When in doubt, make lists

The comments on the last post actually made me think of this one. I'm fine, by the way, head bloody but unbowed etc etc, and today, I was fiddling around with my music library and I said, hey, you know what's missing on my blog? (No, what's missing on your blog, eM?) A list of the best break-up songs ever, that's what's missing. (Or at least, the best break up songs on my iTunes right now). Anyway, in no particular order, here goes:


1) Walk Away by Ben Harper: I discovered this song only recently, thanks to the wonder that is Pandora and now I can't get enough of it. Oh, Ben Harper! Oh, his sexy voice! I want to marry him and conduct our relationship entirely on the phone and I want his sexy voice to travel through the phone lines and impregnate me with sexy voiced babies. And I know he's all like, "Sometimes you just have to walk away," but if I was the girl he was walking away from, I'd attach little chain things to his ankles so he could NEVER leave me. Ahem. Are we still surprised no one wants to date me?

2) Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell: Technically not a song about one relationship, but I like to think of jaded Joni, walking down a street, her hands in her pockets, thinking about all the what-could-have-beens. And this song is really sooooooo sad, you have to be very, very happy to listen to it without bursting into tears. "If you care, don't let them know," has got to be the best advice I've ever heard from a musician.

3) Send In The Clowns by Judy Collins: Since we're on the depressed woman side of my player, how I can I NOT put this song in? This is the perfect song for THAT breakup, you know the one I'm talking about, the one I think everyone has had at least once in their lives, when you can see the other person drawing further and further away from you and you are powerless to do anything about it, and it's one of those nights and the two of you are out somewhere and he/she is all laughing and then you catch their eye and you see, suddenly, that this has to end and it makes you so sad, but you know it has to happen. And, oh, when she says, "I thought that you'd want what I want, sorry, my dear." There's such affection in her voice, and still love, but inevitability too.

4) The Scientist by Coldplay: A no-guess entry. Surprisingly, one of my favourite car songs of all times, there's something about rolling down the windows and yelling into the wind, "Nooooooooooobody said it was eeeeeeeeeeeeeasy, it's such a shame for us to part, nobody said it was easy, noone ever said it would be this hard!" And all of Coldplay's songs seem like they're about breaking up anyway, even supposedly happy songs like Yellow, are all full of angst and turmoil. I love angst and turmoil. I'm going back to the start.

5) Babylon by David Grey: Oh, I love this song. Absolutely love it. I heard it for the first time on this double cassette set of new rock or something, and I haven't been able to get enough of it since then. His description of the weekends seem to fit mine so perfectly, for as long as I can remember, and there's this one bit where he goes, "Kicking through the autumn leaves, and wondering where it is you might be going to," and that bit is so beautiful, that I can hear his heart throbbing in his voice. Brilliant.

6) I Love, I Love by Dar Williams: Another recent discovery, but if I could sing, I'd want to sing like Dar Williams. Her songs are kind, not all jagged and they're wistful in a way that's hard to describe. With this particular song, though it's not exactly about a break up, the lyrics are so lovely, that it's nearly like poetry. You know the whole "it is better to have loved and lost" thing? Well, she takes that to a different level, when she sings, "But I live and I know that I'll burn as I grow" and you're like, dude, yes, me too!

I think that's all I can think of now that isn't U2. Feel free to add your own suggestions.