Theme
Songs about breakup
Interpretations from our editorial team that explore this theme.
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Ariana Grande
thank u, next
A breakup song that skips the bitterness, treating each former partner as a lesson and the singer herself as the relationship worth keeping
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Daniel Caesar
Hold Me Down
A bruised love song about wanting devotion from a partner whose ambitions are pulling her out of the relationship
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Charlie Puth & Jung Kook
Left and Right
A breakup song about the way an ex's presence keeps reappearing in every direction the narrator turns, no matter how much time, distance, or alcohol he puts between them
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AKMU
How can I love the heartbreak, you're the one I love
A refusal to romanticize a breakup, sung by someone who realizes mid-walk that loving you cannot include loving the loss of you
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Olivia Dean
Baby Steps
A breakup song about relearning how to be alone, told as the small, deliberate motions of someone teaching themselves to walk again
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Calvin Harris & Clementine Douglas
Blessings
A goodbye letter set to a dance beat, written by someone who has finally stopped negotiating with a partner who chipped away at her sense of self
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Zara Larsson
Ruin My Life
A breakup song that flips the usual script: she doesn't want her ex back to feel safe, she wants the chaos back because the calm is worse
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Ella Bright
Baby Now That I Found You
A confession of one-sided devotion, sung by someone who refuses to release a partner who has already announced they're leaving
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Avril Lavigne
Alone
A kiss-off to a self-absorbed ex who blew his chance and now wants back in, delivered with zero sympathy