Since we’re in the midst of Summer, I though it would be a great idea to give song recommendations to people who are getting out of relationships. Breaking up with your partner and moving on can be hard, so it is nice to find a song that you can relate to while trying to get over the person you cared about. I hope that even though you have lost the person you loved, you gain much more love for yourself. You can only have true love if there’s security and growth in yourself, so keep going through the motions to feel much better, and eventually you’ll find the person for you. So, here are a couple of songs from different genres that I think are helpful when you’re starting to move.
- “Dancing on my own” by robyn
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This is literally the best upbeat song to put on when you don’t feel like being sad anymore. This song is about not being someone’s first choice, and yearning over the moments you shared with them before. I think that this is a good song to listen to when you’re learning that it’s okay to be by yourself. There’s a really good cover of it done by the Kings of Leon that I wish were on all streaming services.
- “Prototype” by outkast
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If you’re ever going through a break up, but are looking forward to meeting new people, I recommend listening to this song by Outkast. I also recommend watching High Fidelity on Hulu because they play “Prototype” on one of the episodes. The show is about Zoe Kravitz’s character, Rob, going through a long-term breakup of her own. Although High Fidelity only aired for one season, it was interesting seeing Rob try to navigate her feeling through music.
- “GREEN EYES” BY ERYKAH BADU
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If you want a good cry, and I mean a good cry, listen to this TEN MINUTES LONG song. The entire “Mama’s Gun” album by Erykah Badu is amazing, especially the tracks “Green Eyes” and “Orange Moon”. If you just feel like listening to anything while you’re coping, I suggest listening to this album and looking at the lyrics. The song “Green Eyes” is the most sincere song I think I have ever heard. Erykah’s lyrics are beautifully written and relatable as she expresses an unrequited love she keeps going back and forth with.
- “Garden (Say it Like dat)” by sza
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SZA’s know for writing songs about not getting the love you deserve, and out of all songs she’s ever written, this one hurts the most. When I went to see SZA live in Dallas, this was probably one of the songs I was most looking forward to hearing live, and it did not disappoint. “Garden(Say It Like Dat)” is a song about how the person you love is not who you thought they were, but you can’t help but love them anyway.
- “Franklin” BY August eve
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Breakups can be hard, and sometimes they don’t have to be romantic ones. The song “Franklin” by August Eve is about getting over family struggles, and learning to be okay with yourself when the people you love don’t give you the support that you need. I think August Eve is a very underrated artist that people, especially people coming from Latino families, should give a listen. Her voice is amazing, and she does a really good cover of Beyoncé’s “Me, Myself and I”, which is about choosing yourself over everything someone’s put you through.
- “cellophane” by fka twigs
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I’m sure that many are aware that this song is about FKA Twigs relationship with Robert Pattinson, and the pain that she went through when fans did not accept their relationship. The song expresses thoughts of not being enough for the person you love, and the yearning you go through when you know you deserved more.
- “BOYISH” BY JAPANESE BREAKFAST
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Out of all the songs in this list, I listened to “Boyish” the most. Michelle Zauner, from Japanese Breakfast, does a great job at singing a song about wishing that the person you love loves you the same way back. The music video for this song is also vey cute and aesthetically pleasing to watch. When I saw Japanese Breakfast live two years ago, it was just such a wholesome moment seeing the band perform this song, because the atmosphere of the room was so connected and personal.
- “ONCE MORE TO SEE YOU” BY MITSKI
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It’s okay to still want the things that you wished to get from the person you used to love, and Mitski never misses when it comes to writing a song about yearning to be around another person. Songs like “Once More to See You”, “I Want You”, and “Love Me More”, are all very good listens when it comes to trying to move on. “Once More to See You” from Mitski’s “Puberty 2” album is one of my favorites, and it’s about the fear of being unsure about how a relationship will work out when you really want to be with your person badly.
- “funeral” by mon laferte
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This song talks about how relationships can sometimes tire out, and your so used to the routines you go by day-by-day. Sometimes, you and your partner can get tired of each other to the point of feeling lonely. The song further discusses the pain in not knowing if you should end the relationship with the person, and trying to find out where things went wrong. It reminisces over the shared moments and feeling you had with someone long ago, and how you would much rather pass away than leave the person you love.
- “moon song” by phobe bridgers
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If you’re a Phoebe Bridgers fan, then you know that “Moon Song” is the best to listening to when you’re sitting in the car pretending to have a sad main character moment. This song talks about how love can be conditional, and how the person you love doesn’t give as much care as you do. The relationship is unreciprocated, but you’d still want to give your person the moon because they mean everything to you regardless.
- “Linger” by the cranberries
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The Cranberries album “Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We”, has great songs, one of them being “Linger”. This song was featured in the movie “Click”, in a scene where Adam Sandler’s character goes back in time to watch himself fall for his wife all over again. I listen to this song over and over again because it’s just so good! The lyrics really show what it means to have unconditional love for someone even after you realized they weren’t the one for you.
- “SAY YES” BY ELLIOtT SMITH
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Elliott Smith is by far one of my favorite artists, and the first time I heard “Say Yes” I was locked in as a fan. This song is about a breakup he went through, and still being able to remember how the whole relationship played out. As time passes, you still think about them every now and then, and there’s still a linger of hope that they’ll come back somehow. Even though things didn’t go as planned, and the falling out happened with the person you love the most, you wonder if they still remember the good things. If they romanticize what happened like you do. So, if someone’s willing enough to put their pride aside to be with you, they’d do it without questioning it at all.