"Helloooooo..." *slams computer shut* Okay, Adele, we get it. When you're looking through the standard heartbreak playlist, you generally find most of the same tunes played on repeat. You've heard "Fight Song", "Forget You", "Stronger", "Survivor", all of them ad infinitum. And while they are excellent songs for sitting in your room fuming to yourself (or in the gym taking out your righteous anger on a punching bag,) you know you need to change it up. So I've taken the liberty of curating a few songs on my starred Spotify collection for your listening (and venting) pleasure!
1) "Thanks for Nothing" by The Downtown Fiction
Great angsty line:
And now I find that it wasn't meant to last
I got one thing to say and that's
"Thanks for nothing, kiss my *ss"
Basically what we all want to say to our exes, go to hell, I don't need you. It's an ideal angry pillow-punching song because there is no trace of longing in the tune, not a single one. Nope, you're moved on and ready to conquer the world.
2) "Single Girls" by Laura Jansen
Great angsty line:
I´ve gone drinking with the guy down the hall
Put up a new color on my bare walls
I´m so d*mn busy after all
Laura definitely has my number. Of course the first thing you do when you get out of a relationship is just do everything humanly possible to keep your mind off of it. You want to change everything about your life, change your bed, cut your hair, and completely reinvent yourself. Become a person your ex would never recognize, assert yourself as an individual. Yeah, she gets it.
3) "Forgive Me" by Joel Compass
Great angsty line:
Forgive me while I forget you
Cause I don't need your love
I don't need you love
You might think I do
But I don't need your love, yeah
Yesssss! Another shameless f*ck-you song, to the person who shamelessly did you wrong. You're right Joel, you DON'T need their love! Remind yourself over and over again that you don't need them, and that you will forget them.
4) "La de la mala suerte" (The one with the bad luck) by Jesse y Joy
Great angsty line:
Vienes, me acaricias y te marchas con el sol
Me duele solo ser tu diversión, no
Dices que me amas, que no hay nadie como yo
Que soy la dueña de tu corazón
Pero alguien más está en tu habitación
For those of you who don't speak Spanish, the gist of this verse is that the ex called this person their heart, said they loved them and whatnot, meanwhile they were lying because they actually loved somebody else. Which sucks. Hardcore. No chill. This is definitely a sadder, more contemplative song than most of the ones I've included on this list, but hey, we all have our weak moments. Cry in your pillow for a few minutes, no judgement, then we can go back to kicking some ass.
5) "Tell-Tale Signs" by Frank Turner
Great angsty line:
You'll always remind me of scars on my arms that I know will never fade.
And it's not like it's something I think about each and every day
I just occasionally catch myself scratching them, as if they'd ever go away.
But these tell tale signs are here to stay, and in the end you know that's OK.
You will always be a part of my patched-up patchwork taped-up tape-deck heart.
This is one of my favorite songs on this whole album (which is phenomenal in its entirety.) This song is about coming to terms with the marks that people leave on you that never really fade. It's about learning not to let people take advantage of you, even when you still have feelings for them, and owning your own self-respect even in a difficult situation. Sorry for another kind of sad one, but it has a happy ending!
6) "Marrow" by Ani DiFranco
Great angsty line:
'Cause I got tossed out the window of love's El Camino
And I shattered into a shower of sparks on the curb
You were smoking me, weren't you? Between your yellow fingers
You just inhaled and exhaled without saying a word
Ani is a great poet, and this song sounds like just one long meditation on when you feel, well, left at the curb. OKAY I'M SO SORRY, I promise the next one is going to be a happy break-up song!
...
7) "Hello" by Adele
*deep sobbing*
