19 Songs About Being Hurt By Someone You Love
The people whom we so dearly love will not always be good to us but sometimes they do things that end up hurting us in some way. If you feel like someone whom you love is hurting you, here are a couple of songs to resonate with.
1. Shawn Mendes – Stitches
2. Eminem & Rihanna – Love The Way You Lie
This collaboration reflects on the abusive relationships with their respective ex-partners Kim & Chris Brown. The chorus of the track was written by Skyler Grey and is about her abusive relationship with the music industry that was really stressing her. At the same time, she was in a bad relationship with a guy who was a difficult person.
The term ‘burn’ has been used as a metaphor for someone breaking down while their romantic partner is aloof about the situation.
3. Justin Timberlake – TKO
This is a song off Justin’s album The 20/20 Experience. In it, Justin uses different boxing metaphors to express how his lover has turned into an enemy. TKO is short for technical knockout and is when a boxer is in a state where it’s unsafe for him to continue on so he is knocked out for all intents and purposes.
Justin uses the term “hitting below the belt” and it’s a metaphor for a cruel and unnecessary insult that is a really painful experience.
4. Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball
This is an emotional song off the album Bangerz that was released after Miley broke up with then-boyfriend Liam Hemsworth. In an interview with Song Facts, it was revealed that the writer was inspired by Maureen McDonald’s recent breakup.
MoZella was extremely emotional that day. She was very frail because she had broken off her wedding during that week. She almost didn’t end up making the session. ‘Wrecking Ball’ is about MoZell’as toxic relationship and then the courage to say, ‘I can’t go through with this.’ … We all wanted a strong metaphor as a title and we were just throwing out words. I remember kind of shyly putting up my han d and saying ‘What about “Wrecking Ball”?’ And Sacha went, ‘Yeah, “Wrecking Ball,” that sounds good.’ And MoZella kind of ran with that.
5. Rihanna – Russian Roulette
The song compares a relationship with someone to playing Russian Roulette. Russian roulette is the practice of loading a bullet into one chamber of a revolver, spinning the cylinder and then pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at one’s head. In the end, we see Rihanna winning the battle at the expense o the other party.
6. Naughty Boy – La la la
The song is light and catchy with the meaning of emotional abuse that has him running away from one’s problems. However, feelings for the person are still present hence he is looking for any means possible to try and block the person’s advances. He wants to drown the person out before he loses his mind.
7. Lady Gaga – Million Reasons
Gaga stated this about the inspiration behind the song, “we were going back and forth, …going why do these men—you know, all these men, my dad, my boyfriends, all the men in my life—they give me a million reasons, but I just need one good one to stick around.”
8. Sam Smith – How Do You Sleep
The song is from the album Love Goes (2020). It generally talks about lies in a relationship. Sam is fed up with his partner and is done crying so much. He wants to leave and start healing. He feels that the relationship has turned him into a desperate crazy person which he feels isn’t him. We see a lot of heartache and resentment.
9. Kanye West – Heartless
The track peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and has been certified 6 times platinum. Kanye sings about a man who had his soul taken by a heartless woman who didn’t truly love him back. Being heartless is generally being devoid of compassion or feeling pitiless.
10. Post Malone – Take What You Want
The artists take turns discussing a relationship with a girl who broke their hearts. Post focuses on the emotional baggage of his lover. He tells her that she has a forked tongue which is a way of calling her deceptive or manipulative. Travis on the other hand uses the pain that his girl caused him as motivation. This pushes him to be more successful.
11. Evanescence – Going Under
The track is about coming out of a bad relationship and when you’re at the end of your rope when you are at the point where you realize something has to change that you can’t go on living in the situation that you’re in.
12. Adele – Rolling In The Deep
The song was able to hit number one in the US and the UK plus was able to become the biggest crossover hit in 25 years.
In an interview with Spin Magazine, Adele stated that the song is a kiss-off to an unfaithful guy. It is her saying “Get the f**k out of my house” instead of her begging him to come back. ‘Rolling In The Deep” is what a ship far out at sea does and this symbolizes that the relationship is over and are both moving away from each other.
Adele also warns him that she knows secrets about him that will make him wish he never had met her. He shouldn’t underestimate what she can do.
13. Avril Lavigne – I Fell In Love With The Devil
The track was released in 2018 and it features in her sixth studio album, Heads Above Water. Avril sings about ending a toxic relationship that she had been on. This was inspired by her nasty relationship which she was in at the same time she was battling Lyme disease.
Avril stated that the song brought closure to her after being traumatized by the painful relationship even though it was brief. Her ex had harassed her for a long time after she decline his marriage proposal.
14. Justin Bieber – Love Yourself
The song was co-written by Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran. It is a message to a past lover whom Justin describes as narcissistic and who needs him to gratify her vanity. He wants her to know that he is comfortable with moving on from the relationship. He regrets letting his guard down around this lady and makes it known that his mom isn’t feeling her vibe.
Given that Ed Sheeran contributed to the writing of the song, it is likely to be about both Justin’s ex Selena Gomez and one of Ed Sheeran’s exes.
15. Chris Brown, Tyga, Kevin McCall – Deuces
The track is a break-up song and the term “chucking up the deuces” is slang for saying goodbye. The artists are walking out of a relationship that they claim was abusive and moving on to something better. They had tried to make it work but are currently fed up.
‘Deuces’ peaked at #6 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and #1 spot on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
16. Carrie Underwood – Church Bells
The song is about a young woman by the name Jenny who marries a rich man. Many people thought they were perfect for each other. However, Jenny’s husband becomes a violent drunkard who constantly hurt Jenny and she ends up poisoning him as payback. He died and she went to the church for his funeral.
It is the fourth single from her fifth studio album Storyteller released in 2016.
17. Keri Hilson – Energy
The track is from her debut album In A Perfect World which was released in 2009. It talks about a love that had gone sour that she felt like it kept draining her energy till she became spent.
18. Hailee Steinfeld – Wrong Direction
This is the first single from Hailee Steinfeld’s EP Half Written Story. In it, she calls out an ex-lover after realizing their relationship wasn’t as perfect as she expected it to be. Even though his actions hurt her, she can’t bring herself to hate him. She regrets not questioning the different red flags that came up.
19. Billie Eilish – Your Power
This is the third single from Billie’s second studio album, Happier Than Ever. It talks about an abusive relationship and how it affected her. Many have claimed it is about her ex Q, whom she dated back when she was 16. She had this to say about the song:
I feel very vulnerable putting this one out because i hold it so close to my heart. this is about many different situations that we’ve all either witnessed or experienced. i hope this can inspire change. try not to abuse your power.