Tear-jerking Western breakup songs: recommended classics and popular hits
For some reason, when we’re heartbroken, we feel like listening to Western music, don’t we?
A lot of the lyrics are quite serious or even ruthless, but the melodies are always moving.
It’s okay even if you don’t understand the lyrics.
When you’re nursing a broken heart, try listening to this list.
Tear-jerking Western breakup songs: recommended classics and popular tracks (1–10)
You Break Me FirstTate McRae
This is a heartbreak song by Canadian singer-songwriter Tate McRae that holds both strength and fragility.
It portrays the cold yet sorrowful feelings when an ex who once hurt you reaches out only when it’s convenient for them.
The line “You’re the one who broke me first” pushes them away, squeezing your chest as you hear it.
Behind those searing words, it feels as if there’s a deep sadness so intense that without saying them, her heart might fall apart.
For anyone who’s been through a painful love, it may resonate with that moment when you put on a brave face to protect yourself.
Her delicate vocals riding over a quiet beat gently wrap around that pain and bring you to tears.
InconsolableBackstreet Boys
This is a Backstreet Boys power ballad that sings of incurable heartache with mature harmony.
It can be heard as a portrayal of the helpless loneliness after losing someone precious and the feelings that will never fade.
Set against a grand sound woven by piano and strings, the four members’ aching vocals overlap to breathtaking effect.
Released as the lead single from the October 2007 album “Unbreakable,” it was also used as an image song for a TV commercial in Japan.
When you’re carrying an unshakable sense of loneliness, the deep sorrow of this song might, paradoxically, be the very thing that stays close to your heart.
Only Love Can Break Your HeartNeil Young
This is a classic song by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young that quietly portrays the pain of heartbreak.
It’s said to have been written with his bandmate Graham Nash’s painful breakup in mind.
The universal message in the title—“In the end, only love can break your heart”—pierces deeply into the soul.
That helpless sense of loss when you lose someone precious—many of us know it all too well.
Neil Young’s delicate, fragile voice and the gentle acoustic tones softly cradle a wounded heart.
It’s a song that carries a warm reassurance, as if to say, “You’re not alone,” offering quiet comfort.
It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to YesterdayBoyz II Men
After parting with someone dear, have you ever felt your chest tighten with the thought that you can never return to the joyful “yesterday”? The song “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” by the American R&B group Boyz II Men is a classic that sings of longing for the past and the pain of farewell.
Precisely because it’s performed a cappella, without any instruments, the warmth and poignancy of their voices seep directly into the heart.
It’s as if the beautiful harmonies gently embrace the sorrow that overflows no matter how hard you try to hold it back.
This song feels like a warm presence that quietly stays close to a heart that has experienced a painful parting, allowing the tears to flow.
Wish You The BestLewis Capaldi
A heartbreakingly sad piano ballad sung by Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi.
You said, “I wish you happiness,” and broke up, even though you didn’t mean it—when deep down you wanted to stay by their side.
Haven’t you ever felt that kind of pain? This song delivers those unspoken truths and regrets with a voice that sounds like a cry from the soul.
The lyrics confess, “I said we should stay friends, but that was a lie,” and for anyone who’s been through a painful breakup, it may feel like the song speaks your feelings for you.
If you let yourself sink into the emotions you’ve kept buried deep in your heart and have a good cry, you might feel a little lighter.
Love Is a Losing GameAmy Winehouse
This is an achingly poignant masterpiece by Amy Winehouse, the singer from England.
True to its title, “Love Is a Losing Game,” it sings of the futility of a love you know will never be rewarded, no matter how hard you try.
Even after giving everything, you’re left behind in the end, with a crushing sense of defeat and helplessness.
Anyone who’s worn themselves down in a barren, one-sided love will feel the sting of this hopeless situation all too well.
Her voice—deep and tinged with resignation—doesn’t console so much as it quietly stays beside the pain.
It’s a song that seeps into your heart on nights when you’re burdened with sorrow that has nowhere to go.
I’m A MessEd Sheeran
Ed Sheeran is a singer-songwriter from the United Kingdom.
This song is included on his second album, ‘x’.
He reportedly turned something that happened a year before the album’s release into a self-deprecating track, and the title ‘I’m a Mess’ carries the meaning of being all messed up.