Seven Great Make Up & Break Up Songs

Well, it’s Valentines Day which means statistically you’re either in a new relationship, enjoying an old one, resenting the fact that you’re in an old one that isn’t really going anywhere, newly single or – legitimately or otherwise – “enjoying the single life too much to care about such things”.

At any rate, I thought I’d try something a little different this year. It’s the first Valentines Day since we came back and I thought, hey, some people love today, love expressing love today, all that jazz, and some people hate the way it focuses on couples and romance and that ever elusive perfect soulmate. Let’s cater to everyone with a range of songs.

So, over the last month or two, I’ve been carefully considering a selection of love songs and end of love songs. Some of them are mournful, some of them ecstatic, some of them really, really make you think. They’re not the best – I’d never claim to know enough songs to ever, ever, tell you that any song is definitively the best song of any particular genre or theme. An act’s best songs, sure, absolutely, but never a genre or theme. My non-existent reputation means too much to me to do that. I’m waffling. Below, you will find seven great make up and break up songs, as hand selected by me, so that whatever mood this Valentines Day has put you into, you’ve got some choices. Enjoy.

Oh, and one last thing… I suppose “make up songs” implies getting back together, when really I just romantic songs, but seven great love and break up songs didn’t really flow very well. Call it a creative choice for branding purposes. Let’s go!

SEVEN GREAT MAKE UP SONGS

Madness – It Must Be Love

We start with my favourite love song of all time. I would say it’s definitely in the top ten love songs of all time, to my knowledge, without defining the rest of the list, so as to hold true to my previous statement regarding my reputation.

Why is this on the list? Something about the way the song tells of a surprising love, one that caught the singer out, and now encompasses his mind and heart in such an unexpected way, really resonates with me. Anyone who knows my personal history will understand why, but it’s far too personal to go into on such a public forum. You don’t get to learn everything, dear reader.

The musical style is distinctive, especially the piano, the strings and the saxophone, which help to make this a very, very memorable song, and while I reckon we could get away without the saxophone in this particular song, the way the instruments all combine with this just really common man’s voice sort of comes across as this hopeful ode to romance, and I love it.

Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers – Islands In The Stream

I have to admit, I almost included Dolly’s rendition of I Will Always Love You to this list, but I felt like having two of hers on here would be pushing things a bit – got to have variety – and putting that in instead of this duet would break a little something inside of me.

From the opening chord, you know this is going to be a relatively chill, romantic song. It’s just two lovers singing to each over about how they support one another in a world where it’s far too easy to be swept off your feet by the rushing tides of life. Imagery intended. When they’re with each other, they know that everything is going okay, they don’t need to talk about it, they just know, together, everything is fine. There’s something deeply heart-warming about that, no matter who you are.

Throw in Dolly’s incredible voice, especially on the “sail away” section and anyone who doesn’t want to do a swaying dance, or even a full blown karaoke rendition of this is a soul-less husk of a being. Yes, especially you, Pete.

Queen – Love Of My Life

Some might consider this a break up song. I suppose, in many ways it is, but I prefer to think of it as a love song instead, describing that feel of desperation when you think, even for a moment, that perhaps the love of your life is leaving, that eager need for them to stay, just to stay, because whatever the problem is it can be fixed and you’re committed to it.

Personally, the live version at Rock in Rio is my favourite – the way the crowd sang it, something I must admit I didn’t know about until I watched Bohemian Rhapsody, really demonstrates how truly universal music, and the love of it, can be.

And putting that aside, it really is quite a beautiful song. Again, the Rock in Rio version is acoustic, that adds a lot to the romance factor for me, personally, but you know, if you prefer the studio version, that’s all fine by me.

Savage Garden – Truly Madly Deeply

I am, at times, a bit of a cliché, soppy bastard. There’s a lot of romance songs, most of them fairly poppy, out there catered to that. This is one of them. The incredibly generic pop song sound of it really, surprisingly, makes it stand out to me as something worth listening to. How that works, I don’t know, but it’s incredibly inoffensive to the sense.

It’s cliché, it’s cheesy, but it’s the right sort of cheesy cliché, with the mandolin, the almost falsetto section right after it and the imagery they attempt to invoke about what they wanna do, and with the title line that doesn’t, if you really listen, make sense. But I love it, the whole sentiment the song tries to get across works fantastically, and if you were to tell your lover those things, they’ll either be repulsed because you’re not in that place in your relationship, or they’ll find it sweet. There’s very little wiggle-room there.

Pretenders – Stand By You

I won’t lie, the way this song has been used for charity appeals has sort of ruined this one for me, but it doesn’t stop it being a great love song.

This song discusses how we go through some dark times, but that our lovers can help us through them, that they’ll normally know that we’ve been through some shit that we don’t want to share, but if we do, if we need to or want to, it’s all going to be okay. We’ve all been there, right? That one thing we’ve been afraid to tell a lover for fear that it would change everything. Well, this song latches onto that moment, that one fear and tells you, from the other side of it, “no matter what, I’ve got your back”, and honestly, that is a bloody fantastic thing to be able to hear.

Cos that’s love, isn’t it? That warmth of assurance that no matter what, someone, that special someone, is in your corner, backing you up.

The vocals work brilliantly – Chrissie Hynde’s voice is fantastic, and the choral kick in about three quarters of the way in really adds an element of greatness to the song that adds a lot to it.

Dido – Thank You

Whilst probably better known for the sections which were used for Stan, Thank You is a great song in its own right and well worth your attention today, of all days.

It starts with the light hand drumming, followed by the acoustic guitar, the drum machine kicking in and then the lyrics sum up a really, really shitty day, especially for us Brits with the tea having gone cold. We all have days like that, days where it’s really miserable, where we think we should have just stayed in bed and shut the world out… and then you’re talking to, or with, your lover and everything bad just sort of fades away. It’s gone, washed away like tears in the rain.

And that’s what this song is – an ode to that moment of perfect bliss with your partner, the moment everything else stops mattering because all that matters is right there with you, in that moment and, if all goes well, the moments that follow until there’s no moments left to perceive.

The Greatest Showman – Rewrite The Stars

Okay, so this is Zac Efron and Zendaya, but it’s a bit more complicated than that, so I’ve gone with the movie there.

This one is more of a seductive song, but without the whole flirty nature of things. No it’s much more Romeo & Juliet than that, told from the perspectives of each half of a forbidden pairing, who both want each other and are musing over the possibility of saying “screw you” to everything that’s holding them apart, with one in favour and the other saying that as lovely a thought as it is, it’s just not possible.

They both want it, they both know they both want it, but the world they live in just doesn’t allow it and we know that, contextually, that’s all nonsense and shouldn’t be a barrier, but the whole concept of forbidden love exists in the modern day still. Trust me. It’s something that a lot of people can relate to nowadays still despite the ground that has been broken in societal norms this last decade, let alone the last century or two. And with the song ending on that mutual understanding of deep affection, alongside the mutual understanding that is just isn’t going to happen, this rounds off the list.

SEVEN GREAT BREAK UP SONGS

Mika – My Interpretation

We start off our break up songs with this classic tune from Mika, a sort of post-break up argument prevention song. You know what I mean, that sort of “I’m not listening any more, this is what I think, you know what you think, there’s no point going on about this any more”, and there’s something quite admirable about.

Like all the great Mika songs, it features the falsetto, it’s poppy and there’s an element of nonchalance about the whole thing. I’ve always got the impression that the best of Mika is an uncaring sound and this really nails it. Key point of the song?

And it don’t have to make no sense to you at all,
’cause this is my interpretation…

There’s something quite powerful there, and honestly, there’s one person that I would direct to this song if they ever decide to get back in touch with me. I hope they don’t, but this would be the song. Maybe it would get the point across, maybe not, but it would satisfy me all the same. Isn’t that what it’s all about at the end of the day?

Boys Like Girls – Love Drunk

Getting over the inherent assumptions of the act’s name, this song looks at the way you can be drunk on someone else’s presence in your life and then come to the realisation that – deep down or not – you’re really not all that keen any more, that they’re just not working for you anymore and any more of them would give you a reaction you just don’t want to invite, much like how when you’re having a hangover, you swear off alcohol. I’ve never sworn off it, I don’t think, maybe not even that time I…

Throw in the upbeat music, the bass drop prior to the chorus’, the quieter segment followed by the drum build up and a key change, and you’ve got the kind of thing that ‘boy bands’ of the 90’s and early 00’s (think Westlife) were making middle aged women cream over, but in the form of a poppy-punky break up song and that is just a recipe for greatness, whoever you are.

Add in some semi-decent guitar, the obligatory cheers and delays, the before and after images of the relationship and honestly? I love it.

Taylor Swift – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Yes, I listened to the Taylor version while writing this. I’m not a monster. Honest.

I really like how this one plays out a lot like a conversation with singing elements. The talk of indy records and the phone call segment makes me, and hopefully you, feel a bit like a fly on the wall and there’s something rather cathartic about that. It touches on the naivety of new relationships that are doomed to failure, it emphasises that childish playground style of talking to other people about the situation so that it filters back to the person you’ve split from and the video features one hell of an enthusiastic furry/guitarist. Honestly, the highlight of the video, if you ask me and you’re here, so you don’t need to ask, because you know I’ll just tell you whether you want to know or not. Give it a watch, it’s right here, what have you got to lose.

Frankee – (F.U.R.B) F U Right Back

This is, without a doubt, the rudest song on this list, it’s one I ummed and ahhed about adding, but decided “fuck it, let’s do this, because we’ll probably all been there at some point”. Bit of background, the (disputed) lore surrounding this song is that Frankee was an ex of Eamon, who alleged wrote a song about their breakup, causing her to rework that song into a, if I understand correctly, more popular song.

Whether the facts are accurate or not, there’s something very therapeutic about talking shit about someone you think is talking shit about you – the whole setting the record straight thing, but doing it in style. It’s not particularly well written, especially the last verse, but there’s something very endearing about it and it’s well worth a listen, no matter what anyone else might say. The video is very low quality though. Like, really low quality.

The Darkness – With A Woman

I’m rather fond of The Darkness, and hearing this song in the car the other day, on the way home from work, really struck a chord with me for adding it to this list.

The song starts with a fantastic guitar riff, the drums kick in with a fairly standard beat, the whole thing would sound great as part of some driving soundtrack, and then the vocals kick in and you realise that the song is all about breaking up with your partner because you’ve come to the realisation that you’re not happy, you probably never were, and that you’ve fallen for someone else.

Lots of great lyrics in this one, but here’s a specific bit I really adore, literally the first few lines.

It’s all over between me and you,
I want to tell you I still love you but that wouldn’t be true,
I know it hurts like hell, but what else can I do?
You said I wasted your time but that was my time too…

Honestly? Just great lyrics, great music and a great song from the perspective of the breakup instigator.

Bowling For Soup – Me With No You

This one’s a lot more sombre, very much a “I’m nothing without you and I wish you were back”, which is in direct contrast with the “hey, my life is going to be better now” vibe I get from the last one.

In Me With No You, BFS specifically list a bunch of things that aren’t quite right and how they’re those things without the love they’ve lost, with example of a kingdom without a king and a king without a crown. It’s a touching song, and again, I think this one works better as an emotional acoustic song, but you’ll have the rock version below.

All in all, it acknowledges the broken feeling you get inside when a romance you thought was going well, ends, and alongside it, the brave face so many of us put on in that circumstance, when we’re mere thoughts away from breaking down into a hopeless mess. We’ve all been there, and if you haven’t, you’re one of the lucky ones. This song captures that moment very, very well.

Gayle – abcdefu

This is the most recent release of all of the songs on here, so I had to put it in last, I just had to. Something about this song really speaks to me, and I think it’s the brutal honesty to it.

There comes a point in a relationship that you know isn’t going anywhere when you just give up being nice any more, when you think “fuck you, and everything connected to you”, and this song captures that “not giving a shit any more” feeling very nicely. It really is just that that gets it added to this list. The need to vent and rant and rage at that person that you’re not interested in being connected to anymore, particularly after it’s already gone sour. Why be nice when it’s all fucked anyway?

My favourite bit though, is truly brutal and, if the rest of the lyrics are true, feel somewhat deserved.

A-B-C-D-E, F-U,
And your mom and your sister and your job,
And your craigslist couch, and the way your voice sounds.

Throw in that it’s really quite catchy, has an upbeat chorus and a radio friendly version, and you’ve got a hit on your hands. What’s not to like, at the end of the day?

And that’s it, that’s the list. You would not believe the effort that went into lining them up, so, I bloody hope they’re still lined up when you get to see this. Hopefully there’s something that fits your mood today, on there. If not, well, maybe next year. We take suggestions, so feel free to let us know what you think and maybe, just maybe, you’ll get a special mention on next year’s list. No promises though.

At any rate, I hope you either enjoy, or have enjoyed, today, whatever the mood. It can be hard for some people, so if you’re one of those people, remember, things get better. It won’t always be shit. And lovebirds that are really happy? Cherish it, because you can never be 100% sure when it’s all going to fall apart, but so much stuff does just do exactly that. Cherish it.

-TG

As an additional point, it’s not too late to declare your affections for us. Our emails are lookin’ real empty at the moment, be real nice to get some fan mail… Just saying.