14 best (or worst) songs to nurse a heartbreak
Some say there’s a good song for every occasion. Others think the best songs are those that tell stories. But don’t you think the sad songs are really the best?
And if you’re happy where you are right now, you might find this a bit soppy…but surely you’ve been down at some point and maybe sang to one sad tune.
Yahoo Philippines has rounded up some of the best (or worst) songs for those of you nursing a broken heart. Prepare your tissue!
1. I CAN’T MAKE YOU LOVE ME by Bonnie Raitt
Is it unrequited love you want to sing of? This could be the perfect song for you. After all, we can’t really make people love us if they don’t, can we? This was first recorded by Bonnie Raitt in 1991, but many covers have come out since, including one by every melancholic’s favorite Adele. There’s also a heartrending male version by Bon Iver.
Where it hurts most:
“I’ll close my eyes, then I won’t see
The love you don’t feel when you’re holding me
Morning will come and I’ll do what’s right
Just give me till then to give up this fight,
And I will give up this fight”
2. WHY CAN’T IT BE? by Rannie Raymundo
There is also a lot of original Pinoy music that will hit you at all the right places when you’re “sawi.” One of them is “Why Can’t It Be?” by Rannie Raymundo, which is about true love, at the wrong place and at the wrong time. It was released as part of Rannie’s first and self-titled album in 1992.
Where it hurts most:
“You came along
At a wrong place
At a wrong time
Or was it me?”
3. LET ME BE THE ONE by Jimmy Bondoc
Have you ever felt as if your loved one wants to push you away yet doesn’t want to take responsibility for it? Listen to this song. Better yet, sing at the top of your lungs. Filipino artist Jimmy Bondoc wrote the song, and sent it to a radio station where it rose to popularity. It later on became part of his debut album in 2000.
Where it hurts most:
“We don’t need to find a set up where
Someone wins or someone loses
We just have to say our love was true
But has now become a lie
So I’m telling you I love you one last time
And goodbye”
4. LET THE PAIN REMAIN by Side A
While others try to forget the pain, some bask in it until they tire of it. And this is the perfect song for those who won’t let go. It would also help if you’re looking out the window on a rainy day while you sing your heart out. “Let the Pain Remain” was performed by the local band Side A for their 1998 album Ang Ating Awitin. The song is a Basil Valdez original.
Where it hurts most:
“I'll let the pain, bring on the rain
If that's the only way
If there's no other way
To be with you again”
5. I THOUGHT SHE KNEW by N’Sync
It’s true some words are better left unspoken. But, sometimes, assuming your lover knows what he or she means to you can be dangerous. This song speaks of that danger, which was not realized until the lover was gone. N’Sync released this song a cappella in 2000 as part of their album No Strings Attached. It’s also the first song wherein all five members of the group had a solo part.
Where it hurts most:
“A heart full of words left unspoken
Now that we’re through
I’d sell my soul to have this silence broken
Oh, I thought she knew,
I thought she knew”
6. YOUR EX-LOVER IS DEAD by Stars
We all speak of being friends with our lovers after the break-up, but more often than not, we turn into strangers. This song is about that. It begins with the singer talking about (or imagining) bumping into an ex-lover, who no longer recognizes him. It was released in 2005 by the Canadian indie pop group Stars. What’s weird is that its video shows the band lying on ice and playing their instruments.
Where it hurts most:
“There’s one thing I want to say, so I’ll be brave.
You were what I wanted.
I gave what I gave.
I’m not sorry I met you.
I’m not sorry it's over.
I’m not sorry there's nothing to save.”
7. GO ON GIRL by Ne-Yo
Those who say they’re okay are really the ones who aren’t, they say. In this single, the singer knows he can’t get the girl and her love back, and he says he doesn’t want them back, but who’s he kidding, really? The song was part of Ne-Yo’s album Because of You in 2007.
Where it hurts most:
“Please don’t worry ‘bout me I’m fine.
Only gonna play the fool one time.
Trust me when I say that I’ll be okay.
Go on girl, go on girl, go on girl.”
8. GRAVITY by Sara Bareilles
This song was part of Sara Bareilles’ first album Careful Confessions but it was again included in her 2009 album “Little Voice.” It’s about wanting to be with someone, but knowing better than being helplessly bound or vulnerably drawn to one person. If you complain that your lover is keeping you down or is keeping too tight a grasp on you, this song is perfect.
Where it hurts most:
“Set me free, let me be
I don’t want to fall another moment into your gravity
Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I’m supposed to be
But you’re on to me and all over me”
9. SOMEONE LIKE YOU by Adele
This list wouldn’t be complete without an Adele original because every broken heart breaks further when there’s an Adele playing in the background. This song was part of Adele’s second studio album 21, released in 2011. The British singer-songwriter has admitted she was still emotionally struggling when she wrote it.
Where it hurts most:
“Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you, too
Don't forget me, I beg, I remember you said
Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead”
10. SWANS by Unkle Bob
“Swans” is a very simple song released by UK-based band Unkle Bob as part of their debut album Sugar & Spite in 2006. In it the singer laments how he and his lover will never be together again. If you love someone yet you feel that the two of you are not on the same page, this is one song that can break your heart.
Where it hurts most:
“You tell me that you love me but you never want to see me again (4x)”
11. AUBREY by Bread
Aubrey was composed by David Gates and is considered one of Bread’s most popular and melancholic songs. It speaks of unrequited love, though it’s unclear whether it was for a lover or for an unborn child. Fun fact: Before this song became popular (in 1972), Aubrey was a name used mostly for males.
Where it hurts most:
“Wish that I had found the way
And the reasons that would make her stay.
I have learned to lead a life apart from all the rest.
If I can’t have the one I want, I'll do without the best.”
12. LYING TO YOU by Keaton Henson
This song was part of Keaton Henson’s 2013 album dubbed Birthdays. In the lyrics, the singer talks about how he prefers being “truly alone” over falling for someone. It’s unclear whether he’s still with the girl the song is addressing because a part talks about how “it’s strange that I still stay with you.”
Where it hurts most:
“And girl you must know that you’re lovely.
You’re kind and you’re beautiful too.
And in some way I feel I do love you.
But, babe, I’m not in love with you.”
13. A STRANGE ARRANGEMENT by Mayer Howthorne
You know how love and your lover both seem perfect at the start of a relationship? Sometimes you find out you were wrong to think so in the first place. Other times, they end up deciding they’re better off with someone else. This song is about that. It was part of Mayer Hawthorne’s first album A Strange Arrangement in 2009.
Where it hurts most:
“You were everything that I dreamed I would find
Now we can’t go back where we started this is the end of the line”
14. ONE LAST CRY by Brian McKnight
Okay, maybe by now you’ve cried a lot after the heartbreak. But surely one last cry wouldn’t hurt? A lot of songs are about still feeling for someone who no longer has feelings for you, but this one goes all out in terms of the lyrics. It doesn’t hurt that Brian McKnight, who released it as part of his debut album in 1992, sang it as if he were really crying.
Where it hurts most:
“Now I sit all alone wishing all my feeling was gone
I gave my best to you, nothing for me to do
But have one last cry”
