What is the first thing you do in a breakup? After the crying and the ice cream part. You plug in some tunes and block out the world, of course. Here are some songs you should listen to post-breakup.
1. Alaska - Maggie Rogers
This peaceful tune calms the heart post-breakup. The line "cut my hair so I could rock back and forth without thinking of you" is a spunky reference to the change we insist upon when going through a breakup. It is a wonderful song to listen to reassure yourself that you can walk away and and become someone better post-breakup. The best part is it is not a blaring reference to the breakup with its subtle lyrics and peaceful beat.
2. All Too Well - Taylor Swift
Is it really a breakup if you are not listening to Taylor Swift? This is one of her many breakup songs. It goes over all of the painful memories that stick with you post-breakup. She sings "It was rare, I was there, I remember it all too well" sums up how vividly remember the things we would love to just forget.
3. Always - Panic! At the Disco
This Panic! At the Disco song resembles a lullaby with its peaceful melody. It makes us really contemplate the abrupt change that comes with a breakup. "It was always you falling for me / Now there's always time calling for me" hits home when you think about all the time you have now that you are no longer spending it with a significant other.
4. Anybody Out There - Gabrielle Aplin
This catchy song by Gabrielle Aplin cannot help but lighten your spirits regardless of the dark lyrics. She takes a perfectly sad situation and makes it into an upbeat jam. In one verse she sings "Taking off to try to work it out / The trouble's smaller when you're looking down" to make you feel as though you are floating away from your body, looking down at your situation from a new angle.
5. Are You Happy Now - Michelle Branch
This song is the kind of song I would listen to while jumping up and down on my bed as a kid. This is the perfect song to release some of that pent up anger after a breakup. At the end of the song she sings, "I've had all that I can take /I'm not about to break /Are you happy now?" referencing a common post-breakup feeling where we find ourselves wondering how someone we were so close with could cause you so much pain.
6. Ashes Like Snow - Lily Kershaw
When you feel like wallowing in your sadness for a little bit, this is the perfect song to play. Lines like "You left me without any warning" say all the things you need to say post-breakup.
7. Back on the Map - Kacey Musgraves
Warning! This is country. But, if you do not mind country, this is a great song to start the moving on process. Musgraves sings that she is "Just holding out for a love again." It is a great song to help you accept that one relationship is over and you will find another.
8. Bad Blood - Taylor Swift
Need I say it again? Taylor is the breakup queen. This is the perfect breakup anthem to jam out to post-break up. I especially love the verse "Band-Aids don't fix bullet holes / You say sorry just for show..."
9. Be Alright - Dean Lewis
You need to listen to this song every time you think you are going to make that dreaded call. This song gives you the perfect representation of the argument in your head when you want to go back with lyrics "It's never easy to walk away / Let her go, it'll be okay."
10. Be OK - Ingrid Michaelson
This peppy song is perfect for uplifting your spirits when you are in the post-breakup blues. It is hard not to smile when singing "I just want to be OK, be OK, be OK."
11. The Best Damn Thing - Avril Lavigne
There is no way to keep Avril Lavigne off this playlist. Listen to this song to know that your significant other is missing out, not you. When she sings, "Me, I'm a scene, I'm a drama queen / I'm the best damn thing that your eyes have ever seen," she is embracing all of the things we forget about when we are down on ourselves post-breakup.
12. Black and Blue - Ingrid Michaelson
I only found this song recently and it really captures the breakup feelings. "I'm black and blue 'cause I fell for you."
13. Breakeven - The Script
"'Cause when a heart breaks, no it don't break even."
14. Breathe - Taylor Swift
Another classic Taylor breakup song. This song pushes you to move on even when you know it is going to be one of the hardest things you have ever done with lyrics like "And I can't breathe without you / But I have to breathe without you / But I have to."
15. Brutal Love - Green Day
This song, with its simple lyrics and melody is a protest to "this brutal love."
16. Burning House - Cam
Cam has a beautiful voice and you feel like you are walking through your own nightmare when she sings about the burning house of a previous relationship. The haunting lyrics "I've been sleepwalking / Too close to the fire," are a metaphor for the zombielike trance we sometimes feel we are in post-breakup.
17. 50 Ways to Say Goodbye - Train
Who can ignore this bop on their post-breakup playlist? It's the perfect song when you are "... out of lies / And ways to say goodbye."
18. You're Not Sorry - Taylor Swift
This T-Swift breakup song is one of my favorites. Listening to this song helps you to realize that "This is the last straw" and move on.
19. Yesterday - The Beatles
Put this song on your playlist if you are longing for the days when you were happily in a relationship.The verse, "Why she had to go? / I don't know, she wouldn't say. / I said something wrong. / Now I long for yesterday," really hits you in the post-breakup feels.
20. The Wind Blows - All-American Rejects
The All-American Rejects sing to that post-breakup ache when you find it difficult to move on. Yet, the lyrics are extremely powerful, starting out with "I've got to breathe / You can't take that from me."
21. Up Against the Wall - Boys Like Girls
This Boys Like Girls is a classic 2000s breakup song. No breakup playlist is complete without it. "Who said that it's better to have loved and lost? / I wish that I had never loved at all."
22. Jar of Hearts - Christina Perri
Do not lie to me. You played this on repeat 100 times in a row in middle school. This song is a masterpiece. And, it is another song that warns not to go back with the lyrics, "I know I can't take one more step towards you / 'Cause all that's waiting is regret."
23. thank u, next - Ariana Grande
Ariana's new hit song is the perfect breakup anthem. It will have you not singing but shouting "Thank u, next," to your ex.
24. Love Myself - Hailee Steinfeld
Every breakup playlist needs the empowering songs like Hailee Steinfeld's Love Myself. Trust me, it feels really good to sing "Gonna love myself, no, I don't need anybody else," after a breakup.
25. Thunder - Boys Like Girls
Boys Like Girls' self-titled album is a hit for breakup songs. Their lyrics do a great job summing up the breakup pains: "You'll always be my thunder / So bring on the rain / Oh baby bring on the pain / And listen to the thunder."
26. Think About You - LÉON
All of us get caught up thinking about our exes. Her song details the transition from someone she loved to someone she no longer knows with lyrics like, "Your words, they burn / I read it twice, the way you write is different."
27. Hurricane Drunk - Florence and The Machine
"I brace myself / 'Cause I know it's going to hurt / But I like to think at least things can't get any worse," are lyrics we can all relate to when we have hit rock bottom after a breakup.
28. The Story of Us - Taylor Swift
We all have that romance that we thought would last forever. But, inevitably we end up singing "And the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now."
29. Romeo Must Die - Gabrielle Aplin
When you are fed up with romance, listen to this song. If you are feeling particularly morbid after your breakup, the lyrics "And I'm thinking Romeo must die," will be perfect.
30. River of Tears - Alessia Cara
Alessia Cara has a beautiful voice which makes listening to this song all the more satisfying. When you are feeling like crying, sing with Cara about how "Love sinks and hope floats / In a river of tears."
31. Remember When - Avril Lavigne
Overall, the song is sad, with a beginning of "Remember when I cried to you a thousand times," but still has an empowering sentiment with the lyrics "But I'm not lost / I'm not gone."
32. Praying - Kesha
Leave it to Kesha to give us the perfect moving on song. Regardless of the demons you are singing this song to, she prays for their peace and accepts her own identity with lyrics like "I'm proud of who I am / No more monsters, I can breathe again."
33. The Night We Met - Lord Huron
Prepare for the tears, especially if you have watched "13 Reasons Why." These heartbreaking lyrics - "I had all and then, most of you / Some and now, none of you," make for yet another perfect breakup song.
34. By The Way - Lindsay Ell
Going out tonight to get over your breakup? Try this song. This spunky song says farewell to all of Ell's exes and says hello to the opportunity of meeting someone new. "Hey, by the way / Guess who's going out tonight?"
35. Can't Pin Me Down - Marina and The Diamonds
Ready to embrace your independence? Marina can help you with that. Dance and sing along to these empowering lyrics: "You can paint me any color / And I can be your clown / Bout you ain't got my number / No, you can't pin me down."
36. Chances - Five for Fighting
Beware! Chances will break your heart all over again. The lyrics "Chances are we'll find a new equation / Chances roll away from me / Chances are all they hope to be," grapple with the reality that any relationship can come crashing to an end.
37. We Are Never Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift
Yeah, "We are never ever ever ever getting back together."
38. Hello - Adele
And, this playlist is obviously incomplete without Adele, Taylor Swift's rival as the breakup anthem queen. So, "Hello from the other side."
Energetic dance performance under the spotlight.
Taylor Swift in a purple coat, captivating the crowd on stage.
Taylor Swift shines on stage in a sparkling outfit and boots.
Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers sharing a joyful duet on stage.
