5 songs in the field of: Breakups

1. Frightened Rabbit – Keep Yourself Warm

Coming in the middle of Frightened Rabbit’s heart wrenching break up album, the line “It takes more than fucking someone you don’t know to keep yourself warm”, sums up that feeling of self loathing and doubt we all get after an ill-advised tryst.  Are those feelings really worth it?

2. Sharon Van Etten – A Crime

Another almost anti-love song, “To say the things I want to say to you would be a crime/To admit I’m still in love with you after all this time.” Everyone wonders if their ex is doing better than them after a break-up which always throws up the question, how long does it take to get over someone? How long is a piece of string?

3. Rilo Kiley – Portions for Foxes

Throuhout your life you’re always going to come across people who for your own mental and emotional well being you shouldn’t enter into any kind of romantic relationship with. But sometimes you just don’t care. This song sums those feelings up brilliantly. The temptation, the restraint and the moment when you just give in.

4. Caitlin Rose – Things Change

This is another absolutely heartbreaking one, but one that is also sensationally beautiful. Rose perfectly captures that ‘what-if’ feeling after a relationship comes to an end and that desperate desire to forget and move on while still being haunted by old memories. Were they the one? Will you ever feel like that again? (Answer: probably not/probably.)

5. Dry the River – No Rest

Peter Liddle’s pain during the chorus is one of the most effective summations of heartbreak you will ever hear. It’s not hard to imagine what happened when he sings the line “I loved you in the best way possible” encapsulates the confusion and hurt you feel after being dumped, that awful ‘how could you do this to me?’ feeling. Happy Valentines Day!