Here is a little mixtape that I've assembled as part of a two-part series that chronicles love and heartbreak. This is the heartbreak section full of a handful of songs chronicling different actions and emotions that occur when a couple break up.
The conceptual beauty of these two mixtapes, at least as I envision them, is that they can be taken two ways: either as a chronicle of a relationship as it progresses from start to finish (thus meaning the "In Love" mixtape comes first sequentially followed by the "Heartbreak" one) or as a chronicle of how a man can get over a very tough breakup and find hope and renewed passion in someone new (in which case the sequencing is reversed). Anyways, here is the tracklisting:
Love: What The Snowman Learned
1) Intro
The source of this audio clip should be PAINFULLY obvious
2) No Distance Left To Run - Blur
The quintessential mature, adult take on breakups. In the end all you can do is wish the person you love well and try to move on with your life. Key lyric: "I wont kill myself trying to stay in your life / I got no distance left to run"
3) Knife - Grizzly Bear
Not all breakups can be as mess-free as the one portrayed in Blur's song however. "Knife" chronicles what happens when one member of the relationship gets lied to, stabbed in the back, so to speak, and cheated on (presumably). Of particular note in this song is the instrumental breakdown at the end that combines the beautiful (piano) with the harsh (drums). I think most breakups have their fair share of both as people reminisce on the good times while wallowing in their present situations. Key lyric: "I want to know when I look in your eyes / With every blow comes another lie"
4) Skinny Love - Bon Iver
"Skinny Love", according to my interpretation, is a song about a girl who is unappreciative and going through her own set of issues and that is greatly affecting the person she is with. The ending makes you believe that a break up is either imminent or has occurred already. Key lyric: "Now I'm breaking at the britches / And at the end of your lies / Who will love you? / Who will fight? / Who will fall far behind?"
5) Second Chance - Liam Finn
Sometimes the person who initiated the break up realizes the error in their ways and wants the second chance that the song title implies. However, the narrator of this song realizes that getting back together with the girl who broke up with him is a futile waste of time; he barely recognizes the person that she has become and it took the break up for him to notice exactly how different she is than the girl he remembers. Key lyric: "Remember me? / Well honestly I don't remember who you are / My memory has never been the best / You want a second chance"
6) Warning Sign - Local Natives
There are always significant warning signs at the start of the collapse of a relationship, whether we are able to recognize them are not. Some are subtle, like a growing disinterest in the other person's hobbies and activities, while some are more obvious, like intense fighting and arguments. This song chronicles those warning signs. Key lyrics: "Warning sign of things to come / Love was here but I guess it's gone"
7) Heart Skipped A Beat - The xx
It seems like very seldom do both parties involved in a break up agree that the split will be mutually beneficial. The main male narrator of this song seems to be pleading for the two protagonists to stay together, believing that they need each other. Key lyric: "Please don't say we're done when i'm not finished / I could give you so much more"
8) Love For Granted - Phoenix
Sometimes people take each other for granted until they are no longer together. This song chronicles that feeling when the spark just dies out in a relationship. Key lyric: "I think about the time we wasted / For someday I'll be coming to / Tonight is dying on it's own / And now I got your love for granted"
9) Moth's Wings - Passion Pit
It's easy to be lulled into a false sense of comfort and joy by the pure SOUND of this song. The instrumental sounds happy and carefree; however the beat stands in stark contrast to the lyrics which detail a relationship that just isn't working due to the flighty and troubled nature of the girl involved. Key lyrics: "You come beating like moth's wings / Spastic and violently / Whipping me into a storm / Shaking me down to the core / But you run away from me / And you left me shimmering."
10) Let Me Go - Phantogram
Sometimes a couple need a little help from each other letting go of their feelings and memories especially when they are overtaken by a complete sense of confusion. This song's narrator captures that sentiment perfectly. Especially poignant is the key lyric I listed, which captures a sentiment that I've often felt concerning how naive and stupid we can feel after we have been broken up with. Key lyric: "But my memories have mistaken me / Can't remember the last time I felt so incredibly young"
11) Drink To Moving On - Grand National
Is drinking to help forget a breakup, at least for one night, really any different than drinking to forget about the pain of a bad exam grade or a heartbreaking football loss? Sometimes we need to get out there and party to help forget our own loneliness. Key lyric: "It's over and it's done / Let's drink to moving on"
12) Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - Radiohead
Simply put, this song WAS senior year, not only because of how well it conveyed everything I was going through during that period, but also because of how everyone I knew seemed to adopt it. Even know it has a special kind of power, especially when played on a melancholy night drive. The song itself is a study on self-abusive, (partially) unrequited love that the main narrator knows he needs to break away from but cant seem to. Key lyric: "Turn me on to phantoms / I follow to the edge of the earth and fall off / Everybody leaves if they get the chance / And this is my chance"
13) Agoraphobia - Deerhunter
Agoraphobia is the fear of being a social environment. This song captures the feelings of intense laziness and the lack of purpose you sometimes feel after a breakup. Sometimes you just want to stay inside your comfort zone and stay there, away from the world. Key lyrics: "Feed me twice a day / I want to fade away"
14) Detlef Schrempf - Band Of Horses
It is always tough to be friends with someone that you were in a relationship with, especially if the breakup was not mutual and one member of the relationship was "wronged". Key lyric: "My eyes can't look at you any other way / Any other way. Any other way."
15) Used To Be - Beach House
I've already mentioned how breakups can bring about a greater sense of how people (and relationships) evolve and change without people noticing. This song features the main narrator bemoaning the way his ex has changed; however, unlike the other songs which shared this theme the breakdown at the end of "Used To Be" conveys an optimistic understanding that everything will be alright in the end. Key lyric: "Coming home ... any day now"
16) Doesn't Matter - The Deadly Syndrome
There's not much to mention about this song. It's basically a more optimistic continuation of themes put forward on the song "Agoraphobia". This song and the song that it followed start the "healing" part of the album when things become more optimistic and the breakup starts to be a thing of the past. Key lyric: "It's afternoon when I wake up / I never used to sleep this much / The winters gone and so are you / Waiting around is all I have to do"
17) England - The National
Eventually the initial sting of a breakup wears off and all you are left with are memories and the distance between you and your former lover. That's what this song is about, wondering where your former lover is in life and imagining them in their current state, far far away from you and divorced from the life they had formerly known. Key lyric: "You must be somewhere in London / You must be loving your life in the rain / You must be somewhere in London / Walking Abbey Lane"
18) What The Snowman Learned About Love - Stars
What the snowman learned about love is this: love can be fleeting but it's worth every minute spent in agony and eventually we all come around after a breakup. Key lyrics "You come around, you come around, you come around ..."
