Term of Endearment: 4 Dreamy Songs With “Darling” in the Title

In terms of pet names for a significant other, “Darling” ranks way up there. Its popularity and longevity make it stand out on any list of terms of endearment. Many songs have been written where the song plays a prominent role.

As a matter of fact, we could have made this list of songs with “Darling” (or slight variants of it) in the title much longer. But we settled for these four standout tracks from some of the biggest names in pop music history.

“Darling Be Home Soon” by The Lovin’ Spoonful

The Lovin’ Spoonful don’t get enough credit for being one of the more versatile American bands of the 60s. You never knew what style they were going to honor from one single to the next. In the case of “Darling Be Home Soon”, it fit well with the baroque pop that The Beatles and other acts were just starting to develop circa 1966. That’s when this song first appeared on the soundtrack to an early movie by future Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola. Songwriter John Sebastian conjured a wistful tale of a guy who knows his lover has to leave. The slightly melancholy part is that we don’t quite know if she’s going to heed the imperative of the title and eventually return to him.

“Darlin’” by The Beach Boys

Even amid the never-ending drama surrounding Brian Wilson in the second half of the 60s, The Beach Boys still managed to churn out several indelible hits in that era. Hailing from the 1967 album Wild Honey, “Darlin’” finds the band simplifying its attack after the heady swings they took on Pet Sounds and Smile, the latter of which remained unfinished. Brian wrote the song with an assist from Mike Love. And then almost gave it away to an early incarnation of Three Dog Night before the other Beach Boys interjected. Another wise move that the group made was to hand off the lead vocal to Carl Wilson, whose innate soulfulness shines brightly here.

“Oh! Darling” by The Beatles

Abbey Road boasts some staggering high points. They include the medley on Side Two, George Harrison’s two standout contributions (“Here Comes The Sun” and “Something”), and John Lennon’s searing opening track “Come Together”. In the midst of all that, “Oh! Darling”, a simple song whose charms largely emerged in the performance, could easily get lost. Paul McCartney wrote it and wanted the rawest possible vocal he could manage to capture the urgency of the lyrics. As a result, he made sure to perform the song late at night after first pushing his vocals to the hilt earlier that day. The tactic worked, as McCartney does his best Screamin’ Jay Hawkins impersonation on the track.

“Sherry Darling” by Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen decided to turn The River into a double album at the last minute, shelving an album he already had in the can. He used the extra running time to show off more sides of his artistic personality. And one of those sides was his sense of humor. “Sherry Darling” tells the story of a guy who’s enamored of the title character but doesn’t hold quite the same affection for her mother. Unfortunately for him, the two are a “package deal.” Aside from Springsteen’s hamming it up on vocals, The E Street Band tears into the song’s sense of fun with a spirited, slightly shambolic performance. There are even some “Barbara Ann”-style backing vocals to add to the chaos.

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)