maybe could get some unexpected picks out of this pool

Love songs you & Bilal could do great things with:

Joni - All I Want
John Martyn - Parcels (one of my favorite love songs ever)
John & Beverly Martyn - Traffic Light Lady
Richard & Linda Thompson - Dimming of the Day
Graham Nash - Sleep Song
Patty Larkin - If I Were Made of Metal
Ben Sollee - How To See the Sun Rise
Tim Finn - Persuasion
Erin McKeown - Love in 2 Parts
Jackson Browne - The times You've Come


'Fuck You' songs you could do equally great things with... couple of these are more obviously country

Ani Difranco - Untouchable Face (fuck you, and your untouchable face, and fuck you, for existing in the first place). Most of Ani's 'Dilate' album is pretty damn bitter, for that matter.
Richard & Linda Thompson - Walking on a Wire
Richard Thompson - Keep Your Distance
Paul Kelly - I Can't Believe We Were Married
Hank Williams - My Love For You (Has Turned To Hate)
Charlie Louvin - I Don't Love You Any More
George Jones - She Thinks I Still Care
Joe Henry - Like She Was A Hammer
John Prine - If You Don't Want My Love
Loudon Wainwright III - Your Mother & I


Good luck with the project