2025: Heartbreak songs in Western music — tearjerkers to listen to when love ends

Bus Back To RichmondLucy Dacus

Lucy Dacus – Bus Back To Richmond (Official Lyric Video)

This is a work by American singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus, who also drew attention for winning three Grammys in 2024 as part of boygenius.

Following her March 2025 album “Forever Is A Feeling,” this piece was released as a limited edition in August of the same year.

It portrays a protagonist who knows the romance is already over yet can’t sever their feelings for the other person.

Dacus’s signature, piercingly candid emotional expression vividly conveys the helplessness of clinging to what’s been lost.

It’s the kind of song that seeps deep into your heart when you want to linger in memories of days gone by or spend a quiet night alone in thought.

Amnesia5 Seconds of Summer

5 Seconds of Summer – Amnesia

This is a song called “Amnesia,” released in 2014 by the Australian rock band 5 Seconds of Summer.

It’s a poignant breakup song told from a male perspective.

Because it’s painful to keep remembering a lost love, it conveys a desperate wish to just become amnesiac and forget everything.

Someone You LovedLewis Capaldi

Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved

Lewis Capaldi, an artist from Scotland known for his husky voice and meticulously crafted melodies, has gained widespread popularity.

His song “Someone You Loved” is one of his signature works; released in 2019, it received high acclaim and was even nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year.

Although it’s a breakup song, I think it portrays a breakup more akin to bereavement rather than a typical heartbreak.

While it’s not definitive, there are two versions of the music video, and one of them is themed around bereavement, so it’s reasonable to understand it as a “song about loss.”

Stay with meSam Smith

Sam Smith – Stay With Me (Official Music Video)

Sam Smith’s third single, “Stay with Me,” released in 2014, is one of his signature works and the song that propelled him to global fame.

Sam Smith is openly gay, and this song likely portrays a love that was never meant to be from the start because of that.

Beyond the lyrics, the charm lies in Smith’s deeply moving, high-toned vocals.

Be sure to give it a listen.

Someone Like YouAdele

Adele – Someone Like You (Official Music Video)

Since releasing her debut album, 19, in 2008, Adele has been highly acclaimed as one of the most successful and accomplished singer-songwriters not only in her home country of the UK but around the world.

The song introduced here is a piano-only number included on her masterpiece 21, released in 2011, which became a massive hit with 12 million copies sold globally.

As the album’s overarching theme is “separation,” the lyrics and melody—born from her own experiences of heartbreak—are both beautiful and tinged with melancholy.

The title Someone Like You carries complex emotions; take your time to savor them by reading the lyrics alongside a careful translation.

you were good to meJeremy Zucker & Chelsea Cutler

Jeremy Zucker, Chelsea Cutler – you were good to me (Official Video)

This is the song “you were good to me,” a collaboration between singer-songwriter Jeremy Zucker—known for tracks like “comethru” and “all the kids are depressed”—and fellow singer-songwriter Chelsea Cutler.

The gentle piano tones and their beautifully harmonizing voices make it a soothing, healing track.

IrresponsibleKiana Ledé

Kiana Ledé – Irresponsible (Official Music Video)

This song by American R&B singer Kiana Ledé conveys her aching emotions.

Carried by a melancholic melody, it tells the story of a heart shattered by the irresponsibility of someone she trusted.

The despair of realizing that the flirtatious signals that made her believe the feelings were mutual were nothing but her own misunderstanding is truly painful.

The way she wavers between blaming the other person and being unable to let go of her feelings is something anyone who has experienced unrequited love can painfully relate to.

Kiana Ledé’s soulful voice seems to envelop and soothe this unbearable suffering.