Breakups suck. There’s no way around it. Regardless of whether it was an amicable split or one that ended in pure chaos and betrayal, healing from a heartbreak is never easy.
Thankfully, music can help you feel less alone in your emotional suffering. Here are seven of the best songs for your breakup playlist.
1. “concussion” by Girlhouse
According to the individual behind girlhouse, Lauren Luiz, “‘concussion’ is about a monumentally shit day.”
The best part? Despite its self-deprecating lyrics, the song is quite comical and catchy.
“My first and favorite car got smashed (it was a bright orange 81 Honda Civic with a stick shift), next thing I knew I was lying on the ground, being harassed by LA firemen while a woman was screaming at me calling me a dumb bitch,” Luiz explained about the story behind the track. “I just have no idea what happened, all I could think about was this person that had just broken my heart, somehow nothing else mattered.”
This feeling is all too relatable.
“I think I used that relationship as a distraction in a big way, it was that moment where I realized that person was taking up a lot of mental real estate and I needed to make room for actual problems in my life and move on.”
2. “Here, Now, Forever” by Carousel Kings
This is one of my all-time favorite songs. Not only do the lyrics describe the feeling of holding on too tightly to someone who’s already given up on you, but the melody itself is incredibly powerful.
I mean…these lyrics are equal parts relatable and harrowing: “Floating all alone, living in my head / Wish I wouldn’t be sinking with regret / Wonder how you feel living without my love in you / Far from you / Don’t want another you / Call you up again, say what isn’t said / Energy is red / Now you’re in my head spinning in circles again and again / I start to think about how all I’ve ever wanted was the truth / And life together on the mountainside as far as I can see.”
3. “Sometime Around Midnight” by The Toxic Airborne Event
This is the ultimate emo breakup song. It follows a scene of two exes running into each other at a bar or club. The narrator is clearly not over the woman in the song, who seemingly is moving on with someone else. Basically, the guy has a panic attack witnessing this ex leave with another man, begging to see her even though he knows she isn’t good for him. We’ve all been caught up in those heavy emotions.
4. “Untitled” by Knuckle Puck
Knuckle Puck is one of my favorite bands, and their pop-punk/emo sound is ideal for anyone enduring a breakup. “Untitled” is especially relevant, as it details the heartbreak that accompanies someone who seemingly lost themselves in a relationship.
The lyrics explain what it’s like to be with someone who continuously tears you down—and healing from that pain: “I built my guard up to the clouds / Because of you / I’ve been reduced from high-rise windows to stepping stones.”
5. “Cutting My Fingers Off” by Turnover
Have you ever been so in love with someone that losing them feels like losing a part of yourself? If so, this song is for you.
With lyrics like “I hope you’re alright, love / I’m sorry that I wasted your time / Never had the intention to make you go” and “Without you, I’d rather cut all my fingers off,” this song is sure to cover all the familiar post-breakup agony we experience.
6. “Please Don’t Cry, You Have Swag” by Hot Mulligan
In the pop-punk and Midwest emo world, the weirder the song title, the deeper the lyrics. In other words, you know this one will hit hard—and trust me, it does. This song perfectly captures how it feels to be the only one left trying in a relationship. After all is said and done, you can’t even find a way to be friends with the person you once loved, because they’re unwilling to admit to any of their faults or work on themselves. It’s a heartbreaking conclusion to draw post-breakup.
7. “Juliana” by The Good Years
This song is for those amicable breakups where you still hold so much love and care for the other person, but it simply didn’t work out.
“Told me once we might be friends / But sometimes life, it takes and spins / You can’t buy back faint flashbacks / We′ve got memories, most people do / But ours are better cause I have you / I’ll hold them close as holding goes.”
I’m not even going through a breakup, but I just started tearing up while writing that.
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