The 70 Best Breakup Songs of All Time, Sorted by Mood
Whether you can't stop crying or just want to dance the pain away.
Listen, breakups are hard. No one's arguing with that point. I mean, other than the people who magically found their soulmate on the first try (and to those people, I say, how did you get here? This is not the playlist for you, go head over to happiest love songs or whatever). But if you're lodged deep in a hole and need some good breakup songs, I'm here to save you.
The King Of Breaking Up, Drake, once said the end of a relationship can feel like your heart is being run over" by someone "drinking and driving in an eighteen-wheeler." The Queen of Breakups, Taylor Swift, said, "We are never ever, ever getting back together." And both of them had a massive point, even though both songs had very different vibes.
Whether you're still deep in your feelings over the sick sad despair of the breakup or ready to troll Instagram with selfies because you're over it, we've got the playlist for each vibe. Still crying in your bedroom alone? We've got you covered. Ready to win the breakup? Got you too. Here's a playlist for each mood, along with each song's most savage and heartbreaking lyrics that'll really twist the knife.
The "I'm Living My Best Life Without You" Playlist
"Good As Hell" by Lizzo
Savage Lyric: "If he don't love you anymore / Just walk your fine ass out the door"
"Potential Breakup Song" by Aly & AJ
Savage Lyric: "It took too long for you to call back /And normally I would just forget that / Except for the fact it was my birthday / My stupid birthday"
"Ugly Heart"" by G.R.L.
Savage Lyric: "But it's such a pity / a boy so pretty / With an ugly heart"
"It's Not Right but It's Okay (Thunderpuss Mix)" by Whitney Houston
Savage Lyric: "Things are gonna change / 'Cause I won't be your fool anymore / That's why you have to leave / So don't turn around to see my face / There's no more tears left here for you to see"
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"New Rules" by Dua Lipa
Savage Lyric: "You know you're gonna wake up in his bed in the morning / And if you're under him, you ain't gettin' over him"
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division
Savage Lyric: "Do you cry out in your sleep? / All my failings exposed / Gets a taste in my mouth / As desperation takes hold"
"thank u, next" by Ariana Grande
Savage Lyric: "I've learned from the pain / I turned out amazing"
"Breakin' Up" by Rilo Kiley
Savage Lyric: "Revenge is the saddest thing / Honey, I'm afraid to say / You deserve everything"
"Dancing On My Own" by Robyn
Savage Lyric: "Somebody said you got a new friend / Does she love you better than I can?"
"Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson
Savage Lyric:"How come I've never heard you say / I just want to be with you?/ Guess you never felt that way"
"Stronger" by Britney Spears
Savage Lyric: "Here I go, on my own /I don't need nobody, better off alone"
"Take A Bow" by Rihanna
Savage Lyric: "You look so dumb right now / Standin' outside my house / Tryin' to apologize / You're so ugly when you cry"
"My Song 5" by HAIM
Savage Lyric: "I've been dying to know what you tried / You've been lying so / Honey I'm not your honey pie"
"Independent Women, Pt. 1" by Destiny's Child
Savage Lyric: "If you're gonna brag make sure it's your money you flaunt / Depend on no-one else to give you what you want"
"Believe" by Cher
Savage Lyric: "I need a love to feel strong / Cause I've got time to think it through / And maybe I'm too good for you"
"I'm Out" by Ciara ft. Nicki Minaj
Savage Lyric: "If you know that you better / Then the new girl that he on / Go 'head and tell him now / 'You gon' miss me when I'm gone'"
"Cosmic Love " by Florence and the Machine
Savage Lyric: "The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out / You left me in the dark"
"You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette
Savage Lyric: "And every time you speak her name / Does she know how you told me / You'd hold me until you died / 'Til you died, but you're still alive"
"Ex-Girlfriend" by No Doubt
Savage Lyric: "I know I'm going to want you and you know why / It's going to kill me to see you with the next girl / 'Cause I'm the most gorgeously jealous kind of ex-girl"
"Tears Dry On Their Own" by Amy Winehouse
Savage Lyric: "All I can ever be to you is a darkness that we knew / And this regret I got accustomed to"
"Leave (Get Out)" by JoJo
Savage Lyric: "You go behind my back and call my friend / Boy you must've fall and bumped your head / 'Cause you left your number on her phone / So now that after all that you've said and done"
"Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)" by Blu Cantrell
Savage Lyric: "And I paid / All the bills about a month too late / It's a shame we have to play these games / The love we had just fades away, away"
"Ignore Me" by Betty Who
Savage Lyric: "The best you thing you can do is just to ignore me / Forget I was born / Baby, ignore me / Since you don't need me anymore"
"Party for One" by Carly Rae Jepsen
Savage Lyric: "You don't want my love / If you don't care about me / I'll just dance for myself / Back on my beat"
"She's Not Me" by Jenny Lewis
Savage Lyric: "All those times we were making love / I never thought we'd be breaking up / Bet you tell her I'm crazy"
"I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor
Savage Lyric: "I'm not that chained-up little person and still in love with you / And so you felt like dropping in and just expect me to be free / Well, now I'm saving all my lovin' for someone who's loving me"
"Green Light" by Lorde
Savage Lyric: "Thought you said that you would always be in love / But you're not in love no more / Did it frighten you / How we kissed when we danced on the light up floor?"
"Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber
Savage Lyric: "My mama don't like you / and she likes everyone"
"Shout Out To My Ex" by Little Mix
Savage Lyric: "I hope she gettin’ better sex / Hope she ain't fakin’ it like I did, babe /Took four long years to call it quits / Forget that boy, I'm over it"
"Best Thing I Never Had" by Beyoncé
Savage Lyric: "When I think that there was a time that I almost loved you / You showed your ass and baby yes, I saw the real youThank God you blew it / I thank God I dodged a bullet / I'm so over you / Baby good lookin' out"
"Gemini Feed" by BANKS
Savage Lyric: "But admit it that you wanted me smaller / If you would have let me grow / You could have kept my love"
"You're Not Good Enough" by Blood Orange
Savage Lyric: "You never could have been a good lover / Watch what you say / Could never mean a word and still hurt you"
"Smile" by Lily Allen
Savage Lyric: "At first when I see you cry / It makes me smile"
"Independent Women, Pt. II" by Destiny's Child
Savage Lyric: "If I hurt your feelings boy / I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you / I thought you knew / I got no time to fall in love with you"
The Playlist For Crying Alone In Your Bedroom (It'll Get Better Soon, I Promise)
"New Romantic" by Laura Marling
Heart-shattering Lyric: "And I'm sorry to whichever man should meet my sorry state / Watch my sturdy, lonesome gait and beware / I will never love a man 'cause love and pain go hand-in-hand"
"Samson" by Regina Spektor
Heart-shattering Lyric: "You are my sweetest downfall / I loved you first, I loved you first / Beneath the stars came fallin' on our heads"
"when the party's over" by Billie Ellish
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Don't you know too much already / I'll only hurt you if you let me"
"Stay" by Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Funny you're the broken one / but I'm the only one who needed saving"
"Someone Like You" by Adele
Heart-shattering Lyric: "I heard, that your dreams came true / I guess she gave you things / I didn't give to you"
"Back to Black" by Amy Winehouse
Heart-shattering Lyric: "We only said goodbye with words / I died a hundred times"
"Hard Feelings / Loveless" by Lorde
Heart-shattering Lyric: "When you've outgrown a lover / The whole world knows, but you"
"Silver Springs" by Fleetwood Mac
Heart-shattering Lyric: "I know I could have loved you, but you would not let me / I'll follow you down til' the sound of my voice will haunt you / You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you"
"Pictures of You" by The Cure
Heart-shattering Lyric: "If only I'd thought of the right words / I could have held on to your heart / If only I'd thought of the right words / I wouldn't be breaking apart"
"Anthems For A Seventeen-Year-Old Girl" by Broken Social Scene
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Used to be one of the wretched ones and I liked you for that / Now you're all gone, got your make-up on and you're not coming back"
"Motion Sickness" by Phoebe Bridgers
Heart-shattering Lyric: "I have emotional motion sickness / Somebody roll the windows down / There are no words in the English language / I could scream to drown you out"
"You Don't Do It For Me Anymore" by Demi Lovato
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Now that I've learned all about you / A love just like ours wouldn't last"
"Every Word" by Empty Houses
Heart-shattering Lyric: "But the two of us know we're just skipping stones / And we're waiting for a storm to carry us away / Till we're waiting in other's wake"
"Light On" by Maggie Rogers
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Can you feel me now / That I'm vulnerable in oh-so many ways? / Oh, and I'll never change"
"Space Cowboy" by Kacey Musgraves
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Guess I'll see you 'round again / I know my place, and it ain't with you"
"Stepping Stone" by Duffy
Heart-shattering Lyric: "You get your kicks, you get your kicks from playing me / And the less you give the more I want so foolishly"
"Landfill" by Daughter
Heart-shattering Lyric: "'Cause this is torturous electricity / Between both of us and this is / Dangerous 'cause I want you so much / But I hate your guts / I hate you"
"Ex-Factor" by Lauryn Hill
Heart-shattering Lyric: "I keep letting you back in / How can I explain myself? / As painful as this thing has been / I just can't be with no one else"
"Thinkin' Bout You" by Frank Ocean
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Do you think about me still? Do ya, do ya? / Or do you not think so far ahead? / 'Cause I been thinkin' 'bout forever"
"Skipping Stone" by Alexz Johnson
Heart-shattering Lyric: "My heart's beating better alone / And if it is broke why let you know? / This heart's not your skipping stone"
"The Worst" by Jhené Aiko
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Please don't take this personal / But you ain't s--t / And you weren't special / Til I made you so"
"My Kind Of Love" by Emeli Sandé
Heart-shattering Lyric: "But don't ever question that my heart beats only for you / It beats only for you"
"Maps" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Wait, they don't love you like I love you"
"Nicest Thing" by Kate Nash
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Look, all I know is that you're the nicest thing I've ever seen / And I wish that we could see if we could be something"
"Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus
Heart-shattering Lyric: "I never meant to start a war / I just wanted you to let me in / And instead of using force / I guess I should’ve let you in"
"imagine" by Ariana Grande
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Love how my face fits so good in your neck / Why can’t you / Imagine a world like that?"
"For Emma" by Bon Iver
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Go find another lover / To bring a, to string alongWith all your lies / You're still very lovable"
"The Scientist" by Coldplay
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Tell me you love me / Come back and haunt me"
"I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston
Heart-shattering Lyric: "I never knew / Love like I've known it with you / Will a memory survive / One I can hold on to?"
"Don't Speak" by No Doubt
Heart-shattering Lyric: "I know what you're thinking / I don't need your reasons / Don't tell me 'cause it hurts"
"Praying" by Kesha
Heart-shattering Lyric: "'Cause I can make it on my own, oh / And I don't need you, I found a strength I've never known / I'll bring thunder, I'll bring rain, oh / When I'm finished, they won't even know your name"
"Un-Break My Heart" by Toni Braxton
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Time is so unkind / And life is so cruel without you here beside me"
"Better Off" by HAIM
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Forgiveness / Is that all you want from me? / I won't fall into the arms of the one who turned on me"
"Small Poppies" by Courtney Barnett
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Who am I to deny myself a pawn for you to use? / At the end of the day it's a pain that I keep seeing your name / But I'm sure it's a bore being you"
"A Case Of You" by James Blake (originally by Joni Mitchell)
Heart-shattering Lyric: "Oh you are in my blood like holy wine / You taste so bitter / And so sweet"
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Amanda Mitchell is a writer and podcaster with bylines at Marie Claire, OprahMag, Allure, Byrdie, Stylecaster, Bon Appetit, and more. Her work exists at the apex of beauty, pop culture, and absurdity. A human Funfetti cake, she watches too much television, and her favorite season is awards season. You can read more of her work at amandaelizabethmitchell.com or follow her on Instagram and Twitter @lochnessmanda.
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