The 20 Sexiest Songs Ever
Because sometimes your extra-curricular activities need a soundtrack
Because sometimes your extra-curricular activities need a soundtrack
D'Angelo – "Untitled (How Does It Feel)"
No accounting of sexy songs would be complete without this one, and its video, during which it is alleged that D'Angelo is having sex things done to him. Judge for yourself.
Bryan Ferry – "Slave To Love"
If your sexy weekend plans include the removal of a white dinner jacket, this is the song for you.
Prince – "Do Me Baby"
The extended, shrieking orgasm in the middle of this song, after which Prince audibly shivers and says "I'm so cold," is the Princiest thing that ever happened.
Mazzy Star – "Fade Into You"
Mid-1990s indie rock was many things, but sexy was rarely one of them—that is until this song came along.
R.E.M. – "Pretty Persuasion"
Michael Stipe's sexual confusion filtered through his inscrutable lyrics, a full decade before such things became fashionable.
Eurythmics – "Love Is a Stranger"
Early in their career, Eurythmics took their icy synths and drum machines and made the most mysterious and sexy moment of 1983.
Bruce Springsteen – "For You"
From Springsteen's underrated early-'70s beach-bohemian period, this is a gorgeous, aching, abstract moment of pure desire.
Sigur Ros – "Svefn-g-englar"
Sung in a whisper, in a language that might not even exist, and yet: you get it.
Ginuwine – "Pony"
Half of the Esquire team thinks this song is sexy, the other half thinks it's ridiculous, and 100 percent of us are correct.
Roxy Music – "Avalon"
From Roxy Music's early 1980s elegant-sexiness era. You know what, just let the whole album play.
Jeff Buckley - "Lover, You Should Have Come Over"
It's hard to isolate one sexiest song from Buckley's classic Grace album, but this wounded masterpiece is a good place to start.
Flying Burrito Brothers – "Hot Burrito #1"
We don't often explore loss of virginity from a male perspective, as Gram Parsons does here. Suggestive and sad at the same time.
Maxwell – "Sumthin' Sumthin'"
The smoothest of the mid-'90s R&B smoothies. What he suggests here is vague, and we're on board for whatever it is.
Chris Isaak – "Dancin'"
Yes, yes: "Wicked Game" is very sexy. But take yourself back to 1985 for his first single, in which he arrives fully formed.
Rihanna – "Umbrella"
Rihanna would go on to make more overtly sexual songs, but this one gets the job done.
The Afghan Whigs – "Debonair"
If your sexual feelings are a little angrier, but that Nine Inch Nails song is too on the nose, you reach for The Afghan Whigs.
Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin – "Je T'aime...Moi Non Plus"
Is this song "sexy," or is this song "actual sex?" Really only one way to find out.
Enigma – "Sadeness"
It is of course a cliché. It is of course absurd. But no 1990s sexy lounge environment was complete without it.
Sophie B. Hawkins – "Damn! I Wish I Was Your Lover"
I mean, sometimes the direct approach is the best choice.
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