Today on The Moncrieff Show, Seán will be chatting to music historian Ted Gioia about the history of love songs.

Timeless serenades or schmaltzy oldies strummed on a guitar, Gioia’s new book Love Songs: The Hidden History, draws on twenty years of research to cover the pantheon of pant-stirring tunes. From fertility rites of ancient civilisations to the hypersexualised music videos of today, when it comes to making sweet music together, music has always gotten us in the mood.

Tune in live at 3pm: http://www.newstalk.com/player/

A common trope in love songs is for the male singer to include the name of a female object of affection in the lyrics. Caroline’s sweetness was sung by Neil Diamond, while gemstones also played their part in the Beatles song about Lucy.

Now, a new YouTube channel is hoping to help the lazy and uninspired troubadours out there to woo the woman in their life with a personalised love song.

Over on YourTune, an American musician named Jonathan Katz has written 124 original love songs using some of the world’s most popular girls’ names. From Abigail to Victoria (it’s tricky to rhyme with Zsa Zsa), Katz came up with the idea as a way of getting his music out there - and a timely Valentine's push has made his work go viral.

“I was thinking of a way to share my music, and it occurred to me that not everyone who would like to write a song could write a song, especially for someone they loved. The idea grew from there: to share my music by writing music that can be shared and owned by others,” he told Buzzfeed.

While Katz acknowledges that a few of the songs share themes and chords, each one is an individual composition. The videos come complete with the lyrics and chords, and new ones are being added all the time. And for any man out there struggling to compose a tune for a Gubnat or a Saidhbh, Katz takes requests. And he’ll soon start recording male-name songs too, in the interest of gender balance.