Breakup Songs to Weather the Storms of Broken Relationships

So go ahead and get it out of your system. Have yourself a good cry with some heart-string-pulling tunes (it’s less fattening than drowning your tears in a bucket of Chunky Monkey). Then, re-energize yourself with songs of confidence that will remind you that the world will keep on turning and that new love awaits just around the corner.

Don't be afraid to look back a few decades for some choice musical companions in your grieving and restoration process. These songs may be oldies, but in life and love, some things transcend generations, and these tunes have got their collective fingers on the pulse of romantic breakups.

In 1987, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris teamed up for collaborative album named “Trio.” Their voices twine together in beautiful harmonies, blending in clear, pure tones. In the song “I’ve Had Enough,” the ladies sing tenderly of closing the door on a relationship forever. Hearing these three women together, coming to terms with the sad end of what might once have been a good relationship, almost helps the listener to feel that she’s not alone in the experience.

Some selected lyric snippets from the song:

Love, it's not I who didn't try hard enough, hard enough
And this is why I'm saying goodbye: I've had enough, I've had enough

Love you don't see the pain in me; that's plain enough, plain enough
You're never here to catch the tears I cried for us, I cried for us

I’ve tried and tried to put aside the time to talk, but without luck
So I'll just pin this note within your coat and leave the garden gate unlocked

One of the most painful things to endure in a breakup is the mourning of what could have been possible, had things not gone south. Future dreams are shattered when a relationship comes to a crashing end, and regardless of the reasons for the breakup, the death of those dreams is hard to swallow. In her 1992 premiere solo album "Diva,” Annie Lennox pours her heart out about missed opportunities that are no longer possible. Her poignant lyrics are delivered with emotional truth in her song, “Why.”

Sample lyrics:

Some things are better left unsaid, but they still turn me inside out
This is the book I never read, these are the words I never said
This is the path I'll never tread, these are the dreams I'll dream instead
And these are the years that we have spent and this is what they represent

Let a driving disco beat pick up your spirits and spur you to face the fact: this is not the end of the world. In "I Will Survive," (1978) Gloria Gaynor realizes she has the strength to make it on her own and sends her wrongdoing man packing.

Go on now, go! Walk out the door!
Just turn around now, 'cause you're not welcome anymore
Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with “goodbye?”
Did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die?
Oh no, not I--I will survive!

There's something primal about music that touches our souls when mere words don't suffice. Let the balm of music carry you through a stormy breakup and help you welcome the fresh warm rays when a new day dawns.

© M.S. Ross - All Rights Reserved

“I’ve Had Enough” written by Kate McGarrigle © 1981 Garden Court Music

“Why” written by Annie Lennox © 1992 BMG Music

“I Will Survive” written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris © 1978 Polydor

“Carry On” written by Eric Beall  © 1993 RCA