The Ultimate Heartbreak Songs

We’ve all experienced love loss and found ourselves making a playlist of the ultimate heartbreak songs to shed our tears in solitude. From the crooning voice of the world’s pop divas, to the gut-wrenching melodies of rock legends, the palette for musical condolence is extremely wide and there’s a track for every feeling. While some get dumped and suffer from cutting their emotional ties before they’re ready, others are betrayed and leave their partners in anger and frustration. Either way, the heartbreak is the same and although suffering is always terrible, the right music can make it almost bearable.

Most musicians will bear witness to the fact that the best songs ever created sprung from a place of strong emotions, and love is the strongest emotion of them all. As miraculous as it is to find love, heartbreak can make you feel like the world is about to end, but as anything is better with the right music, we created this list to help you cope through the pain. If you’re a music buff, also check out our article on the 7 artists that switched musical genres for a few surprises. But for now, let’s see which artists made it on our list of the ultimate heartbreak songs.

9. “You Oughta Know” – Alanis Morissette

Anger is the most common sensation we experience after breaking up and at some point or another we find ourselves wishing the worst upon our exes. Alanis did a marvellous job at pinpointing the white hot post-breakup rage in this record released in 1995. With its slow build-up, the song encapsulates the tension of an angry ex reliving the dissolved relationship and wondering what was not to like about it.