Let's be real: "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson is a pretty good breakup anthem, but it's not going to help you if you're in more of a "I just want to cry and eat ice cream all day" mood. It is also not going to help you if you don't feel like you "can breathe for the first time." Since different people react differently to different breakups, it's difficult for there to be some kind of universal breakup song that works for all breakups — so here are a bunch of different songs that work for different kids of breakup moods.

1. "Love, Love, Kiss, Kiss" by Alkaline Trio

Well do you find you like to fall in love with people that you're never gonna meet?
It's easier than breaking up and crying in the street
Do you curse the happy couple? Do you cringe at wedding bells?
Do you drink up all the punch while you wish 'em all to hell?

Love love, kiss kiss... blah blah blah
You're making me sick, I wish you'd just stop showing off
For the rest of us that no one wants to love
It's hard enough trying to drink another winter all alone
Love love, kiss kiss... blah blah blah

This is a love song for people who don't like love songs...or romance in general. Or public displays of affection. Honestly this will work even if you haven't been broken up with and are just single and sad. I appreciated this song a lot when I was in high school because everyone and their cousin was in a relationship, and I resented that because I wasn't. Then one day I happened to stumble upon this song while looking for a different song, and it kind of made my entire life. It was nice knowing I wasn't the only one who felt that way — and I sometimes still feel this way after being broken up with. It's still nice knowing I'm not the only one who feels this way.

2. "It's All Right, It's OK" by Ashley Tisdale

It's alright, OK
I'm so much better without you
I won't be sorry
Alright, OK
So don't you bother what I do
No matter what you say
I won't return
Our bridge has burned down
I'm stronger now
Alright, OK
I'm so much better without you
I won't be sorry

This song is good if you want to feel empowered and remind yourself not to take the person who dumped you back. Singing it after breakups always made me feel good, especially when I sang the line "I'm so much better without you," because it served as a reminder that I don't actually need them and that if someone's going to hurt me, then maybe I am in fact better off without them. This song is just really uplifting and I strongly recommend it to anyone who does not want to feel sad anymore.

3. "As If" by Blaque

Don't shake your head from side to side
Saying that you've changed enough
That you see the light
Cause you just say what you say
And want your way
And it's that game that you play
It's a little late

As if
I'm ever gonna take you back
As if
It's ever gonna come to that
So see you 'round, wave goodbye
Be a bird pass me by
As if
I'm gonna let you break my heart again
As if I'm gonna let your love back in my life
Not tonight, get a grip
Baby as if

This one's great for people who broke up with someone that is manipulative, on and off, or otherwise not loyal but pretends to be. I'll let the lyrics do the talking here.

4. "Thinking of You" by Katy Perry

Comparisons are easily done
Once you've had a taste of perfection
Like an apple hanging from a tree
I picked the ripest one
I still got the seed

You said move on
Where do I go
I guess second best
Is all I will know

Cause when I'm with him
I am thinking of you
Thinking of you
What you would do if
You were the one
Who was spending the night
Oh I wish that I
Was looking into your eyes

As much as I'm not a Katy Perry fan, this song was always the one I listened to when I really liked the person I was dating and became super emotionally invested in them, only for them to leave me. It's very relatable, especially when you feel that there's just no moving on because you liked the person so much.

5. "F*** You" by Cee Lo Green

I see you driving 'round town with the girl I love
and I'm like,
"F*** YOU!"
Ooo,ooo,oooo
I guess the change in my pocket wasn't enough
I'm like,
"F*** YOU!
And f*** her too."
I said,
"If I was richer, I'd still be with ya"
Ha, now ain't that some s***?
(Ain't that some s***?)
And although there's pain in my chest
I still wish you the best
With a...
"F*** YOU!"
Ooo,ooo,ooo

No breakup song list would be complete without this one! It's really catchy but really angry at the same time, so if you wanna be angry and dance then this one's perfect for you — especially since a lot of times when you're angry you feel like swearing. Shout-singing this one at the top of your lungs can therefore be incredibly satisfying. I recommend this for anyone who got left for someone else, but you probably already knew of it.

6. "I Heart Question Mark" by Taylor Swift

Wish I had concentrated
They said love was complicated
But it's something I just fell into
And it was overrated
But just look what I created
I came out alive, but I'm black and blue
Before you ask me if I'm alright
Think about what I have to do

Wake up and smell the break up
Fix my heart, put on my make up
Another mess I didn't plan
And I'll bet you thought you beat me
Wish you could only see
I got an "I heart question mark"
Written on the back of my hand

I don't really know what an "I heart question mark" is, but I am particularly fond of the line "I came out alive but I'm black and blue." It's a great song about the aftermath of a breakup, and it does an excellent job of capturing how awful it is to have to deal with it.

7. "If This Was A Movie" by Taylor Swift

Last night I heard my own heart beating
Sounded like footsteps on my stairs
Six months gone and I'm still reaching
Even though I know you're not there
I was playing back a thousand memories, baby
Thinking 'bout everything we've been through
Maybe I've been going back too much lately
When time stood still and I had you

Come back, come back, come back to me like
You would, you would if this was a movie
Stand in the rain outside 'til I came out
Come back, come back, come back to me like
You could, you could if you just said you're sorry
I know that we could work it out somehow
But if this was a movie you'd be here by now

This song is for everyone who had a really hard relationship with someone that was once awesome and simple, and despite all the stuff they went through, still wants the other person back. After all, it's hard not to miss and pine after someone you have so much history with, someone you shared so many great memories with that have grown on you.

8. "Back To December" by Taylor Swift

I'm so glad you made time to see me.
How's life, tell me how's your family?
I haven't seen them in a while.
You've been good, busier than ever.
We small talk, work and the weather
Your guard is up and I know why.

Because the last time you saw me
Is still burned in the back of your mind.
You gave me roses and I left them there to die.

So this is me swallowing my pride,
Standing in front of you saying I'm sorry for that night.
And I go back to December all the time.
It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you,
Wishing I'd realized what I had when you were mine.
I'd go back to December, turn around and make it all right.
I go back to December all the time.

This is for the person who has not been broken up with but broke up with someone — and now you're regretting it. Not only do you feel like a terrible person for breaking up with someone who cared for you so deeply, but also because you're only just now realizing that you docare for them. In fact, you care for them much more than you thought you did when you told them "It's not you, it's me." And you kind of feel like crying about it.

9. "Bottom of the Ocean" by Miley Cyrus

It's been in the past for a while
I get a flash and I smile
Am I crazy?
Still miss you baby

It was real, it was right
But it burned too hot to survive
All that's left is
All these ashes

Where does the love go?
I don't know
When it's all said and done
How could I be losing you forever?
After all the time we spent together

I have to know why
I had to lose you
Now you've just become
Like everything I'll never find again
At the bottom of the ocean

I think of this one as the "cry and eat ice cream" breakup song. It's slow-paced and the lyrics are about missing someone, so if you aren't quite ready to move on and just want to let yourself feel sad for a while then this is the song for you.

10. "I'll Show You" by Ailee

[Translation from the original Korean lyrics - courtesy of kpoplyrics.net]:

You’re probably wearing the clothes I bought you
You probably put on the cologne I bought you
And right now, you’re probably meeting her and laughing

Did you like her that much that you had to leave me?
How much more do I have to be better?

No matter how much I try to erase you
We spent so many days together
The past times are so regrettable that tears keep flowing but…

I will show you a completed changed me
I will show you a way prettier me
I don’t wanna cry like a fool over love, over you who left

I will meet a hotter guy and I will show you for sure
A me who is happier than you
I won’t be sad without you, I won’t break down
Boy you gotta be aware

Have you ever wanted to let yourself cry but also be empowered at the same time, and perhaps get up and dance too? This song allows you to do all three of those things! In some verses it's slow-paced with sad lyrics and in some it's faster with more uplifting lyrics. Furthermore, I'm really happy about Ailee, the artist, because she is a Korean-American singer from New Jersey who is now a K-pop star. As a diasporic Han Chinese person I get excited when people like me have success in the music industry.