aries, your post expresses my feelings, too.
People hear songs through their own personalities/Neshamos.
That is why WIY and Popa may disagree on the appropriateness of the same songs.
Either that, or they aren’t referring to the same songs.
I’ve heard several romantic songs from wartime and other tekufos that made me think of Hashem and draw closer to Him.
Even when a man sings/hums these songs to his wife, they are about the Neshama connection, and do not sound vulgar, because they are not.