If you're the one who wanted to break up: Want You Gone. The song Glados sings from Portal 2.
If not: 50 Ways to Say Goodbye by Train
this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2026
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Baby Bitch by Ween
My laptop ca. 2004
Nice
Birthday Boy also is great (and referenced in Baby Bitch)
Dry your eyes - The Streets
This is not a breakup song, but about many things i think. However the allusions to loneliness (or maybe solitude/isolation rather than loneliness) have me slot it partially in the breakup category... "Reckoner" by Radiohead.
You Outta Know by Alanis Morissette
it's literally called the Break Up Song :)
You Oughta Know if you're mad about it
Don’t Speak if you’re sad about it
Break Up (Bye Bye) by the Frock Destroyers
Last dance with Mary Jane - Tom Petty
Cry me a river - Justin Timberlake
Goodbye - Barbara Streisand ( Hello Dolly)
Unhinged: You Oughta Know by Alanis Mortisette. Listen closely to the lyrics for way too much information.
Hinged: Hard to Say I'm Sorry by Chicago. Such a sweet melody that I've heard it playing on weddings, of all places...
Weird Al - One More Minute
I came here to say this, but you best me to it. 😁
Also "You Don't Love Me Anymore".
Yes, that one is also great
Smile by Lily Allen (the music video is unhinged)
Self Destruct by Between Friends (totally hinged)
Somebody That I Used to Know came out during my only breakup and it was everywhere, so I feel biased toward it.
However, I'm a huge They Might Be Giants fan and they have some good ones:
They'll Need A Crane, Lucky Ball & Chain, and Let Me Tell You About My Operation stand out, but there are plenty of others.
Don't forget Narrow Your Eyes and Pet Name. So many choices, and they are all bangers.
Can't beat I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor.
The Cake version is superior.
Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
Yes! Definitely on my playlist
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJG_B2qIqC0](CAKE - Fashion Nugget - Friend)
I still like Babe I'm Gonna Leave You by Zeppelin. Slow and acoustic into an explosion of power, like my emotions during those moments. Fuckin' love it.
The very best: Bouncing Souls — "Wish Me Well"
Honorable mentions:
Mest — "It's Over"
FurtherMore — "We Need to Talk"
Weird Al — "One More Minute" but also "You Don't Love Me Anymore")
The Magnetic Fields: "I Don't Really Love You Anymore" and "I Thought You Were My Boyfriend" and "Acoustic Guitar" and "Promises of Eternity" and "Your Girlfriend's Face" and "Seduced and Abandoned" and basically just half their catalogue, seriously
The All-American Rejects — "Gives You Hell"
Goldfinger — "Mabel"
I'll try to come back and finish adding links.
Yeah the magnetic fields has all the best ones. So happy I got to see them play all 69 love songs live.
Half hinged: Lent, by Autoheart
Unhinged: Mr Brightside, by The Killers
Greatest is hard to nail down, but some songs that I think belong in the conversation:
Måneskin - BLA BLA BLA is pretty unhinged.
Bob Dylan - Idiot Wind isn’t unambiguously a breakup song, but the vibes are right there for me.
Kanye’s a piece of shit but See You In My Nightmares is a banger of a breakup song
Beatles - Yesterday is an all time classic
Someone already mentioned Yes by McAlmont and Butler. My second choice:
Song for the Dumped, Ben Folds Five.
The show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has soooo many songs that could fit, this is just a few trying to keep to the relatively spoiler free ones:
Unhinged (healthy) : "let's generalize about men"
Unhinged (unhealthy): "I'm not sad, you're sad"
Trying to be fully hinged: "without love you can save the world"
I really recommend people to watch the show to find the rest and the best, rather than just the songs/clips. Some of them atäre truly elevated by context, and some are excellent standalone but too spoiler imo.
Personally I never had a breakup, but my wife told me her song was, Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive.
•Pale blue eyes- Velvet Underground
•When you were mine- Prince or Cyndi Lauper versions are both great
•Gave you everything- The Interrupters
•I will always love you- Dolly
•I hate myself for loving you- Joan Jett
•You can have him- Nina Simone
•Fast Car- Tracy Chapman
I feel like being able to listen through this whole song without sobbing during a breakup is a clear sign of progress.
•Flowers on the Wall-Statler Brothers.
OG big unhinged breakup energy
Also doesn't necessarily have to be an official break up song to fit the bill:
•Sweetness- Jimmy Eat World
Always really loved that song, but just recently found out that it's apparently about learning how to not find validation in others. Maybe I was always drawn to it for a reason.
•Wuthering Heights- Kate Bush
Checks off the unhinged/codependent/doomed from the start relationship box even if it's not necessarily a "breakup" song
I will never know that kind of progress. I love that song but I cannot listen to it without crying, it’s so sad.
Hinged: Ditmas by Mumford and Son (the only song of theirs that I like)
Unhinged: For What it's Worth by Placebo
Too Bad by Rival Sons
"Echo Home" by The Kills
McAlmont & Butler - Yes
Type o negative - anesthesia
Jimmy Buffet - Margaritaville
Not enough songs out there for the people who know they were the problem.
Not enough ~~songs out there for the~~ people who know they were the problem.
Also that.
Must have been why he always had such an issue with parrot head cultcha
I gave you by Superwolf
Love Me Dead by Ludo
Def Leopard - Love Bites
Theory of a Deadman - The Bitch Came Back
Train - 50 Ways to Say Goodbye
It's hard for me to pick just one so I figured I may as well toss in a few to fit a couple moods.
The more the better