Have you ever been betrayed by someone close?
Whether it was a friend, a family member or a lover, I know the pain was devastating.
And the best songs about betrayal of friendship, family, or trust make us feel that pain.
It is clear the artists have suffered it themselves and they have found a way to share the pain through music.
In doing so, they help many of us get over our own betrayals.
Keep reading for a list of many great songs dealing with the betrayal of trust at the hands of someone close. Hopefully you find at least a few songs that can help you heal.
Table of Contents
- 1 Songs About Betrayal
- 1.1 I Heard It Through The Grapevine by Marvin Gaye
- 1.2 Your Betrayal by Bullet For My Valentine
- 1.3 Real Friends by Camila Cabello
- 1.4 Backstabber by Kesha
- 1.5 Betrayed by Lil Xan
- 1.6 Bad Blood by Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar
- 1.7 traitor by Olivia Rodrigo
- 1.8 Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood
- 1.9 Take A Bow by Rihanna
- 1.10 Cry Me A River by Justin Timberlake
- 1.11 99 Times by Kate Voegele
- 1.12 Betrayer by Trivium
- 1.13 Take That Knife Out Of My Back by Filter
- 1.14 Traitor by Daughtry
- 1.15 You’re A Lie by SLASH
- 2 Songs Of Betrayal: Final Thoughts
Songs About Betrayal
We tried to include songs of betrayal from as many different genres as possible. That way there is a better chance that everyone can find at least one song that speaks to them.
I Heard It Through The Grapevine by Marvin Gaye
Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong wrote the lyrics of I Heard It Through The Grapevine. The Miracles first recorded the classic and later Gladys Knight and the Pips gave it a different twist in 1967.
However, Marvin Gaye’s 1968 version is considered one of the best. His single went on to claim the top spot on the charts for several weeks. You can also check out Creedence Clearwater Revival’s version here. It is my personal favorite.
The lyrics of I Heard It Through The Grapevine talk about the singer’s heartbreak at his lover’s betrayal. He has no idea that she is about to leave him for another man until he hears it from someone else.
Your Betrayal by Bullet For My Valentine
The Welsh heavy metal band Bullet For My Valentine released Your Betrayal in 2010 for their album Fever. As the name indicates, it is a song about betrayal of trust. However, things get a bit murky here and there are several different interpretations.
One interpretation is that the singer’s girlfriend is cheating on him. Reeling from the pain of her betrayal, he burns the place down and perhaps even kills her. Another interpretation is that the singer is cheating on his girlfriend and he is trying to tell her to forget him.
A third interpretation is that the singer and the girl are planning to kill her husband, on whom she is cheating with the singer. However, she backs off at the last minute and the singer cannot get over her betrayal. He keeps saying that he needs to be a better judge of character.
Do check out the official video of Your Betrayal. It depicts the seven deadly sins – each one represented by a female.
Real Friends by Camila Cabello
If you are looking for an anthem about finding real friends you can trust, you will surely relate to Camila Cabello’s Real Friends, released in 2017, as part of her album Camila.
In Real Friends, Cabello talks about how alone she feels despite the crowd surrounding her. The friendships she has formed are not real. They are all based on social media. She says she’d rather be alone than be surrounded by these fake friends who betray her trust every time.
The song is based on Camila’s real-life experience of the inability to find trustworthy friends once she became a star. Real Friends received a great deal of commercial success in the US and UK.
Backstabber by Kesha
Backstabber is a track from Kesha’s 2010 album, Animal. Kesha co-wrote the song with David Gamson about her close friend who stole her car. Later, she found out that this “friend” was also talking behind her back about her sex life. Kesha decided to write a song about this experience and the blew up on TikTok and skyrocketed her to fame.
Betrayed by Lil Xan
Lil Xan is the stage name of US-based rapper, Diego Leanos. Diego wrote the song Betrayed in under 30 minutes and included it in his 2017 album Toothache. It could have been on our list of sad rap songs, too, except we decided to only list the best of the best. This just doesn’t stack up, to be honest.
The word Xan (in his name and also in the track’s lyrics) is short for Xanax, a prescription drug for anxiety and panic disorders. Xanax is believed to be highly addictive and comes with a warning about suicidal thoughts when you stop taking it.
Betrayed became a super hit, since it resonated with people who are prescribed this medication. The lyrics of Betrayed talk about how Xanax betrayed the singer.
He also has a negative viewpoint about love, saying he would rather not fall in love, because he doesn’t want to face betrayal. To avoid getting his heart broken, he plans to simply use girls and send them away after he is done.
Bad Blood by Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar
American pop star Taylor Swift co-wrote Bad Blood for her fifth studio album 1989, released in 2014. The song is about betrayal of trust by the singer’s close friend which leads to bad blood between them.
Some believe that Swift wrote this song based on her rivalry with Katy Perry. Do check out the video for this song. It has a star-studded cast including Zendaya, Selena Gomez, Cindy Crawford, and more.
We also included a different song of Taylor Swift’s in our related list of songs about bullies and mean people. Can you guess the song?
traitor by Olivia Rodrigo
traitor (spelled in all lowercase letters) remains one of Olivia Rodrigo’s most listened-to songs. It is supposedly based on her breakup with Joshua Basset, whom she suspected of cheating on her with Sabrina Carpenter.
Although he denied it at the time, Basset indeed got together with Carpenter days after Rodrigo broke up with him.
Olivia released traitor in May 2021 and the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) certified it as 4-times platinum in 2023. The song also peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the week ending June 2021.
Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood’s Before He Cheats (Some Hearts, 2005) is one of those country rock songs that you simply cannot help but sing your heart out with. It is a song about betrayal and revenge.
The singer retaliates on her cheating lover by destroying his prized possession: his souped-up four-wheel drive. She has discovered that her lover is with another girl, so she slashes all four tires and carves her name into the leather seats of his car. She hopes that her action will help save the next girl from a lot of heartache.
Before He Cheats became a huge hit, spending almost 5 weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs. It also became the first-ever country song to sell over 2 million digitally.
Take A Bow by Rihanna
In Take a Bow, Rihanna tells her lover that she has no interest in getting back with him, since he has cheated on her and betrayed her trust. She says she knows he isn’t sorry for hurting her. He is only sorry that he got caught.
She mocks him for his dramatic performance and asks him to take a bow, so she can applaud him for his brilliant lying.
Unlike her other songs which have an upbeat dance tune, Rihanna’s Take a Bow is completely R&B. The track was Rihanna’s first to reach the top spot on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Cry Me A River by Justin Timberlake
Cry Me a River is a single from Justin Timberlake’s 2002 album Justified. The song is supposedly about Britney Spears cheating on Timberlake.
The singer tells his girl that she was his ‘sky and earth’, but she betrayed his trust by cheating on him. He then pretends to cheat back on her and leaves the fake evidence for her to find out. He hopes she will cry him a river, now that the tables have turned.
Cry Me a River is about betrayal, infidelity, and the deep hurt that comes when your heart is broken by someone you loved deeply. It went on to claim the top spots of various music charts and even won the Best Male Video at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.
99 Times by Kate Voegele
Voegele mentioned in an interview that she wrote 99 Times after her boyfriend continuously lied to her. She felt hurt, angry, and bitter, but instead of lashing out at him, she channeled her hurt into writing this song.
The lyrics of 99 Times mention how the singer tries to make sense of her lover’s stories but they simply don’t add up, because they are untrue. But he confidently looked her in the eye and lied hundreds of times. And she is so blind that she believed him every time.
Betrayer by Trivium
Betrayer is a track from Trivium’s 2017 album, The Sin and The Sentence. The band’s vocalist Matt Heafy wrote it after his close friend betrayed him.
This friend was addicted to “many bad things” and Heafy had tried helping him. However, the pal turned his back on Heafy and that brought the friendship to an end.
The friend’s betrayal left Heafy sad and angry and prompted him to write Betrayer while on a flight. The lyrics of the song include the Brazilian-Portuguese word creonte which means traitor.
Take That Knife Out Of My Back by Filter
Take That Knife Out of My Back is a track from Filter’s 2013 album, The Sun Comes Out Tonight. The band members were discussing all the things happening in their frontman Richard Patrick’s life. Patrick had recently been betrayed by some people he had trusted and as they tried to make sense of the situation, “the song just wrote itself.”
Traitor by Daughtry
Daughtry wrote Traitor about the experiences he had with some people who “looked him in the eye and then drove a knife in his back.” He mentioned in an interview that he does not want to name any names but that his fans know what the song was all about. The track is from Daughtry’s 2013 album Baptized.
You’re A Lie by SLASH
Slash’s You’re a Lie is a track from their 2012 album Apocalyptic Love. The lyrics convey the deep hurt the singer experienced after finding that someone he loved and trusted has betrayed him.
The lyrics describe how he doubted himself due to this betrayal. Not only does he feel angry and sad due to it, he feels as if his heart has been ripped out of his chest and he is bleeding to death. He then asks the person to leave and never come back, because he doesn’t want to be hurt anymore.
Songs Of Betrayal: Final Thoughts
As mentioned, our goal was to include songs about betrayal of friendship, trust, family or love in as many different genres as possible. Dids you find any songs that spoke to you? If so, which one(s)?
Do you know of any other great songs you feel we overlooked? If you do, please feel free to leave a comment below and let us know. We are always happy to add more songs to the list.
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