The 5 Best Breakup Songs

By Rosemary Brennan,Glamour magazine

Over the weekend, a friend and I were driving around town running errands when "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt came on the radio. A few bars in, we were belting along to the lyrics. It's heartbreakingly beautiful and a must play for those times, post-breakup, when all you want to do is listen to sad songs while bundled under the covers.

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We got to talking about other songs of lost romance and came up with our five favorites. Have a look and tell me if you agree with our little list:

1. "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt.

During one breakup in college, I wanted to crawl inside of this song and live there.

2. "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins

Strange but true: in the 80s my dad was often mistaken for Phil Collins!

3. "Favorite Mistake" by Sheryl Crow


Adore this song. Also, I'm slightly obsessed with Sheryl's hair in this video. And pretty much every hairstyle she's ever had.

4. "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" by Rose Royce, though I love Madonna's version. Oh Madge, is there any emotion you can't make us understand through your music?

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5. "Pictures of You" by The Cure. This song is so good it makes my heart ache.

I also polled a few of my friends about their go-to breakup songs and was pretty impressed with their selections:

"Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac
"All Cried Out" by Allure featuring 112
"Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye
"What It Takes" by Aersosmith
"I Hate This Part" by Nicole Scherzinger
"I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" by Wilco

Anything off of Pete Yorn's album Music for the Morning After or anything off of Mariah Carey's album Rainbow, which coincidentally includes a cover of Phil Collin's "Against All Odds." And practically any song by Elliott Smith.

Dears, what songs do you like listening to after and during a breakup? Or maybe you don't like listening to anything during that time? Are any of the songs listed above in your breakup playlist? And do you think that listening to these sad songs ultimately makes us feel better after a breakup?


A few more music-friendly stories…


* Music to Move You: What Songs Make You Feel Sexy?
* Guess Who Wants Royalties from Adele's 2008 Album?
* 3 Pick-Up Lines from Pop Songs

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Photo Credit: Courtesy of Amazon.com