The perfect song for... Kissing

If relationships promise a long and delightful conversation, kissing would be the part where you are introduced. 

Of course, kissing can be tricky. 

A kiss may lead to something else, something illicit. It can also be something nonchalant or innocent. Even casual. Or false for that matter. 

When did the welcome and goodbye kisses get introduced? And where did it come from? France? And how many kisses is decent? And where should they be placed? On the cheeks? In the air? On the mouth? How long should they last?

Perhaps because of its status, kissing has many different disguises in the pop song. It can be a hint of something more, perhaps the start of a proper relationship. But kissing can also stand for betrayal. In the old days, let’s say Fifties and Sixties, the use of kissing in a song was often a metaphor for something else, something more intense, something that reeked of the forbidden. 

So, what are the best songs referencing kissing, or the best songs that involve kissing? And do you play them to your possible partner when things get “interesting”? 

Podcasters Fred de Vries and Tim Cohen have chosen six tracks to give you some idea of the wide range of kissing songs that are available, some more subtle than others. Some say “kiss me, please!” Others say “kiss off!” And yes, we left out Prince’s Kiss, because that would be too obvious. 



So listen and enjoy!

The songs we picked are:

Seal – Kiss from a Rose.

The Saints – Lipstick on your Collar.

Suicide – Touch Me.

Siouxsie and the Banshees – Desert Kisses.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss – Please Read the Letter.

Roxy Music – Avalon. DM

You can listen and subscribe to ThePerfectSongFor … podcast about the perfect song on Apple podcasts, Spotify and iono. Full versions of the songs are in Spotify and Apple playlists;  [email protected]

Contact the hosts of the podcast or email us your suggestions and alternatives at [email protected] 

You can also follow the hosts on X: @perfectsongfor Insta: #perfectsongfor 

Tim Cohen is the business editor of Daily Maverick. Fred de Vries is an author, writer, journalist and South Africa correspondent for Elsevier Magazine and De Groene Amsterdammer. He writes regular music columns for Platenblad in the Netherlands and Vrye Weekblad in South Africa.