partner of Elton John. The song is about a man’s love for his partner, but he isn’t sure what exactly it is that he feels. His love is too innocent and naive.
Elton John – Your Song (Top Of The Pops 1971)
3. At Last – Etta James
Lyrics:
At last
The skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clover
The night I looked at you
Nothing is more satisfying than Etta’s voice in this beautiful, genderless song. Her soulful rendition of the song “At Last” has become one of the most popular wedding songs ever—including one for LGBTQ weddings.
4. Power of Two – Indigo Girls
Lyrics:
Smarter than the tricks played on your heart
We’ll look at them together then we’ll take them apart
Adding up the total of a love that’s true
Multiply life by the power of two
A beautiful and classic love song, the lyrics capture the intensity of true love, but also the idea that when we love someone, there is nowhere we want to be except with that person who keeps us safe.
5. Private Emotion – Ricky Martin
Lyrics:
It’s a private emotion that fills you tonight
And a silence falls between us
As the shadows steal the light
And wherever you may find it
Wherever it may lead
Let your private emotion come to me
“Private Emotion” is a pop song originally recorded by The Hooters, that was later covered by Ricky Martin. The lyrics talk about sharing personal emotions with a trusted person, maybe a significant other, when sadness and exhaustion come.
Ricky Martin – Private Emotion
6. So Beautiful – Darren Hayes
Lyrics:
Just happy to be found
You make me feel so beautiful
Nowhere else in the world I wanna be
You make me feel so beautiful
“So Beautiful” is a pop song written by Australian singer-songwriter Darren Hayes. It was released as a single off the greatest hits album Truly Madly Completely: The Best of Savage Garden, a band that Hayes was part of. The song talks about how a person who loves someone deeply will accept their partner’s imperfections as part of who they are.
Darren Hayes of Savage Garden – So Beautiful (Video)
7. My Guy – Kele Okereke
Lyrics:
Well I guess you’d say
What can make me feel this way?
My guy
I’m talkin’ ’bout my guy
Kele covers and adapts the Temptations’ song “My Girl” and makes it “My Guy”. It is part of a 2018 project called Universal Love – Wedding Songs Reimagined, an album that features re-recorded popular wedding songs with new pronouns to talk about love being equal and how every person should embrace and treat each other regardless of race, gender, and sexual orientation.
8. What a Beautiful Day – Brett Every
Lyrics:
Your father said, while giving his toast
that, ‘Of all my beliefs, I believe in love most.’
“What a Beautiful Day” is written and sung by Australian singer-songwriter Brett Every and features Belinda Crawford. The song and video tell a story about a gay couple declaring their love while being supported by friends and family around them. It also focuses on the beauty and love that is in all of us.
What A Beautiful Day – Brett Every feat. Belinda Crawford
9. Our Song – Jaymes Vaughan
Lyrics:
So this is our love song
And you can always put it on
Anytime you need to hear
I love you
I do
Singer/Songwriter Jaymes Vaughan wrote the song when he proposed to actor Jonathan Bennett. James said they never found the perfect song for them, so he wrote it specifically for them.
10. Sofia – Clairo
Lyrics:
I think we could do it if we tried
If only to say you’re mine
Sofia, know that you and I
Shouldn’t feel like a crime
“Sofia” is a song by American singer Clairo. It became a sleeper hit after going viral on the video-sharing platform TikTok, charting on the Billboard Hot 100 more than a year after its initial release. The song talks about relationships that society disapproves of, but we should be able to love who we love, without society making us feel as though we’re committing a crime by loving them.
11. Love is Love – Trey Pearson
Lyrics:
The city’s got a million lights out
I can see your eyes ignite wild
Tell me that you wanna go right now
Why we’re hesitating
Trey Pearson released the title track “Love Is Love” off of his first solo album on National Coming Out Day (October 11th) via a Facebook post to his fans.
Pearson told Billboard: “Love Is Love” is an anthem celebrating the freedom to love each other, without fear, because all you need is love.
Trey Pearson – Love Is Love (Official Video)
12. Youth – Troye Sivan
Lyrics:
My youth, my youth is yours
Trippin’ on skies, sippin’ waterfalls
My youth, my youth is yours
Runaway now and forevermore
“Youth” is a song from Troye Sivan’s debut album Blue Neighbourhood, which was released in December 2015. It’s a song about falling in love with naivety and learning lessons along the way. It’s a tale about finding yourself and losing yourself, but more importantly, it’s about growing up and letting go.
Troye Sivan – YOUTH (Official Video)
13. Young Love – Eli Lieb
Lyrics:
Cause this love is getting dangerous
but I need some more tonight
Your touch is contagious
you know what I need tonight
In this fast-paced song, Eli Lieb tells the story of gay love as it relates to how one feels when he is accepted and loved by friends, partners, and those around him.
Eli Lieb – Young Love (Official Music Video)
14. She Keeps Me Warm – Mary Lambert
Lyrics:
And I can’t change
even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love, my love, my love, my love
She keeps me warm
A love song that is pure, without exploitation or shock value, but intended to portray grace, power, and beauty. This song is an extension of Mary Lambert’s collaboration with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis on “Same Love” which advocates a message of equality for same-sex couples.
Mary Lambert – She Keeps Me Warm (2013 Version)
15. Follow Your Arrow – Kacey Musgraves
Lyrics:
So, make lots of noise
kiss lots of boys
Or kiss lots of girls if that’s somethin’ you’re into
When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight
Roll up a joint, or don’t
Just follow your arrow wherever it points
The song “Follow Your Arrow” talks about the double standard of life with the message of doing what your heart says, regardless of what other people think and say.
Kacey Musgraves – Follow Your Arrow (Official Music Video)
What’s your wedding’s first dance song choice? Let us know of your favorite first dance same-sex wedding songs at [email protected]
