12 Songs About Breaking Up With Someone You Still Love

Being in love is never easy.

Being in love with someone after the relationship has already ended is absolute torture.

Especially if the other person has already moved on and you have to watch him or her be happy with someone else.

The sad part is: often the person who ends the relationship is the one who can’t move on.

We’ve all been there. And if you’re anything like me, music helped you through it.

To that end, here are a couple of great songs about breaking up with someone you still love. Hopefully they can help you get through your own heartache.

 

Songs About Breaking Up With Someone You Still Love

Each of the following songs can help you get through the pain of breaking up with someone you still love. Hopefully one of these songs speaks to you and helps you heal. If not, you could also check out our list of the best songs about being abandoned.

 

Snuff by Slipknot

Snuff is a very complete song. The music is capable of accompanying and linking perfectly with the voice and the lyrics. Possibly, just by listening to the music, you would be able to guess with astonishing accuracy what the song is about.

The vocalist of the band Corey Taylor wrote the lyrics as a form of therapy to help him deal with various bad experiences that he had in his love life.

The vocalist is in pain. He feel like he is a threat to his beloved, and at the same time to himself. That why he asks to be left to himself, alone with his sins.

At first, Corey misses his lover, saying that he couldn’t live without her. At this moment, he realizes that his partner’s apathy and reluctance was what transformed him into what he is at that moment.

He realizes that he is the true victim of the relationship, that he was the one who suffered, and that that was what caused such harmful feelings.

The song ends with great pessimism and regret, assuring that she took advantage of him. He just wants to forget her forever and forget the damage she caused him. Now he embarks on a new path in his life that will end up being an obsession.

In the official video, we can see a totally devastated Corey Taylor with nothing. He laments that, while she accepts that it’s all her fault, he still knows that he can’t live without her.

 

Apologize by One Republic

Humility is a virtue. Apologizing is a noble gesture that magnifies people. It has an even more outsized effect in a relationship. A combination of good sound, vocals, and lyrical material make this song perfect for such occasions.

It’s simple: no matter what you feel, never hesitate to express it at the right time. Special moments are unique, and do not come back.

What this popular boy band is trying to tell us is that people should always apologize in good time. Otherwise there is a good chance your apology will come too late and the other will never be able to forgive you.

Apologize is a song written by Ryan Tedder, the vocalist of One Republic. The lyrics talk about a woman that regrets her mistakes, and it’s ultimately too late for her to apologize after a hard breakup.

 

The Scientist by Coldplay

The song The Scientist is so named because it alludes to a character in the story The Birthmark, by the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne.

In that story, a scientist becomes obsessed with a stain on his wife, invents a concoction to remove that stain and achieves his objective, but in doing so his wife also dies.

The Scientist was written in Liverpool by Chris Martin in 2002. He was inspired George Harrison’s Isn’t It a Pity.

The lyrics are about a boy who realizes the mistakes he made that led to his relationship with a girl ending. He behaved like a scientist–analytically, rationally, and logically–instead of opening his heart and letting himself be carried away by his emotions and feelings, as she did.

While trying to win her over initially, he changes his tune in the last verse. The salient detail is the song’s closing phrase: “I’m going to start over.” He no longer includes her, resigned that they will no longer be together. He is going to start over, but now alone, without her.

 

Don’t Speak by No Doubt

Gwen Stefani wrote several songs for the album about her relationship with her partner and the happiness she felt at that moment. In the years leading up to its release, the band faced various problems, including the abandonment of Eric Stefani and the breakdown of the relationship between Gwen and bassist Tony Kanal.

Don’t Speak originally wasn’t such a sad song. In fact it was a happy song that talked about love and growing old together. Written by Gwen Stefani and her brother Eric, the meaning of the lyrics changed when her seven-year relationship with Tony fell apart and they separated.

For some reason Gwen chose the song that she was working on with her brother, and changed the lyrics to talk about her breakup, turning it into a sad song.

Just before filming the music video, the band had fallen out and tensions indicated that it was all going to end. However, they reached an agreement to go forward with the recording and take it as therapy.

It worked out well for them in the end. They won a 1997 MTV Video Music Award in the category for “Best Video of a Group” and they were nominated for “Best Video of the Year”.

 

Let Her Go by Passenger

Let Her Go is a song that Passenger wrote after a breakup he experienced. It is about a guy who knowingly breaks up with his girlfriend, because he fails to recognize that he has something special with her, and he doesn’t have the courage to stay in the relationship when she begins to ask him for a commitment.

So he lets her go, because he feels incapable of surrendering to what has actually become true love. The feelings expressed in the song actually occur long after the relationship has ended.

The line, ” Maybe one day you’ll understand why everything you touch surely dies ” speaks to the singer’s chronic inability to return love and form a deep bond with another person. It may be that his ideals of love are actually unrealistic.

When he sings “Hoping that one day you’ll make a dream last”, he hopes that he will eventually realize when he is with someone he truly loves, before it is too late and the relationship ends.

This song is about the regret of realizing only after breaking up that he really loved her. And of course, by the time he realizes this, it is far too late to win her back: she has moved on to someone who can return her love.

 

Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye

Belgian-Australian artist Gotye wrote Somebody That I Used To Know and performs it together with Kimbra, who hails from New Zealand. You have almost certainly heard this song.

It would be almost impossible to have been alive back in 2012 and never have heard it. It was everywhere after being released in as the second single from Gotye’s third studio album Mirrors back in 2011.

It was a huge success. It stayed at number one for 8 consecutive weeks after being featured on American Idol and in the TV series Glee and it even won a Grammy for Record of the Year.

Gotye took from his experiences in various past relationships to write the lyrics. They tell of a couple that realized they were not right for each other and decided to break up, but agreed to remain friends. However, she is unable to do so and cuts off all contact, which is hard on him.

 

Wish You Were Here by Avril Lavigne

Wish You Were Here was the third single from Avril Lavigne’s fourth studio album, 2011’s Goodbye Lullaby. Avril wrote the song together with producers Max Martin and Shellback.

The song did well. Most critics were positive and it peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Top 100. That said, to people like me, the song had an uphill battle from the start, due to its title.

Pink Floyd has a far better song titled Wish You Were Here. Avril’s is good, but doesn’t come close to Pink Floyd’s.

A different title may have helped the song, but I doubt it. I’m guessing her target audience is largely unaware of Pink Floyd’s song. If you’re curious, we analyzed the Wish You Were Here lyrics meaning in this article.

Apart from the title, the songs are very different. Avril’s lyrics talk about missing someone you love and looking back at all the good times you had and the amazing memories you made together.

 

Need You Now by Lady A

Lady A teamed up with Josh Kear to write Need You Now. They released it as the first single from their second studio album (also titled Need You Now) back in 2009, when they still went by Lady Antebellum.

The song climbed all the way to the top spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and stayed there for 5 weeks. It was a big crossover hait and made it to the second spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been certified nine times platinum by the RIAA. It also won 4 Grammys, including Song and Record of the Year.

Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley share lead vocal duties on the track and they sing about missing someone so much you end up making a late-night phone call to that person, despite knowing it is a bad idea. Naturally, alcohol has a lot to do with that decision.

 

Missing You by Green Day

Green Day released Missing You as part of the Tré album. It was the second track. Tre is the final album in the trilogy of Uno, Dos, Tré. The album name is a play on the Spanish word ‘tres’ and the first name of drummer Tré Cool, whose face adorns the album cover.

The lyrics to Missing You have the narrator waking up alone in his bedroom feeling down, because his partner in no longer there with him. He misses them, misses the time they spent together, and misses the way they make him feel. He reminisces about the beginning of their love and wants to let his partner know that it is not over. All he can think about is getting back together.

We also selected another Green Day song, this one from Dookie, for our list of songs about domestic violence. Can you guess which song it is?

 

The Bed’s Too Big Without You by The Police

The Bed’s Too Big Without You was the final single from The Police’s 1979 album Reggatta de Blanc. It was their second studio album and it also included the hit singles Message in a Bottle and Walking on the Moon (which should have been included in our list of songs with the word walking in the title).

The Bed’s Too Big Without You did not see the same success as those two songs. It never made a dent on the charts, but critics did heap praise on the track.

As suggested by the album title (loosely translated as “White Reggae”), the song combines reggae and new wave, something The Police were known for. The lyrics talk about the loneliness and pain that come with the end of a relationship.

They were actually inspired by bassist, singer, and songwriter Sting’s first relationship. After they broke up, his ex was so heartbroken she ended up taking her own life.

 

Always by Bon Jovi

Always was one of two new songs included on Bon Jovi’s second greatest hits album, titled Cross Road and released in 1994. And instead of being overshadowed by an album for of hit songs, it actually went on to become on of the band’s greatest hits.

The single sold more than 3 million copies, with 1 million sold in the United States alone. It peaked at number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

But it was never meant to be released on a Bon Jovi album. Jon Bon Jovi wrote the song for the movie Romeo Is Bleeding. He liked the script, but did not like the finished movie and decided not to let producers use the song after all. That was a good decision, wince the movie flopped when it was released in 1994.

You can still see the song’s original intent in the lyrics, which begin with the line “This Romeo is bleeding but you can’t see his blood”, reflecting the title of the movie. The rest of the lyrics basically tell us the narrator is missing his ex and that he wants to get back together. But she is with someone new, because the narrator did something that made her leave. What he did is not explained.

 

I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself by The White Stripes

I listed the version by The White Stripes here, but the song I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself was actually written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David back in 1962. Since then, multiple artists have done their own versions.

Chuck Jackson did the first recording. Since then, Tommy Hunt, Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick and Marcia Hines also recorded popular versions. The Dusty Springfield cover was the most successful commercially, but most people today remember the one by The White Stripes.

Of course, there were many other covers of his song. And incredible number of them, with new ones still being recorded even today. That probably has a lot to do with the timeless lyrics.

They talk about the way we just don’t feel right, don’t feel complete, after a breaking up with someone we still love. We had our whole lives planned for two and now two suddenly became one. Life as we knew it no longer makes sense.

 

Songs About Getting Over Someone: Final Thoughts

Did any of the songs about breaking up with someone you still love speak to you and help you through this difficult time in your life? You could also check out these songs about lost lovers. They can also help. Some songs about a beautiful girl might do the trick, too.

Or perhaps there are other songs that helped you? If so, we’d love to hear about them. Feel free to leave a comment below with other great songs that you feel should be on this list. If we agree, we’ll definitely add them.

And once you manage to get over your lost love, you could listen to some of these great victory songs.