A list of 31 of some of the most heartbreaking songs to exist. From some well known break up anthems to some hidden gems that will gnaw at your heart, this is the perfect list to get you in your feels. So grab some tissues and have a listen!
(Spotify playlist link included at the end with all songs included + more!)
- i can’t make you love me – dave thomas junior
a hauntingly beautiful song about being in love with someone who simply cannot love you back and the heartache that comes with accepting that you indeed cannot make someone love you.“Here in the dark, in these final hours
I will lay down my heart and I’ll feel the power
But you won’t, no you won’t”
What if one of you fell out of love and the other simply couldn’t? “Emily” is a beautiful song exploring the embers of a dying relationship.
“So I’ll call you a liar when I am the one who’s been hiding things
And I’ll spill all your secrets to anyone listening
And then you complicate it by asking me if I could still believe”
A heartwrenching piece by Dean Lewis, pleading with his lover to let him go because he feels he is too lost and broken to be deserving of her love and no longer wants to drag her down with him.
“But how am I supposed to love you when I don’t love who I am?
And how can I give you all of me when I’m only half a man?
‘Cause I’m a sinking ship that’s burning, so let go of my hand”
This song is directed to a past lover, reminiscing the times of the relationship and missing the feeling of being important to and loved by someone.
“Now, the day bleeds into nightfall
And you’re not here to get me through it all
I let my guard down and then you pulled the rug
I was getting kinda used to being someone you loved”
A heartwarming and beautiful song comforting a loved one during times of hardships and heartbreaks.
“Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you”
Everything comes with a price. “Consequences” is an achingly beautiful song where Cabello sings about the daunting consequences of being in love with her partner.
“Loving you was dumb, dark, and cheap
Loving you will still take shots at me
Found loving you was sunshine, but then it poured
And I lost so much more than my senses”
A painful song where the singer recalls a dream she had of her ex lover, only he still loved her, followed by the agonising feeling that occurs when she realizes it was nothing but a dream.
“You don’t see what you saw in me
When you said you would never leave
And I swore that I couldn’t breathe
When you walked away from me”
How can the pain of being abandoned by your lover be explained with words. An enticing song with a unique sound, showcasing the struggles of moving on from an ex lover.
“Hold my breath and count to ten
While she rips my heart, I see thousand stars hold it in
No, I’ll never love again
‘Cause you made me a fool”
A soft and lovely piece where the singer recognises the pain of the girl with the broken heart and encourages her to give the love she deserves, a chance.
“You were young, he was cold
Stole the light from your eyes
You’ve been tryna let go of him
But he’s there, the thorn in your side”
A hauntingly beautiful and captivating piece by Taylor Swift, singing from the perspective of an underappreciated and dissatisfied lover suffering at the hands of an uninterested and undevoted partner that takes her love for granted.
“If it’s all in my head, tell me now
Tell me I’ve got it wrong somehow
I know my love should be celebrated
But you tolerate it”
A slow and grievous song highlighting the perspective of a man comparing his new lover to his old one, and coming to terms with how no one can ever compete with his past love.
“I shouldn’t have called
‘Cause we shouldn’t speak
You do make me hard
But she makes me weak”
Headspace is a slow and raw work of art by Capaldi, exploring the insecurities of someone in a relationship who feels their lover does not truly love them.
“I never thought that a lie could sound so sweet
Until you opened your mouth
And you said you loved me”
A melodious acoustic song where the singer is apologizing to lover for all that he did to her, knowing he can never be with her again because he is too scared to hurt her again.
“I’m a honeybee, breaking your heart, broke mine enough to kill me
I let you feel my sting before my last bittersweet moments of flying”
Another devastatingly beautiful piece by Anson Seabra, where the singer grieves for the lover who left him, telling her he would have done anything for her and it still wasn’t enough because she simply doesn’t want him.
“I woulda crossed the stars
To keep you in my life
But now I’m falling hard
Without you here tonight”
A heart-aching song where the singer confesses to being unable to let go of his ex lover who still has his heart even if he no longer has hers.
“I let myself hope
I let myself feel things I know that you don’t
You’re not mine anymore
But I’m still a little bit yours”
A personal and sorrowful song where Sheeran comes to term with how he has to stop giving to everyone in hopes to save them and it is time that he saves himself first.
“I gave you all my energy and I took away your pain
‘Cause human beings are destined to radiate or drain
What line do we stand upon, ’cause from here it looks the same
And only scars remain”
A melancholic goodbye to one’s ex lover, bringing light to all the pain he caused and how he will never get another chance.
“You think you’re missed, well let me tell you this
The love I felt for you has flown away
And now all you see what you’ve done to me
So all I can ask is why, why, why”
A raw and painful plead to the singer’s lover, begging her to let him go and stop asking him to return to the relationship because he can no longer bear the pain she causes him.
“Stop asking me to come back
Oh, stop asking me to do that
It’s like you’re waiting on a better man
And you break me all over again”
A heartbreaking and heavy, personal song, where nf confronts his mother who has passed, about her drug addiction and how it affected his life, knowing that through his music is the only way he’ll ever be able to talk to her again.
“They say pain is a prison, let me out of my cell
You say you proud of me, but you don’t know me that well
Sit in my room, tears runnin’ down my face and I yell
Into my pillowcases, say you comin’ to get us”
This seemingly melodious and tender song describes an emotionally and physically abusive relationship, lovingly described by the victim because of his attachment to his abuser.
“The way she tells me I’m hers and she is mine
Open hand or closed fist would be fine
The blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine”
A beautifully soft and melancholy song where the abrams recalls memories of her ex lover, struggling to come to terms with the breakup and questioning whether she made the right decision to end it.
“I see the look in your eye and I’m biting my tongue
You’ll be the love of my life when I was young
When the night is over
Don’t call me up I’m already under”
The singer recalls the end of her relationship and how painful it was that she felt it was too much for her to bear she wasn’t sure she would be alright anymore.
“I need an ambulance
I took, I took the worst of the blow
Send me a redeemer
Let me know if I’m gonna be alright
Am I gonna be alright?”
A broken-hearted but accepting piece where the daughter of an abusive alcoholic highlighting their broken relationship and says goodbye.
“I just wanted you to say something, anything at all
To put my mind at ease that you’re a good man after all
But nothing ever changes
You don’t even want to talk”
This slow, sombre and sorrowful song contrasts between whiskey and the singer’s ex lover, used to describe the lingering pain of their breakup.
“But your forgiveness
Well, that’s somethin’ I can’t buy
There ain’t a thing that I can do
That’s the difference between whiskey and you”
Arthur can’t come to terms with how his lover does not love him, but instead loves someone else and asks her if he can become her new lover.
“When the lights come on and I’m on my own
Will you be there to sing it again
Could I be the one you talk about in all your stories”
Through a lonely, bedroom style tone, Cutler reminisces the memories she’s had with her ex, while expressing how much she misses him and wishes him the best, offering him a solemn farewell, hoping she’ll be reunited with him one day.
“I want you to smile, to feel like enough
‘Cause you deserve yellow and lions and love
I hope you come back when you’re doing well
Forgive me for being the worst of myself”
This song explores the sullen world of someone suffering from the overwhelming weight of addiction.
“You could still be what you want to
What you said you were when I met you
You’ve got a warm heart, you’ve got a beautiful brain
But it’s disintegrating from all the medicine.“
A raw and dark piece where the singer recalls the moment her lover murders her. It deals with the difficult things we must do to protect the people we love.
“He holds the gun against my head
I close my eyes and “bang”, I am dead
I know he knows that he’s killing me for mercy“
A powerful, raw and pained song where the singer expresses how all his efforts will never make his lover pleased with him and no matter what he does he will never be enough for her.
“I’ll never be worthy of you
I’m broken, and beat up, and bruised
I’ve proven all that I can prove
There’s nothing that I won’t do“
Seabra addresses his lover with a bitter yet soft tone in this song, exhausted and drained from the relationship and the hurt she’s caused him, asking her to simply leave him alone.
“Why are you still on the line
You’ve taken so much time from me, my dear
Can’t take one more night
It’s time for you to try the loneliness I feel”
A beautifully heartbreaking song where Ridings struggles to cope with the severity of her heartbreak and the feeling of loss and loneliness she feels without her lover.
“You were the only safe haven that I’ve known
Hits me at full speed, feel like I can’t breathe
And nobody knows this pain inside me
My world is crumbling, I should never have let you go”
Spotify Playlist:
(Direct Link: Click here)
