64 Songs About Waiting

True Love Is Worth the Wait

Love is hard enough to find, but then there's the challenge of getting your timing right. Sometimes you have to wait for the one you love to make up his or her mind, to find themselves before settling down, or to bridge the geographical distance that separates you.

Over two decades ago (has it really been that long?), my husband and I dated long-distance for almost four years while each of us built our careers. It wasn't always easy, but love was worth the wait.

If you are waiting for someone you love, here's a list of rock, pop and country songs about others who share your experience. Make yourself a playlist to listen to while you wait. And may love be worth your wait in the end.

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1. "I Will Wait" by Mumford and Sons

The strength of this rock song is its purity and simplicity. With religious overtones, this 2012 hit is about a man who has made mistakes and is going though a difficult time in his relationship. He has sought forgiveness and is determined not to push boundaries while renewal and healing take place over time.

2. "Kissing a Fool" by George Michael

It's painful when you love someone more than they love you. Someone used to sing this 1987 song to me. It's about a man who loves a woman, but she listens to other people's opinions.

The protagonist thinks about the future they could've had, and he blames his sweetheart for not being strong enough to stand up to the naysayers. He feels that his utter devotion has left him playing the role of the fool:

But remember this: every other kiss
That you ever give, long as we both live.
When you need the hand of another man
One you really can surrender with—
I will wait for you
Like I always do
There's something there
That can't compare with any other.

3. "You Can’t Hurry Love" by Phil Collins

The lonely narrator in this 1982 song is eager for a soft voice and tender arms to hold him tight. Wanting someone to love him back, he recalls the sage words of his mother just when he's about to give up his search.

His mother advised that you can't hurry love, that you must wait for it. And that wait is ever so worth the struggle.

4. “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers

This achingly romantic song has been recorded by over 670 artists in many languages, but this 1965 version stands as the definitive version. The narrator has been separated from his lover for far too long and pines to rejoin her.

The song was used as the theme in the 1990 movie Ghost. However, it was originally written for another movie decades earlier. The earlier movie was about a man who was being released from prison and looking to reunite with his love interest.

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5. "Waitin' on a Woman" by Brad Paisley

In this endearing 2005 country song, a younger man meets and older one and realizes they have one thing in common: they are both waiting on their wives. The older man looks back on his life and recounts all of the times that he has waited on the woman he loves, from their first date when she was half an hour late, to their wedding that took a year to plan, and nearly every day thereafter.

He imagines that he'll end up waiting for her in death as well. However, he doesn't mind because that's what lovers do: wait for one another.

6. "Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx

The lovesick man in this 1989 ballad is oceans apart from his girlfriend. He is left waiting it out, nearly going crazy for her to return.

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7. "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" by The Script

Still in love with the woman who has broken his heart and left him, the guy at the center of this 2008 pop song returns to the street corner where he first met his ex-girlfriend. With his sleeping bag, a cardboard sign and a photo of her in hand, he waits, hoping she will return to the spot where their love affair began. He's the man who can't be moved.

8. "Time After Time" by Quietdrive

This 2006 remake of Cyndi Lauper's classic rock song is about the mutual support that exists between two people who care deeply about one another:

If you fall, I will catch you; I'll be waiting
(I'll always be waiting)
Time after time ... .

9. "I'll Wait for You" by Joe Nichols

This heartwarming country song from 2005 features a couple separated by miles but not love. The husband is trying desperately to return to his ailing wife, but he is detained by a Montana snowstorm.

As she promises to wait for him, the wife fondly recalls other moments that she waited for his return: when he was on the road over Christmas and the birth of their first child. (This guy has some sense of timing!)

Sadly, our hero doesn't arrive in time, and his waiting wife dies. (Let's hope she wasn't alone.) She leaves behind a note promising to wait for him on the other side.

10. "Please Come to Boston" by Dave Loggins

Anyone who has ever had to wait for a lover to find himself (or herself) can appreciate this 1974 folk/pop hit. The narrator leaves his sweetheart back in his native Tennessee as he bounces from Boston to Denver to Los Angeles in search of career success.

While he finds success, his one true love waits for him back home. He pleads for her to join him, but she insists that she won't leave; instead, if he loved her, he'd return to her.

11. "I'll Be Waiting" by Adele

The narrator in this 2011 pop song feels remorse for how she treated her lover, but she has learned from the experience. Now she is waiting for when he is ready to love her again. She promises to treat him differently and better this time.

12. "Waiting for Love" by Avicii

Having been through a cycle of heartache, hoping and deep aching for the return of his beloved, the narrator in this 2015 pop song awaits the return of his lover. Realizing that their love is one-of-a-kind, he waits for her to come back around.

13. "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri

If you feel like you've waited your whole life—eternity even—for your one special sweetheart, consider yourself most fortunate to have found the one who is your perfect match.

This is the 2011 theme song from the Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn - Part 1. It describes a love so intense that the narrator feels he has loved and waited for his better half for 1,000 years. Better yet, he claims he will love her for 1,000 more.

14. "I’ll Be Waiting” by Lenny Kravitz

Have you ever stood by supportively while you pined away for a friend whose heart was breaking over someone else? That's what the narrator in this 2008 rock song is doing.

The girl he loves is trying to recover from heartbreak. Our patient narrator is so certain that his friend is the one for him that he will wait indefinitely for her to realize that the love she deserves has been there all along. Now that is confidence.

15. "Come Home Soon" by SHeDAISY

In this 2004 country song, the narrator is a sad and lonely wife who waits at home for her husband. Even though they are far apart, she cries herself to sleep missing him and waits faithfully for his return.

16. "The Longer the Waiting (The Sweeter the Kiss)" by Josh Turner

The sailor who narrates this 2007 country song sets sail tomorrow. He'll be leaving his lover until Springtime and needs to know if she will wait for his return:

Oh, the longer the waiting, the sweeter the kiss
It's better my darling, I promise you this:
The next time I hold you, I'm not letting go
Will you wait for me darling? I need to know.