Playlist help: NBD breakup songs

March 16, 2014 6:54 PM

I'm starting to date (after only having been in Serious Big-Deal Relationships previously) and am having fun, not looking for anything serious. This entails a certain amount of rejection that I'm trying to keep in appropriate perspective. I'm looking for songs to compile into a playlist, on the theme of "oh well, it didn't work out, I'm still fabulous/will easily survive." These are not Big Heartbreak songs, just "eh, too bad, no big deal." Ingrid Michaelson's "Girls Chase Boys" is the perfect example of this. Do you have other suggestions?

I like music in the Janelle Monae/Tegan and Sara/indie-pop meld, at least for this playlist. I'm a queer lady and date folks of all pronoun preferences, so bonus points for songs that aren't too heteronormative.

posted by c'mon sea legs to Media & Arts (14 answers total)

Future Bible Heroes, I'm Lonely (And I Love It)
posted by contraption at 8:32 PM on March 16, 2014

A little odd as it's a fairly traditional and well-known folk song, but I find Lucy Wainwright Roche's version of Wild Mountain Thyme to be quite lovely.

And it has a very "Oh, you don't want to look at flowers with me? Cool, I'll take someone else" vibe that I like.
posted by dotgirl at 9:04 PM on March 16, 2014

Your Ex-Lover is Dead by Stars is my go-to for breakups of all kinds and I think fits this kind of situation well.
posted by feloniousmonk at 9:04 PM on March 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

Maybe too obvious, but I Will Survive?
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 9:21 PM on March 16, 2014

So What - Pink
posted by rubster at 9:37 PM on March 16, 2014

I like Bulletproof by La Roux
posted by unlaced at 9:59 PM on March 16, 2014 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I have a playlist for this very subject. A few favourites -

1. Gonna Get Over You - Sara Bareilles
2. My Song 5 - Haim
3. My Friends Over You - New Found Glory
4. Girls - The 1975

And I'm sure you're aware of I Couldn't Be Your Friend and Goodbye, Goodbye from Heartthrob. Those Quin twins always get it right.
posted by sapien at 2:40 AM on March 17, 2014

Best answer: "No Guilt" - the Waitresses
posted by SoftRain at 7:24 AM on March 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Too Many Fish in the Sea. Marvellettes.

I LOVE No Guilt!!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:44 AM on March 17, 2014

Best answer: The Fabulous Ginn Sisters - Hey Doll
posted by Kurichina at 8:47 AM on March 17, 2014

Best answer: Rilo Kiley, Breakin' Up
posted by katieanne at 10:30 AM on March 17, 2014

I feel like much of Lady Gaga's oeuvre is in this vein; specifically it gets the non-heteronormative stuff right, and there's an overtly NBD feel to a lot of the subtext / plots about romantic entanglements in many of her songs, however the glam/hyperbole/trashiness in her stuff is certainly not to everyone's liking.
posted by lonefrontranger at 4:59 PM on March 17, 2014

Obviously a Bob Dylan song, but the Leftover Cuties version of "Dont Think Twice, It's Alright" may be more your speed.

See also: Joan Baez
posted by rubster at 6:07 PM on March 17, 2014

I've always found the back-to-back combo of Lou Reed's NYC Man and Hookywooky to do the trick. YMMV.
posted by riverlife at 11:41 PM on March 17, 2014