RUSSELLVILLE, Mo. - Music historically has been closely tied to romance and love.
Most couples have "their" song.
For some, it sums up how they view their significant other. For others, it expresses the ups and downs in a relationship that keeps going.
How couples treasure these songs varies from their wedding dance to their ringtone.
"I Cross My Heart" by George Strait was the song Mark and Pam Thompson danced to at their wedding 18 years ago. Mark is a Cole County R-1 School Board member and Pam is the Stringtown-Corinth 4-H Club leader.
"We just thought that song fit. It was a special fit because who doesn't like George Strait? A handsome cowboy. Just like the cowboy I married," Pam said. "It certainly brings back memories of that exact moment when I hear it."
For Russellville Mayor Ritchie Jenkins, Sammy Kershaw's "She Don't Know She's Beautiful" applies to his perspective of his wife Denita.
And Neal Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," strikes a chord with the Rev. Ed Merckel, pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Lohman, when he thinks of his wife of 32 years, Carole.
Newlyweds Linda and Philip Lenk danced to "Amazed" by Lonestar at their November wedding.
"It's just one of those songs that when you hear it for the first time, it's as if you wrote it yourself about how you feel about your significant other," said Linda, a long-time Russellville pool board member.
In August, Michael Miller, president of Russellville Outlaw Baseball, posted the lyrics of Shenandoah's "I Wanna Be Loved Like That" to his wife Amy's Facebook page for their 15th anniversary.
"Each verse was just something I related too," Miller said. "She was a teen-aged queen, and I was kinda rebel, but we knew we were in love.
"The last verse with the old man, flowers at a grave just makes me know I'll never stop loving her and don't want to spend a day without her ever!"
When Suzanne Wolfe's husband, Dwayne, calls, her phone plays "After All" by Cher and Peter Cetera.
"We had a lot of ups and downs in our relationship, and the song really says a lot of how we were able to find each other through our struggles," said Wolfe, a Russellville youth leader. "It reminds me that through every struggle that life throws our way that we can make it after all."
When Cole County Farm Bureau President Tim Kauffman and his wife, Tina, the Russellville Elementary School librarian, were dating, times were difficult.
"Through it all, Tim stood by me and never wavered one time and continually reminded me that I could make it through and that I was capable of doing great things," Tina said.
Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me" became their song.
"Every time we hear this song, we smile because we remember that by loving and supporting each other we can do great things."