My name is Rachel Williams, but you can refer to me as Aphrodite, Cupid, or the Love Guru. Some of you might have recently found yourself eating large amounts of ice cream uncontrollably, spending time with your dear pal Netflix, considering signing up for Match.com, stalking your ex’s social media, singing Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” at a karaoke bar, or trying any other coping mechanisms for your terrible breakup.
Search no further because I will be walking with you along the road to recovery as we jam to the sappy, the cheesy, the dramatic, the comforting, the painful, the upbeat, and all of the above when it comes to breakup albums. Everything from Bon Iver to Taylor Swift will be covered to ensure you can have a proper burial for your former love life in order to move on to a more stable and confident version of yourself. Now I know you are probably asking yourself, “What makes this girl think that she knows what I’m going through?” You might be guessing the only “love” I have experienced is the feelings I have for Rupert Grint (Ronald Weasley) of the Harry Potter movie series, or my overexcited reactions when I see any cute puppy.
This is partially true. However, my first love will forever be music, and I believe the relationship I have with this art form is more intimate and meaningful than any of that crap that people watch on The Bachelor.
I would like to first give myself the benefit of the doubt by saying I am not one who is normally up-to-date on all the celebrity gossip, nor do I ever watch E! News no matter how extreme my level of boredom has become. But when I hear about power couples like Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow splitting, my heart aches for the romance that went awry.
Despite knowing anything about their lives, I often find myself pouting, “but they were so good for each other!” On the complete other hand, as I hear about a musician’s breakup somehow the words “Coming Soon to an iTunes Near You” flash before my eyes as if in that moment I’m at a movie theater stuffing my face with popcorn.
I admit I cannot control my constant thirst for new, inspiring music. As awful as it sounds, we as music devotees know that an artist’s pain (especially in their love life) is our gain. Luckily, eventually our support of the terrible heartbreak ends up benefitting the musician through our concert, album, and song purchases. So really you could say that this situation is mutualism rather than parasitism in terms of symbiotic relationships. It’s simply the circle of life, and it is impossible to avoid some tragedy in life right? But the best part of breakup albums is not only do we as listeners get great tunes packed with the rawest, relatable emotions, we also get life lessons about why no one, and I mean no one, should date John Mayer.
In all seriousness, whether you have lost all faith in love and humanity or you are currently sitting next to your better half as you read this post, breakup albums are an essential food group to your healthy diet of soulful music. And before you heavy metal fans write off my blog completely, just know that any genre can fall into this category because this monster we call love spares no one.
Before you begin exploring my blog, I want to make a few promises to my readers first. I promise to review a variety of breakup albums in terms of genre and mood. At the same time, let it be known I might review albums that not everyone would necessarily classify as a breakup album right off the bat. For my purposes, I define a "breakup album" as a collection of songs made in response to a situation that occurred in an artist's life where love had gone wrong. With that said, I promise to write facts when it comes to the story or history behind each breakup and its corresponding album, rather than grounding my reviews in sheer rumors one can find in OK! magazine. Finally, I promise to not approach every breakup album as a joke or a sheer anthem for the population of obsessive, crazy ex-girlfriends running amiss in society.
I decided to create a blog about breakup albums because this restriction makes choosing music to review less overwhelming than attempting to sail through the vast sea of songs that tug at my heartstrings. Also, I believe loosening the nuts and bolts of these romantic lyrics will be rewarding and enlightening. I hope my work may reveal each chosen artist’s experience and understanding of love in a way everyone can latch onto or identify with. So if I had to organize my thoughts into a single mission statement it would sound a little something like this: If love makes the world go round, then music about love is the axis on which the world goes round. Music throws a mirror in front of the face of society forcing us to look upon the relationships we have with each other, whether it be with a significant other, friend, family member, or acquaintance. Now breakup albums exclusively promote that reflection process of our human interaction, making them beneficial in any stage of life. So sit back, relax, grab some tissues or a sledgehammer if you see fit, and prepare yourself, as you are about to undergo open-heart surgery.
This is partially true. However, my first love will forever be music, and I believe the relationship I have with this art form is more intimate and meaningful than any of that crap that people watch on The Bachelor.
I would like to first give myself the benefit of the doubt by saying I am not one who is normally up-to-date on all the celebrity gossip, nor do I ever watch E! News no matter how extreme my level of boredom has become. But when I hear about power couples like Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow splitting, my heart aches for the romance that went awry.
Despite knowing anything about their lives, I often find myself pouting, “but they were so good for each other!” On the complete other hand, as I hear about a musician’s breakup somehow the words “Coming Soon to an iTunes Near You” flash before my eyes as if in that moment I’m at a movie theater stuffing my face with popcorn.
I admit I cannot control my constant thirst for new, inspiring music. As awful as it sounds, we as music devotees know that an artist’s pain (especially in their love life) is our gain. Luckily, eventually our support of the terrible heartbreak ends up benefitting the musician through our concert, album, and song purchases. So really you could say that this situation is mutualism rather than parasitism in terms of symbiotic relationships. It’s simply the circle of life, and it is impossible to avoid some tragedy in life right? But the best part of breakup albums is not only do we as listeners get great tunes packed with the rawest, relatable emotions, we also get life lessons about why no one, and I mean no one, should date John Mayer.
Before you begin exploring my blog, I want to make a few promises to my readers first. I promise to review a variety of breakup albums in terms of genre and mood. At the same time, let it be known I might review albums that not everyone would necessarily classify as a breakup album right off the bat. For my purposes, I define a "breakup album" as a collection of songs made in response to a situation that occurred in an artist's life where love had gone wrong. With that said, I promise to write facts when it comes to the story or history behind each breakup and its corresponding album, rather than grounding my reviews in sheer rumors one can find in OK! magazine. Finally, I promise to not approach every breakup album as a joke or a sheer anthem for the population of obsessive, crazy ex-girlfriends running amiss in society.
I decided to create a blog about breakup albums because this restriction makes choosing music to review less overwhelming than attempting to sail through the vast sea of songs that tug at my heartstrings. Also, I believe loosening the nuts and bolts of these romantic lyrics will be rewarding and enlightening. I hope my work may reveal each chosen artist’s experience and understanding of love in a way everyone can latch onto or identify with. So if I had to organize my thoughts into a single mission statement it would sound a little something like this: If love makes the world go round, then music about love is the axis on which the world goes round. Music throws a mirror in front of the face of society forcing us to look upon the relationships we have with each other, whether it be with a significant other, friend, family member, or acquaintance. Now breakup albums exclusively promote that reflection process of our human interaction, making them beneficial in any stage of life. So sit back, relax, grab some tissues or a sledgehammer if you see fit, and prepare yourself, as you are about to undergo open-heart surgery.
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