This past week, all I’ve seen are red heart boxes and stuffed teddy bears that say “I love you” on them. For many people, this time of year is full of magic and rom-coms and the feeling of being swept off your feet. For others, however, it feels like suffocation. Walking around seeing everyone else around you in love, getting married or receiving sweet and thoughtful gifts can make anyone feel left out. In celebration of those who don’t have someone to hold onto this Valentine’s Day, or that can’t be with the person they love, here’s a list of seven angsty songs that are so over being in love.
Song One: “Forget You” By CeeLo Green
Now my personal preference is for the uncensored version of this song, but in the attempt to keep this blog relatively PG-13, I’ll give you the option which rendition you’d rather listen to. You probably know CeeLo Green by his notorious roles as an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor. You may also be familiar with him from his earlier involvement in the Southern hip-hop group Goodie Mob or in the soul duo Gnarls Barkley. Once CeeLo went solo, “Forget You” climbed to the number two spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.
After hearing the Glee Cast version featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, this song became a go-to bop for me when I was feeling angry. This song expresses the frustrations of giving up on a love for lacking in material wealth. Throughout the track, CeeLo makes comparisons between himself and his past girlfriend’s new boyfriend to prove that she’s simply a “gold digger.” He refers to himself as an “Atari” while saying the boyfriend is an “Xbox,” implying that she updated to the newer, more exciting model. He then expresses how much he truly cared for her as he tells her “I had to borrow, beg and steal and lie and cheat. Tryin’ to keep ya, tryin’ to please ya.” He was willing to set aside his morals and make sacrifices as an attempt to keep this girl happy and invested in their relationship. Ultimately, he realizes that a girl like that will never be satisfied with what she has and will always be looking for what she can gain.
Song Two: “Heartbreaker” by Pat Benatar
You can’t touch on angry female rock artists without considering Pat Benatar. Over her extensive career, this singer, songwriter, and actress has won four Grammys. She has also had two albums go multi-platinum, five platinum, three gold and has had 15 of her singles reach the Billboard Top 40 Singles chart. Benatar grew up in Brooklyn, New York and discovered her love of music through voice lessons and her involvement in theater throughout her time in grade school.
This song is the classic case of being in love with someone who’s bad for you. In the opening lines, Benatar describes this love as “a tidal wave.” She gives it power over her that has the force of the ocean on its side. Not only does she feel drowned, but she also feels extremely overwhelmed by how much this type of love brings out of herself. She describes the feeling as “[setting her] soul on fire, burning out of control.” She’s afraid of how much these “inner fantasies” have taken over her ability to think and act, and she knows that this will ultimately be her downfall. She tells this person to turn around and walk away not because she’s afraid of them, but because she’s afraid of this newer, more primal side of herself.
Song Three: “Kiss This” by The Struts
If you have a particular person to be angry at this time of year, then this is the perfect song for you. The Struts are an English rock band from Derbyshire, known best for their glam-alternative style. They are heavily influenced by bands such as Queen, Def Leppard, Aerosmith, and The Rolling Stones as they are trying to bring back the retro age of rock and roll. The band lineup consists of vocalist Luke Spiller, guitarist Adam Slack, bassist Jed Elliott, and drummer Gethin Davies. Their latest studio album Young & Dangerous was released October 26th of 2018.
“Kiss This” details the experience lead singer Luke Spiller had when his girlfriend cheated on him with another man. Evidently, she was sleeping with “Thomas,” allegedly a mutual friend to the both of them and all the while, his girlfriend was “Making up stories, keeping it secret” and Luke felt like a fool because he was “Taking [her] word for truth.” He decides that the right thing to do for himself is to walk away from both his relationship and his friendship, blowing up in both their faces by saying “Kiss this.” After Thomas realized that the girlfriend had been playing both Luke and himself, he attempted to reach out to Luke to make amends, but Luke felt that what had been done was irreparable. Luke says that Thomas “Didn’t give a [sh*t] before” and claims that he stole from him. I think Luke might have the right instinct. If your friend cheats with your girlfriend, they’re not really your friend, are they?
Song Four: “I Hate Myself For Loving You” by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
If we’re talking about denial and bad choices, we can’t skip out on Joan Jett’s anthem “I Hate Myself For Loving You.” Although Joan Jett was at first encouraged to venture out on her own as a solo artist, she firmly stated that she needed a band. She put out an ad for “three good men” to assist her in her musical endeavors. At auditions, John Doe of X volunteered to play the drums and he suggested to Jett that she consider Gary Ryan, an influencer to punk music in Los Angeles. At the time, Ryan was only 15 years old. Once Ryan joined the line-up, he suggested the guitarist Eric Ambel. The final addition to The Blackhearts was Danny O’Brien, a former member of LA band the Avengers. In 1982, the band recorded “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” which maintained the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for seven consecutive weeks.
“I Hate Myself For Loving You” is a song about exactly what it sounds like. In a similar vein to “Heartbreaker,” this song also touches upon being in love with someone you know you shouldn’t be. However, this song also takes into account the pain of betrayal. Jett sings “I turn my back and you’re messin’ around.” While this hurts her, she doesn’t want to admit it to herself or cause a scene because she doesn’t want to show how much it affects her. At the pre-chorus, she seems to have a revelation and says “You took my heart and you took my pride away.” Not only is she now heartbroken and distraught, but everyone else in town thinks less of her for staying with someone who’s cheating. She feels stuck in this place because she is still in love with him and can’t force herself to demand better.
Song Five: “This is How a Heart Breaks” by Rob Thomas
I can’t help but make the joke every year that instead of celebrating Valentine’s Day, I celebrate it as Rob Thomas’s birthday instead. Naturally, this meant he had to make an appearance on my list. As I’ve featured him before, you might be familiar with the fact that Rob Thomas is the lead singer of Matchbox Twenty as well as a solo artist. He’s put out three studio albums as a soloist: …Something to Be, Cradlesong and The Great Unknown. He is currently working on the release of his fourth album Chip Tooth Smile and will be releasing his newest single “One Less Day (Dying Young)” on February 20th, 2019.
“This is How a Heart Breaks” is about the growing pressures of life and love weighing a person down to their breaking point. In the first verse, Rob sings “Life is like a mean machine, it made a mess out of me,” meaning that he feels like he’s been put through the wringer. This stress is something that’s caught up to him and he doesn’t know how long he has before he completely loses it and himself. Looking back on this relationship that threatens to destroy him, he says “I’m sorry, but it’s not a mistake.” I believe this relationship may not be about him and another person, but rather the relationship he has with himself as the following lyrics are “I’m running, but you’re getting away.” He’s trying so hard to outrun himself so that he doesn’t have to come to terms with his feelings or the problems that are present within his life. It illustrates the internal struggle between wanting to ignore what’s bothering you and knowing that you need to address the problem to make it any better.
Song Six: “New Man” by Ed Sheeran
If you’ve turned on a car radio in the past 10 years, or even been outside your house, you’ve almost definitely heard an Ed Sheeran song. Since his album Divide was released, songs like “Shape of You” and “Perfect” have been inescapable. While I understand that his more popular songs may have been played so many times that groan every time you hear them, I think “New Man” was a gem from this album that was overlooked. For those unfamiliar, Ed Sheeran is an English singer/songwriter and one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Over his career, he has now sold more than 45 million copies of his albums. He first took hold of the music industry after the release of his debut album, + (pronounced Plus), which featured his hit single “A-Team.”
If you’ve ever had an ex that’s wanted to get back together, “New Man” illustrates the complexities of such a situation in humorous way. While Sheeran makes it clear that he’s still jealous and not completely over his ex, he also highlights the satisfaction that comes with knowing that your ex isn’t over you either. He begins this song with all-too real descriptions of the new boyfriend including that he “Wears boat shoes with no socks on his feet” and that he has “tribal tattoos” that he doesn’t know the meaning of. Essentially, Ed is painting the perfect picture of the stereotypical douchebag type we all love to hate. By going through all of the ridiculous traits of her new boyfriend, Ed is able to feed his own ego and reassure himself how much better of an option he was. He then tells his ex “I don’t wanna know about your new man” because he isn’t yet in a place where he can move on, but also addresses the fact that his ex is now calling him up, looking for affection in other places. Ed knows this isn’t healthy for her or himself and tells her “I’m positive that he don’t wanna know about me” since he’s clearly still in the picture.
Song Seven: “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now” by Foxes
Foxes is probably best known for her collaboration with Zedd on the song “Clarity” that featured her as the vocalist. Louisa Rose Allen is a singer, songwriter, and model from Southampton, Hampshire, better known by her stage name Foxes. So far, she has put out two studio albums, Glorious which was released in 2014 and All I Need that was released in 2016. Foxes started writing music when she was just 14 years old and was convinced by her sister to move to London to follow her musical passions when she was 18.
“Feet Don’t Fail Me Now” is a song about how hard it is to break up with someone and about convincing yourself to move on. It is clear through the lyrics that this song focuses heavily on conflicted emotions. She underscores the importance of feeling comfort within a relationship as she sings “You were all my sickness, but you cured me of my loneliness.” Admitting to this shows the sort of power that feeling alone has over us as humans. It’s reflective of the need to be wanted and loved. She comes to terms with the fact that she was holding onto this relationship for the wrong reasons because “The ghost of [them] was fading and that’s what [she] was chasing.” Her emotions are tied up in all of the good memories, so much so that it’s hard to admit that things aren’t working anymore.
I think that the takeaway from this is that sometimes it’s better to be alone than to be with someone for the wrong reasons. Nobody wants to feel alone, but being with somebody who isn’t right for you can be even more damaging. Sometimes, you need the space outside of a relationship to reflect on what it is you really want and need, whether that be from someone else or from yourself. Whether you have someone this year or not, know that in the end, you’ll always have yourself.
Listen to the full playlist here!