It is the worst.
In solidarity with everyone else who's spending the big V-Day embracing packaged food and Netflix rather than the warm touch of another human being, I present to you The Great Valentine’s Day Hangover Playlist. From the hallowed halls of angst to the deepest canyons of devastation, some of the best music is made from the ruins of love. At the very least, take solace in the fact that someone at some point had it as bad as you and managed to make a nice song out of it. Here are a few of my favorites:
Frightened Rabbit - Keep Yourself Warm
Right, so we’re going to start out with a brutal one. Take the disarming falsetto and unrelenting build-up from this Scottish band, add in some heart-shattering lyrics, and try not to be moved.
The Mountain Goats - Woke Up New
Can you whisper desperately? Is that a thing? Before hearing John Darnielle breathe “What do I do?” in successively rising pitches of anguish, I did not even know that was a question.
“On the morning when I woke up without you/For the first time/I felt free/And I felt lonely/And I felt scared.”
Stars - Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
Oh, high school! Does anyone else hear this song and just get flashbacks of senior year? No one? Oh. Well, anyways. There’s hardly a more emotive melody to haunt your memory of a love that could not last, and Stars’ male-female vocal dynamic makes each side of the hurt all the more present.
“And all of that time you thought I was sad/I was trying to remember your name.”
Belle and Sebastian - Seeing Other People
No matter how hard you try to keep things casual, it’s usually going to get complicated, especially when you start bringing too many people into the fold — or into the bed. Stuart Murdoch understands, and somehow manages to make us feel okay with it all the same.
“Well, if I remain passive and you just want to cuddle/Then we should be okay, and we won’t get in a muddle.”
(Tie) Wilco - At Least That’s What You Said/I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
God, I just couldn’t decide. Either way, Jeff Tweedy manages to scoop up every piece of a shattered relationship and craft a work of art. The weight of his words in “At Least That’s What You Said” is rivaled only by the angry guitar storming in halfway through to build the band up to a raging finish. As for “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart,” well, who could add to that title? The stark solo version from the Wilco documentary is even more powerful than the studio cut.
“You’re irresistible when you get mad/Isn’t it sad/I’m immune”
“I’d always thought that if I held you tightly/You’d always love me like you did back then.”
Bon Iver - Skinny Love
Back before Grammy wins, sometime around 2006-2007, Bon Iver mastermind Justin Veron secluded himself in a cold Wisconsin cabin and emerged three months later with one of the most beautifully raw solo records of ever. “Break our hearts!” an audience member calls to Vernon at the start of this La Blogotheque video from an intimate Paris performance in 2008. He obliges, of course.
“In the morning I’ll be with you/but it will be a different ‘kind’/And I’ll be holding all the tickets/And you’ll be owning all the fines”
Neil Young - Helpless
This list was getting too modern, so I thought Mr. Young should set it straight. “Helpless” is simple, honest regret, and his voice just sounds so clear and earnest on this American Masters solo recording.
“The chains are locked/and tied across the door/Baby, sing with my somehow”
Postal Service - Against All Odds
Dilemma: I hate Phil Colins, but these lyrics are so full of hurt I’d be remiss not to include them. Also, my high school marching band played an arrangement of this my junior year, with perpetually disastrous results, so that nearly ruined it forever anyways. Solution: The Postal Service’s cover from the Wicker Park soundtrack. You can trust Ben Gibbard’s voice as the authority on heartbreak any day.
“You’re the only one who really knew me at all/So take a look at me now, there’s just an empty space.”
Sufjan Stevens - Heirloom
Released on Stevens’s All Delighted People EP, this track really got overshadowed by the subsequent, colossal Age of Adz. Which is pretty much a crime, because these lyrics haunt me more than any from Illinois.
“When your mourning has a sound/And you hesitate to laugh/How quickly will your joy pass.”
James Blake - A Case of You
Joni Mitchell's words. James Blake's falsetto and sparse arrangement. There is nothing to add; this is the definitive song on love lost.
"Just before our love got lost you said,/'I am as constant as a northern star'/And I said, 'constantly in the darkness,/Where's that at?/If you want me I'll be in the bar'"
Noah And The Whale - Blue Skies
What a gorgeous song. A simple melody, cathartic lyrics, it even sounds the way that warm weather feels. “Blue Skies” is a perfect get better and get over it song. You didn’t think I’d finish the list with another downer, did you?
“This is the last song that I write while still in love with you.”
Wowzers. There are just way too many to fit here. Thanks to Joseph, Meghan, Paige, Rachael, Charlie, and Elaine for their impeccable suggestions. Here are some more of their picks I just couldn’t squeeze in:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Modern Romance
Tom Waits - Martha
Bonnie Raitt - I Can’t Make You Love Me
Ryan Adams - Come Pick Me Up
Tegan and Sara - Call It Off
Grizzly Bear - Knife
Peter Bjorn & John - It Don’t Move Me
The Mountain Goats - No Children
Radiohead - High And Dry
Bright Eyes - Lover I Don’t Have To Love
The Avalanches - Since I Left You
Elliott Smith - Somebody That I Used To Know
Leonard Cohen - Chelsea Hotel No. 2
Death Cab For Cutie - Tiny Vessels
The National - Terrible Love
Rogue Wave - Kicking The Heart Out
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