The best thing about music is that it's universal. Whether you've just been dumped or finally walked away from a toxic relationship; whether you want to put on your sweats and get in bed or put on your LBD and dance it out; whether you want to eat an entire box of chocolate or an entire bottle of your favorite Barefoot - there's an anthem out there for you! Here's a count down of the ten best breakup songs of the year (so far).
10. "Go Ahead And Break My Heart" by Blake Shelton & Gwen Stefani
"Why don't you go ahead and break my heart? / Why are you waiting, is it way too hard? / If moving on is what you wanna do / Why don't you do it? Why don't you do it, baby?"
This song is at the bottom of the list because it's more of a story about tough love. It describes a couple (presumably Blake and Gwen) facing the fact that they are going to hurt each other if they stay together. It's up to the listener to decide if the relationship is worth the heartbreak or not.
9. "Too Good" by Drake & Rihanna
"Last night, I came to a realization / And I hope you can take it / I'm too good to you / You take my love for granted / I just don't understand it"
This is another song from the perspective of a couple right on the cusp of a breakup. But unlike Go Ahead And Break My Heart, there doesn't seem to be a chance of reconciliation. This song is a great choice for anyone wondering whether or not they should end a one-sided relationship. Spoiler alert: you should.
8. "Look Away" by Eli Lieb & Steve Grand
"I’ll be okay, are you okay? / Thinkin’ about the way that we left this / Will I grow to regret it / Watching you fade / I know it’s goodbye"
This song is especially heartbreaking because the singers clearly still care about each other. They don't go into details about why they broke up, but it's obviously a fresh wound. This is a song for mutual breakups. Sometimes two people just aren't right for each other. It's nobody's fault, but it still stings.
7. "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)" by Adele
"I was too strong you were trembling / You couldn't handle the hot heat rising / Baby I'm still rising / I was running, you were walking / You couldn't keep up, you were falling down"
This song is great for whoever decided to end the relationship. Adele starts out by listing all the things her ex-lover promised her. Inevitably, he couldn't walk the walk. This tongue-in-cheek rhythmic track is refreshingly mature. Rather than cursing his existence, Adele handles the breakup like a grown up and hopes her ex can learn to be the man he claims to be.
6. "Stitches" by Shawn Mendes
"I thought that I'd been hurt before / But no one's ever left me quite this sore / Your words cut deeper than a knife / Now I need someone to breathe me back to life"
Some breakups leave one person a wreck while the other was never really into it to begin with. Shawn's lyrics put words to that feeling of being punched in the gut after being left by someone you became hyper-attached to.
5. "Sorry" by Beyoncé
"Now you want to say you're sorry / Now you want to call me crying / Now you gotta see me wildin' / Now I'm the one that's lying / And I don't feel bad about it"
4. "No Broken Hearts" by Bebe Rexha & Nicki Minaj
"Oh ain't nobody going home, you know what you came for / To dance off the pain, don’t feel a thing, just feel the champagne / If you’re feeling lonely, baby let me hear you sing"
What I love about this song is that it doesn't come out and say it's a breakup track. The song revolves solely around the person who got their heart broken. Regardless of what happened, Bebe encourages the listener to let loose and rediscover what you love about yourself and how carefree you can be.
3. "We Don't Talk Anymore" by Charlie Puth & Selena Gomez
"I just heard you found the one you've been looking / You've been looking for / I wish I would have known that wasn't me / Cause even after all this time I still wonder / Why I can't move on / Just the way you did so easily"
Warning: This song is ROUGH for anyone fresh out of a breakup if that person was also your best friend. Charlie & Selena perfectly capture that feeling of loneliness when you can no longer talk to the one person you've consistently talked to every day about everything. And no matter how happy they want to be for each other, it still hurts like a bitch accepting you weren't the one.
2. "Fuck Apologies" by JoJo & Wiz Khalifa
"I can't help that you, feel the way you do / Try not to get confused cause this time I don't care / And honestly I was just about to pick up the phone / And then I realized that I didn't do nothing wrong"
JoJo is a definite QUEEN of breakup tracks. She was there for us ten years ago in middle school, and now she has returned to claim her throne and coach us all through our mid-twenties breakups. "Fuck Apologies" is... well... unapologetic. It's a song written for those of us that seem to blame ourselves whenever relationships go awry. Well, stop right there. It's not your fault that your ex faked their way through the relationship. Put your middle finger in the air and accept that some people can't be changed.
1. "Bullet" by Chelsea Lankes
"I'm better than I've ever looked / And boy I never felt this cool / I saw you with that other girl / And all I thought was ooh / I dodged a bullet with you"
One word: YAAAAASSSSS. Indie pop star on the rise Chelsea Lankes may not be main stream, but this song is infinitely relatable to the general public. It's the perfect anthem for anyone realizing they are far better off now that they are out of their relationship. You'll find yourself both dancing and laughing along to Lankes' genial lyrics labelling her ex as a "selfish little mess" who "always had to get [his] way." RELATABLE. "Instead of being sad and heartbroken, realize you deserve more," Chelsea declared in an interview with TeenVogue. Adele who? Taylor what? There's a new breakup artist in town, and her name is Chelsea Lankes. Check out the video below and make sure to clear plenty of dancing space in your bedroom.
