Top 10 Breakup Songs
It seemed like an unbreakable bond. You thought they were the one for you, your one true soulmate; yet somewhere down the road, things went sour and now you’re no longer together. It sucks, we know, but don’t worry, you’re not alone. We’ve listed our 10 breakup songs that we think you should listen to before turning a new leaf and starting anew.
For more tears see our top 40 sad songs and top 35 heartbreak songs.
Nazareth – Love Hurts
Nazereth’s Love Hurts may have lost some of its charm after being overplayed on the radio over the years, however, it’s still one of the best break up songs out there and you should definitely check it out again.
Choice Lyric
Love hurts, love scars, love wounds
Guns N Roses – Don’t Cry
This gem by Guns N Roses was a warm little song from 1991’s Use Your Illusion. Here’s hoping that Axl and the crew will go on tour again so that we can hear this one live.
Choice Lyric
Give me a kiss before you
tell me goodbye
Don’t you take it so hard now
And please don’t take it so bad
I’ll still be thinkin’ of you
And the times we had…baby
Ben Folds Five – Song For the Dumped
While not as sad and melodramatic as some of the other tracks we’ve listed, Song For The Dumped takes a more hateful yet humorous approach to getting dumped.
Choice Lyric
So you wanted to take a break
slow it down some and have some space
well fuck you too
Pearl Jam – Black
Eddie Veder has an incredible voice and a lot emotion is running through it in this song about a man who’s heartbroken and trying to forget about his former lover.
Choice Lyric
All the pictures had all been washed in black, tattooed everything…
All the love gone bad, turned my world to black
Alanis Morrissette – You Oughta Know
Who would have thought that getting dumped by Uncle Joey from Full House would mean that start of your music career. For Alanis Morrissette, that was the case when she released Jagged Little Pill.
Choice Lyric
I hate to bug you in the middle of dinner
It was a slap in the face how quickly I was replaced
Are you thinking of me when you fuck her?
Ben Harper – Another Lonely Day
Probably one of the saddest songs in this list, though it may just be the sincerity in Ben’s voice. Another Lonely Day is just that. Caution: Have a tissue paper handy when you listen to this.
Choice Lyric
Yes indeed Im alone again
And here comes emptiness crashing in
Radiohead – High and Dry
While Radiohead has released a lot of depressing songs, it’s actually pretty hard to find an actual break up song in their discography. High and Dry is one of the rare ones that they’ve ever done and it’s a classic.
Choice Lyric
It’s the best thing that you’ve ever had
The best thing you’ve had has gone away.
Damian Rice – Rootless Tree
It’s a little bit weird hearing Damian Rice cuss in his albums, so we were quite shocked when we listened to Rootless Tree. Women, you don’t want to break this man’s heart, ever.
Choice Lyric
What I want from us is learn to let go
But we fade the forests, fracture the tide
We go blind when we needed to see
And this leans on me, like a rootless
So fuck you, fuck you, fuck you
No Doubt – Don’t Speak
Don’t Speak is the song that helped put No Doubt on the map back in 1996. While some may argue that this isn’t exactly a break up song, it is about the final stages of a relationship when all hope is lost so we’ve decided it was a good fit and well worth a listen.
Choice Lyric:
I can’t believe this could be the end
It looks as though you’re letting go
And if it’s real well I don’t want to know
Green Day – Good Riddance
It seems to be a pattern where the first break up song that your band releases is the one that makes you popular. For Green Day, that song was Good Riddance. It’s a short song but it gets the point across fairly well.
Choice Lyric:
It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right.
I hope you had the time of your life.