Songs About Breakup – Emotional And Poetic Songs
It seems that almost half of all love songs are about the loss of love. There might be some food for thought there. In this post, let’s explore some of the most poetic, emotional, and best love songs about breakup and losing love.
Sad love songs are almost therapeutic because in relating to them, they are often cathartic, helping us somehow lift our moods.
Energetic And Emotional Breakup Rock Song: Bon Jovi – Always
This song is one of the greatest breakup songs because of the raw emotion that swells in this song as it builds. For my taste, the best part of this song is in the bridge of the song. It’s towards the end. At that moment of the song, the song builds so much energy, and Bon Jovi lifts the energy of the song with his emotional singing. It’s a great moment in music, artistry, and in human expression. You can really feel Bon Jovi’s pain, sadness, and heartbreak.
Mellow And Nostalgic Breakup Song
After you mentally fight what you can’t control, and make peace with your loss, the emotions are less raw, which is where a more mellow and nostalgic song mood might be a better match for the moment.
After the raw emotions subside, you float between your current reality and where you want to be. It’s almost like waves going back and forth. This is where the next breakup song comes in. It uses the metaphor of a gentle stream of a river to show how gentle a lover’s whispers might be while at the same time how the river can just carry your loved one away.
Here is the page with the full lyric and song analysis.
Unapologetic Breakup Song: You Otta Know By Alanis Morissette
It’s a song about leaving all the bad things behind and moving on while no longer repeating your own relationship mistakes. This song has quite a bit of reflection in it. It’s almost like talking to yourself about past events in order to find strength to move on.
Regretful And Bittersweet Song About Breakup – Someone Like You by Adele
This song makes peace with the idea that all wounds don’t have to completely heal, and sometimes we just live with them, taking a little bit of our sadness with us wherever we go. Simply knowing that all sadness doesn’t have to be resolved is a little bit of therapy in itself.
This song is quite emotional. You can tell that Adele shed some tears over this relationship.
Song About Breakup After Being Mistreated – Two Evening Stars, Cold Like Her Eyes by Bulat Okudzhava
I translated this song from the original language, which is Russian. I thought the poetry and the imagery of this song were really amazing. The sad part of being in a relationship whose “eyes are like two cold evening stars” is that it’s more lonely to be in such a relationship than not. You can feel the loneliness in the sound and lyrics of this ballad.
Here is a full analysis and translated lyrics of this song. If you like such poetic songs, you may also be interested in my list of songs with deep meaning.
Best Breakup Country Song – Remember When By Alan Young
There are many country songs about love, breakup, and heartache. It sometimes seems like every other country song is a sad love song, so it was hard to pick one. The reason I went with this one is because of the sincerely of the sound.
There are very few instruments in this song, and the vocal is very forward. This song relies on the sweetness of the lead guitar and the vocalist to communicate the extent of the heartache, and I think those two are just right to communicate the melancholy and sad mood of the song.
There is no pretending with this song or hiding behind fancy audio effects. It’s all out there, and it’s very human.
She’s Devilish by Alex Genadinik
This is a song about knowing that you are getting into a bad relationship that is going to bring you heartache, but doing it anyway because the danger is just too appealing in the moment.
Here is a longer analysis of this song about a breakup.
Best Song Lyrics In a Breakup Song – Halleluja by Leonard Cohen
In my opinion, Leonard Cohen is the best English-language poet among all musicians. I know it’s a high bar and there are many other greats like Bob Dylan, but after yers of mulling it over, I give the prize for best poetry and lyrics to Leonard Cohen.
His classic song Halleluja is an incredible example of the depth of his poetry. It’s a breakup song because it laments a woman he once loved passionately. But it’s also a song of awe at history and king David. This masterpiece juxtaposes how music can move even God, but not that women he has broken up with. It’s the most beautiful F.U in the history of breakups.
Click here for my collection of songs with best poetry. This isn’t just one of the greatest breakup songs of all time. This is one of the greatest songs in any genre.
Breakup Song After Cheating And Betrayal – Famous Blue Raincoat by Leonard Cohen
The protagonist of this masterpiece is writing a letter to the woman he is breaking up with at 4 in the morning about everything he knows and thinks. It’s an intense setting. But the mood of the song is sad and melancholy, almost looking for closure to the relationship.
It feels like Leonard Cohen is trying to show that the betrayal isn’t that painful to him, but it feels like it is.
Duet Breakup Song: Hey That’s No Way To Say Goodbye by Leonard Cohen And Julie Felix
This is such a sweet duet. I can’t help but swoon and feel sad when listening. You can feel them trying to avoid the loneliness that will come as soon as they part, and they keep the dialog going so they don’t have to fully break up. They sing with a hint of hope for a better outcome as though by some magic, the outcome of this relationship might be reversed.
The performers have incredible chemistry. As a listener, I find this song very healing.
Additional Love Songs
Not all love songs are about heartbreak and breaking up. There are plenty of positive love songs that make you feel positive emotions, and I wanted to share some of my positive and sweet love songs with you.
Here is a sweet love song with great lyrics about how tender love can be. It borrows imagery from Michelangelo’s Birth of Adam, and turns it into romantic imagery.
I also recently wrote an ode to Audrey Hepburn, which might be a fun listen, and a similar fun love song to The Girl With A Pearl Earring painting.
