Breaking up with someone is always hard. But breaking up before, during, or even after Valentine’s Day can worsen it. However, music is always there to help us endure the pain. And at the same time, it can become the soundtrack of our healing journey. In many ways, music can be the best therapy for a broken heart. Sometimes, it becomes the background noise of your wallowing days; other times, it’s the reason you finally belt out what is on the inside while yelling lyrics on the outside.
Regardless of the stage of grief you are in right now, there are several songs for every single one. In the beginning, everything hurts — even your bones. However, slowly but surely, after all the crying and the endless conversations with your friends about how this person made a huge mistake, you survive. But not without the best love language — words of affirmation and words of encouragement given exclusively through you by some of the best therapists in the world. That is, singers and musicians who know how to lift your spirits.
Sometimes, you just need to cry it out. And when you are finally done, you need a song to help you put all those broken heart pieces and glue them back together. And then you’ll be ready to take on the world empowered, even if alone. Here are some of the songs we think will help you get through your Valentine’s Day breakup woes.
Mon Laferte - “Tu Falta De Querer”
The words from Mon Laferte in this one song explain perfectly what a breakup feels like. It is heart-wrenching, painful, and makes you want to throw up. All you really want to do is scream when you know the person you love is no longer going to be that person. “Aún te amo y, creo, que hasta más que ayer,” she croons on “Tu falta de querer.” It is a very accurate description because even though the relationship ended, the love is still there. And it might feel stronger than before. “Me siento mutilada y tan pequeña,” she continues, referencing how the pain is like someone chopped you up in tiny pieces. And even with more fatalist takes like, “Quisiera hasta la muerte, para no pensar,” we know the death wishes are only temporary and symbolic.
Carla Morrison - “Déjenme Llorar (feat. Leonel Garcia)”
It is simple; you just want to cry. Other times, the crying does not stop. You cry in front of everyone. You cry in the car on the way to work and when you are drunk. But then people tell you to toughen up, to move on. Do not listen — just tell people to let you cry. “Déjenme llorar, quiero despedirme en silencio, Hacer mi mente razonar, que para esto no hay remedio,” Morrison sings about wanting to say goodbye in silence, which is a beautiful way of putting it. Tears are, in a way, small goodbyes. Or at least a way to prepare you to say goodbye forever. The lyrics also say she wants to make her mind have reasoning because there is no remedy for this. A breakup comes after many fights, after trying to work things out. And the solution might be that there is no solution. You just have to let go and cry it out until your eyes are tired.
Junior H - “Sad Boyz II”
Even though female singers are often more likely to write about feelings, men can accurately do so too. Junior H created a song that has everything a break up song needs. Even just the tune sets the mood, the feeling of being hurt. Junior H might have not been going through heartbreak when he wrote this song but the way he sings it, feels authentic. You can imagine him being genuinely sad. “Hace ya meses que esto siento tenso,” the song goes. In the lyrics, “Baby, recuerda que yo vivo de momentos, tendré que borrar fotos y videos,” he talks about how for a long time, things have felt tense. Breakups are made up of built-up emotions and recurring fights. “Remember I live of moments, I’ll have to delete pictures and videos,” he is right; all the memories you make with someone are painful reminders of what is gone. So, you must delete it to move on.
Becky G, DannyLux - “Cries in Spanish”
Becky G’s newest album, Esquinas, is full of sentiment and melancholy. Off her most personal LP yet, Becky and DannyLux take a trip down memory lane in “Cries in Spanish.” During a breakup, you almost always tend to reminisce. Becky talks about not visiting the place where they went every Friday and how she could not finish the series they were both watching. The romanticism of DannyLux is also the perfect combination. The song is all about what could’ve been, what could have happened, had they stayed together. When you break up, a lot of questions are left unanswered. But you have to stop looking for them. Sometimes, the answers were there all along.
Arcángel, Grupo Frontera - “ALV”
In the healing process, rage has to be one of the many stages you experience, and it is perfectly healthy. You must be able to be mad at the person to get over them. Songs like this one are perfect for that, especially if you sing them after several drinks. Also, it is catchy enough to dance to it. “Ahora sin ti me va mejor, ya no tengo estrés.” Now without you I am doing better, I no longer have stress, says one of the lyrics. If you were fighting constantly before the breakup, you were probably not having the most relaxing days. It’s true, you no longer feel stress, and what a blessing that is. This song will definitely make you feel better. And the name of it will at least make you laugh.
Eladio Carrión feat. Karol G - “No Te Deseo el Mal”
Being mad at your ex is going to linger. So in order to keep pushing through this rage stage, you are going to need a few more songs. It might be wrong to wish for bad things to happen to your old significant other, but there is no harm in thinking it. Eladio and Karol said the things we have thought about but might not want to say out loud. “When you go to the bathroom, there is no toilet paper,” it is quite funny honestly. “I hope you get your period in the middle of the sea,” clever and original might I add. The song is called “I don’t wish you wrong,” but we all know we would love to see our exes under any of these circumstances. It might be the one thing that makes you smile.
Karol G - “Mientras Me Curo Del Cora”
At one point during this grieving process, one must attempt to heal. Karol G did exactly that in her last album. And this specific song can help you get out of bed on days when you don’t want to. It can be so hard to go on about your day when you feel like dying but you have to try. You have to have hope. “Mientras Me Curo Del Cora” is all about hope and trusting the process, trusting the timing. It literally translates to “While I am curing from my heart,” and that is what it feels like. You are taping back pieces, putting bandages on wounds, and piecing it all back. To finally feel together, complete, in one piece. “Give me time, I am not in my best moment,” she sings very candidly. People around us must know you might not be yourself during this time, but you will eventually get there. You will eventually finally feel okay.
Fuerza Regida - “Excesos”
This phase is a little more fun than the rest. You feel like you are finally getting back to who you are, and you just want to party. In a way, partying is also a perfect route for coping. You need to get back out there and pretend the relationship never happened. Songs like “Excesos” can do the trick. It puts you in a good mood just from the beginning. “Ando como quiero, destapo botellas. Tu ya andas con otro, ni modo que pena,” the song says, encouraging you to move onto popping bottles. “Si estas bonita y todo pero hay más culos que estrellas” — there are more people out there to date (if you say it in a PG13 way). Basically, this song is for the person who is already feeling like a rockstar. Your ex might’ve been hot, but there are many other hot people out there. And you are finally willing to go find them.
Elsa y Elmar - “cómo acaba”
We cried, we flipped the ex off and blocked them from every social media app available, and then we partied. It is time to turn the page and start with a clean slate. Breakup phases are like seasons. One must come and go before a new one arrives. It applies to grief, too. And in the end, you realize the relationship and the experience were worth it. Regardless of the pain you endured for weeks or months, you are now ready to move on. You can look back and be grateful for the good and the bad. Life is about living with no regrets. “I learned how to talk about you without it being uncomfortable, even the rain can tell I do not walk broken anymore,” Elsa sings. In the end, she says this is the last song she is writing to this person before letting go. She knows how the story ends, and she is making sure it will not repeat itself.