Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
placeholder article
placeholder article
Kenyon | Culture

The Ultimate Breakup Playlist

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar
Ally Bruschi Student Contributor, Kenyon College
Her Campus Placeholder Avatar
Kenyon Contributor Student Contributor, Kenyon College
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Kenyon chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Whether we care to admit to it or not, we have all gone through a breakup. And the truth is that it doesn’t matter if you’re the dumped or the dumper – the end of any relationship sucks, period. Now that college campuses around the world are gearing themselves for the tidal wave of end-of-year-break-ups that inevitably occur at the end of the school year (which I have affectionately dubbed ‘the REAL Summer Send-off’), I found it only appropriate that I dwell on this subject the best way I know how: through music. Below you’ll find a list of coping mechanisms (read: songs) adequate for each stage of this trying period.

Stage One: The slow fade.During which you know what’s coming, but aren’t willing to admit it just yet.

Stage Two: The talk.S*** is about to go down.

Stage Three: Shock.What. That just happened.

Stage Four: Denial.I’m so fine right now. It’s kind of weird.  

Stage Five: Anger.WAIT, THAT TOTALLY JUST HAPPENED. WOW.

Stage Six: Bargaining.In which one of you attempts to change in order to please the other (and hopefully get back together).

Stage Seven: Depression.Also called the BJ Stage: Bridget Jones and Ben & Jerry’s.

Stage Eight: Sadness.It’s not quite depression, but you’re still in what seems to be a perpetual bummer state.

Stage Nine: Acceptance.The best stage; you go back to focusing on yourself and what you want out of life (like good grades and that extra slice of pizza).

Stage Ten: Moving on.After all of that, who knows? You and your ex-lover might even become friends by next semester! After all, it’s a small campus and you’re bound to hang out at some point.

There you have it: the ultimate break-up playlist. You can find the complete list (and a few extras!) at the following spotify URL:  The HCK Break-up Playlist!

And if none of these songs work, there’s always the internet and its bottomless pit of cute animal gifs. 

Ally Bruschi is a senior political science major at Kenyon College. She spent this past summer interning as a writer with both The Daily Meal, a digital media group  dedicated to "all things food and drink" and The Borgen Project, a non-profit organization that partners with U.S. policymakers to alleviate global poverty. Before entering the "real world" of jobs, however, Ally spent many summers as a counselor at an all-girls summer camp in Vermont, aka the most wonderful place on earth. A good book, a jar of peanut butter, a well-crafted Spotify playlist, and a lazy dog could get her through even the worst of days.