4 Soft Rock Songs To Listen to Performatively (If You’re Trying To Impress Your Crush)

You might not be listening to these songs if you really know soft rock, but they’re still great staples. Here are four soft rock songs to put on if you’re trying to set the mood, or just wanting to impress a crush.

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“Baker Street” by Gery Rafferty

The saxophone solo, the groove, Rafferty’s vocals, everything about this song is classic soft rock.

Rafferty wrote this one inspired by a real friend of his, who lived on a real-life “Baker’s Street.” As he explained, Rafferty would spend a lot of time there after his band, Stealers Wheel broke up.

“Everybody was suing each other, so I spent a lot of time on the overnight train from Glasgow to London for meetings with lawyers,” he shared. “I knew a guy who lived in a little flat off Baker Street. We’d sit and chat or play guitar there through the night.”

“Ride Like The Wind” by Christopher Cross

As far as soft rock goes, Christopher Cross is basically the blueprint. It’s no surprise that this song feels as smooth as it does. Cross actually wrote it while he was on acid. This song was also the first that Cross wrote for his album, Christopher Cross, which went on to win five Grammy awards in 1981.

“Steal Away” by Robbie Dupree

Robbie Dupree’s “Steal Away” is flirty and romantic, and great if you’re trying to set the scene for date night. This song was also nominated for a Grammy alongside Christopher Cross in 1981. In this irresistible track, Dupree invites his lover to “steal away” with him as he sings:

“Why don’t we steal away / Why don’t we steal away / Into the night / I know it ain’t right / Tease me, why don’t you please me / Then show me /What you came here for.“

“Baby Come Back” by Player

This song gave Player not only a record deal but also a No. 1 hit in 1978. It also gave us future listeners one of the best soft rock songs ever.

Yacht rock singer Nicholas Niespodziani described this song perfectly.

“‘Baby Come Back’ is such a great tune melodically, and the emotion of it really connects with people,” he shared. “I noticed that when we do it, there’s something undeniably sexy about it, and it still works for those dudes all these years later.”

Photo by: Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images