Love lyrics comprise the best part of Punjabi folklore. The songs of this category express the ecstasy of union as also the pangs of separation. These are mostly related to famous love stories like Heer Ranjha, Sohni Mahiwal. Sassi, Pannu, Mirza Sahiban. Other songs in this category are Mahiya, Tappe, Boliyan, Jindya, Dhola, Kafiyan, Saddan, Birhade.

Heer Ranjha, Sassi ,Punnu, Mirza Sahiban, and Sohni Mahiwal are particularly popular as tales of romance, and many eminent poets like Waris Shah and Hashim have narrated them in verse form. These sentimental tales are always sung in typical strains. For every tale the popular tune is different.
Mirza Sahiban is sung in long wistful notes; the tune is known as sad (call). It is a mournful tune, and the singer generally puts one hand on his ear, and makes gestures with the other while he sings. This sad tale has been sung in many styles.

The tune used for Heer Ranjha is different from the one used for Puran Bhagat. The notes of Sindhu Bhairava can be traced in Heer Ranjha, while Puran Bhagat is sung in the musical notes of Asavari and Mand. Sohni Mahiwal is sung in Bhairavi, as also Yusuf Zulaikhan, but the tunes are different.

Although there are various folk tunes prevalent in the Punjab, Mahiya, Dhola and Boli are more popular than the rest. As popular as Boli, Mahiya presents an expressive picture of the torments of separation and the thrills of reunion. Dhola like Mahiya is an appealing storehouse of the softest sentiments.

Mahiya, which originally became prevalent in the area now in western Pakistan, especially Pothobar, is today sung all over the Punjab. In almost all parts of Pothohar, before the Punjab was divided, one invariably came across people singing Mahiya while at work. A triplet of Mahiya is called tappa because it throbs with the heart-beat of the singers.

Mahiya comprising triplets has its own special structure. The first line contains a pen-picture, a description or an illustration, but sometimes it has no special meaning or relevance, since it is there only to maintain the rhyming pattern. The real substance is contained in the second and third lines. These two lines are very expressive and overflow with the most deeply felt longings of the people. Because they are deeply-felt emotions put into words, they are very effective. Every tappa is an entity in itself.

Dhola, an equally popular form of folk music, is highly lyrical and sentimental in character, love and beauty being its chief contents. Dhola has a variety of forms. Those prevalent in Pothohar being quite different from those popular with the tribes of Sandalbar.

The Pothohari Dhola is rather condensed in form. Each stanza consists of five lines which can be further sub-divided into two parts of three and two lines, respectively. The first two lines of the first part rhyme with each other, while the third one is left loose. The second part, which is a couplet, intensifies and polishes up the meaning of the first three lines. Although this couplet is a sustained part of the first three lines, in a way it is quite self-contained.

The singers of Dhola use this couplet even independently. The rhythm keeps changing according to the variety of emotions portrayed. Singers themselves are the folk poets of these songs. When they sing with a hand on the ear in a long lifting refrain, there is such depth of feeling in the voice that it sounds like the moan of a love-sick soul or the heart-rending song of a damsel torn apart from her lover.

Boli is the most popular form of folk music of the eastern Punjab. It generally consists of one line; a kind of couplet and is the most miniature form of folk-song, in vogue. Boli, however, is very deep, effective and interesting in its impact. It has the brevity of a proverb, the appeal of Mahiya and sweetness all its own. It expresses a variety of emotions. In form, a Boli may, however, vary from one line to four, five or even more lines. The two famous folk-dances of the Punjab, Bhangra and Giddha are danced to the accompaniment of this form of folk-songs.