Letting go might be the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do, but it makes you a stronger person who knows your worth. Need a little help with letting go of someone who doesn’t deserve to be in your life? Here are some songs to help you make it through!
Frou Frou – Let Go
Let’s start off this list with a song that’s perfect for when you feel like you’re at the end of your rope. Let Go is a kind of motivational song that tells its listeners to just leave things to fate when you think everything’s going wrong. You’ve done what you can to salvage something – whether that’s a relationship, your goals, or just an overall bad situation. So once you’ve given it your all, it’s time to let go.
Letting go lyrics: So, let go, let go
Jump in
Oh well, what you waiting for?
It’s all right
‘Cause there’s beauty in the breakdown
So, let go, let go
Just get in
Oh, it’s so amazing here
It’s all right
’cause there’s beauty in the breakdown
Mikaila – The Art of Letting Go
Letting go is an art form and we can only hope to do it as gracefully as we can. In this song, Mikaila sings about getting rid of all the things that kept her hope of a reconciliation alive. She decides to unchain her heart from her past lover as she learns the art of letting go.
Letting go lyrics: Now here it comes
The hardest part of all
Unchain my heart that’s holding on
How do I start to live my life alone
Guess I’m just learning
Learning the art of letting go
Westlife – If I Let You Go
In this hit song by Westlife, the lads from Dublin consider letting go of their love for a woman. The woman is someone they consider to be unattainable, and yet they can’t shake her off their minds. So in a moment of contemplation, they weigh the odds of letting this love slide versus sticking around to see how things play out.
Letting go lyrics: But if I let you go I will never know
What my life would be holding you close to me
Will I ever see you smiling back at me
How will I know if I let you go
Passenger – Let Her Go
You know how people say that you only learn how much you love someone when they’re away? Let Her Go captures that feeling so precisely in this soft, soothing ballad. In this song, the protagonist can’t shake the thought of the woman he loves. Sadly, he only realizes how much he loves her when he has already let her go.
Letting go lyrics: Well you only need the light when it’s burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you’ve been high when you’re feeling low
Only hate the road when you’re missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go
And you let her go
The Corrs – I Never Really Loved You Anyway
What’s the easiest way to get someone out of your mind and heart? By recalling every awful thing about them until you realize you’re better off without them in your life. I Never Loved You Anyway is the epitome of a sour grapes song where the singer eases the pain of a breakup by focusing on how bad she had it when she was with her ex lover.
Letting go lyrics: You bored me with your stories
I can’t belive that I endured you for as long as I did
I’m happy, it’s over, I’m only sorry
That I didn’t make the move before you
Cee Lo Green – Forget You
Here’s a more modern sour grapes song for all of you who were left behind for a richer man or woman. Forget You is about a protagonist whose lover couldn’t be satisfied with the “change in his pocket,” so she shows her true colors and runs off with someone who can shower her with gifts. Because of this move, the protagonist decides to forget all about her because he has clearly dodged a bullet!
Letting go lyrics: I see you driving ’round town
With the grl I love and I’m like,
Forget you!
I guess the change in my pocket
Wasn’t enough I’m like,
Forget you, and forget her too!
Adele – Someone Like You
Adele may have been thankful for this experienced that launched her hard-hitting songwriting career, but we can’t deny the genuine pain we hear when she sings this. Someone Like You was a song Adele wrote for an old flame who was years older than her. They broke up on bad terms, leaving Adele devastated. But in this gut-wrenching song, she manages to find the strength to wish him well as she moves on.
Letting go lyrics: Never mind, I’ll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don’t forget me, I beg
I’ll remember you said,
“Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead,
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead
Beyonce – Irreplacable
When you let go of someone, you have to keep in mind that you’re opening up opportunities to find someone better. In Irreplacable, Beyonce kicks her man out when she finds out he’s cheating. And when he cries and begs for forgiveness, she reminds him that she can easily replace him.
Letting go lyrics: You must not know about me, you must not know about me
I could have another you in a minute
Matter of fact, he’ll be here in a minute, baby
You must not know about me, you must not know about me
I can have another you by tomorrow
So don’t you ever for a second get to thinking
You’re irreplaceable
Michelle Branch – Goodbye to You
Michelle Branch’s goodbye song hits a little too close to home, especially for those who are breaking up while still in love. Goodbye to You is about a woman who has resolved to break up with a man whom she can’t be with for reasons unknown. And even though her thoughts are still filled with him, she musters up the courage to finally say goodbye.
Letting go lyrics: Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything I thought I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to
The one thing that I tried to hold on to
A Fine Frenzy – Almost Lover
So many lovers have asked, “How can you let go of someone you never had?” And for them, this might be the perfect song to describe their situation. Almost Lover is a recollection of all the events two almost-lovers shared. And while there was no commitment or label for what you shared, that doesn’t make your feelings any less real.
Letting go lyrics: I cannot go to the ocean
I cannot drive the streets at night
I cannot wake up in the morning
Without you on my mind
So now you’re gone and I’m haunted
And I bet you are just fine
Did I make it that easy
To walk right in and out of my life
Carly Rae Jepsen – Tonight I’m Getting Over You
Finding the strength to let go of someone can turn that resolve into a destructive force. In this sad and angry song, the singer remains bitter as she adamantly tries to get over her lover. So what does she do? She goes off to party and find someone new to dance with throughout the night. It’s not exactly a healthy mindset, but when we’re crushed and heartbroken, we tend to be drawn to impulsive acts like this.
Letting go lyrics: We’re not lovers
But more than friends
Put a flame to every single word you ever said
No more crying
To get me through
I’ll keep dancing till the morning with somebody new
Tonight I’m getting over you
The Postal Service – The District Sleeps Alone Tonight
Have you ever had that feeling that your relationship with someone is bound to end? It’s not that you had a fight that drew you apart, it’s just that feeling that you’re just a temporary fixture in their life? In The District Sleeps Alone Tonight, the singer feels like he’s slowly being ejected from the life of the person he’s with. He takes this with grace, but he can’t help but feel like a temporary fix for someone he had hoped to be with in the long run.
Letting go lyrics: You seem so out of context in this gaudy apartment complex
A stranger with your door key explaining that I am just visiting
And I am finally seeing
Why I was the one worth leaving
Jeff Buckley – Last Goodbye
Letting go doesn’t always have to be a bitter affair; sometimes, it’s taken with grace and acceptance. In this Jeff Buckley song, he says his final goodbyes to someone he once truly loved. There is no bitterness between them, only a kind of longing that he knows will fade away in time. Sadly, Jeff Buckley was no longer able to create more beautiful songs like this, as he passed away a few years after this song was released. Some people even say that this song was an omen.
Letting go lyrics: This is our last goodbye
I hate to feel the love between us die
But it’s over
Just hear this and then i’ll go
You gave me more to live for
More than you’ll ever know
Brian McKnight – One Last Cry
How do you know you’re ready to let go of someone? When you finally say to yourself that you’ve shed your last tears for them. In this song, the singer realizes that it’s time to let go when he sees his ex-lover with someone new. So when he goes home, he wills himself to let go of all his unrequited feelings as he sheds his last tears for her.
Letting go lyrics: One last cry
Before I leave it all behind
I gotta put you out of my mind this time
Stop living a lie
I guess I’m down to my last cry
Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive
Let’s cap off this list on a high note as we sing the ultimate breakup survival song. Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive has been the anthem of broken-hearted people who want to find the will to get back up and reject the person who hurt them so bad.
Letting go lyrics: And you see me somebody new.
I’m not that chained-up little person still in love with you
And so you felt like dropping in,
And just expect me to be free
And now I’m saving all my loving for someone who’s loving me
Shed all that negativity and wash your hands of someone who doesn’t deserve you. You can make it through this ordeal with this playlist!
