Welcome to another expertly curated chapter from my emotionally confused music library, where heartbreaks are poetic, joy is suspicious, and love songs probably end in voicemail. It’s a playlist for anyone who’s ever stared dramatically out a window… or just wanted to feel something while folding laundry. A tender tribute to those beautiful emotional detours we call… life, or possibly a playlist. Hard to say.
| Title | Artist | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| What Becomes of the Brokenhearted (ft. Joan Osborne) | The Funk Brothers | Originally written by William Weatherspoon, Paul Riser & James Dean in 1966, this Motown classic reflects on heartbreak and resilience. Joan Osborne covers it with soul. She’s known for “One of Us” and her powerful, emotive voice rooted in blues and rock. |
| You Don’t Love Me | Dawn Penn | A reggae staple originally by Bo Diddley, with Penn’s 1967 version becoming iconic in 1994. It’s a haunting cry about unreciprocated love. Penn, a Jamaican singer, became a one-hit wonder icon with this moody groove. Dawn Penn first recorded this song in 1967. It was based on a track of the same title recorded by American blues musician Willie Cobbs in 1960, which itself was derived from Bo Diddley’s 1955 recording “She’s Fine, She’s Mine.” |
| It Takes a Muscle [To Fall In Love] | Spectral Display | Written by Michel Mulders and Henri Overduin, this 1982 synth-pop oddity became a cult favorite. It’s about emotional strength in vulnerability. Spectral Display was a Dutch band dabbling in early electronic pop. |
| Don’t Wanna Fight | Alabama Shakes | Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard wrote this funky soul cut that channels frustration with interpersonal conflict and fatigue. Alabama Shakes fused Southern rock with soul, fronted by powerhouse vocalist Howard. Alabama Shakes are an American rock band formed in Athens, Alabama, in 2009. |
| Strictly Reserved for You (ft. Menahan Street Band) | Charles Bradley | A soulful, heartfelt ballad about exclusive devotion. Charles Bradley, once a James Brown impersonator, found late-life fame as a raw, retro-soul singer known for emotional vulnerability. Menahan Street Band is an American, Brooklyn, New York–based instrumental band, founded in 2007 by Thomas Brenneck while living in an apartment on Menahan Street in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick. |
| Another Love | Tom Odell | Penned by Odell himself, inspired by the struggle to move on from past heartbreak. A Brit Award-winning singer-songwriter, Odell’s piano-driven ballads are filled with emotion and introspection. The song about fighting for someone you love became a symbol of Ukraine’s resilience against the 2022 Russian invasion. |
| How Long Will I Love You | Ellie Goulding | Originally by The Waterboys (Mike Scott), Ellie’s cover adds tenderness. It’s about enduring love. Goulding, known for ethereal electro-pop, brought this to wider attention via the “About Time” soundtrack. The song was released as the official 2013 Children in Need single. |
| It’s Not That Easy | Lemar | A modern R&B tune about the complications of letting go. Lemar, a UK singer from Fame Academy fame, became known for smooth ballads and neo-soul hits in the early 2000s. “It’s not that easy” was first released in Norwegian with the title “Eventyrlandet” (Fairytale land) that Fredrik Friis composed for the child artist Eivind Løberg in the 1970s. |
| It’s Not You It’s Me | The Little Willies | A tongue-in-cheek, classic-country-style breakup song written by Ashlee Monroe and Richard Julian. The Little Willies are a side project of Norah Jones formed in 2003, comprised of Lee Alexander (bass), Norah Jones (piano/vocals), Richard Julian (guitar/vocals), Dan Rieser (drums), and Jim Campilongo (guitar), mixing humor, heartbreak and Americana. |
| Tell me your plans | The Shirts | A new wave band from late-70s New York. This song, written by Artie La Monica, is about romantic transparency or lack thereof. The Shirts, starring actress, singer and composer Annie Golden, blended punk energy with melodic pop and CBGB street cred. |
| Down Down | Status Quo | A gritty boogie rock track about emotional lows and relationship frustration. Written by Francis Rossi and Bob Young. Status Quo became legends of the UK rock scene with a no-nonsense boogie style. |
| Don’t Let Me Down | The Beatles | This soulful Beatles B-side of “Get Back”, written by John Lennon is about his deep love for Yoko Ono, whom he married on March 20, 1969. raw and pleading. Billy Preston, who The Beatles met when he was on tour with Little Richard in 1962, played keyboards on this track. |
| Showdown | Electric Light Orchestra | This song about a relationship facing a dramatic turning point was written by group leader Jeff Lynne, who is a huge Beatles fan. John Lennon called them ‘Son of Beatles’ and described the song as a beautiful combination of ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye and ‘Lightnin’ Strikes’ by Lou Christie with a little ‘I Am The Walrus’ underneath. Marc Bolan, Jeff’s friend lent Jeff his 1953 Gibson Firebird for Showdown’s guitar solo. ELO mixed classical elements with rock grandeur, and Lynne’s writing often drew on 60s pop with a futuristic sheen. |
| I Ain’t Gonna Stand For It | Stevie Wonder | A funk-infused track where Stevie channels Southern soul. It’s about losing patience in love. Wonder, a musical genius, needs little intro, blending social messages with chart-topping pop for decades. The song is famous for Wonder’s imitation of a seasoned country-and-western crooner and his inspiring drumming. In 2001 Eric Clapton released a cover of this song, but it didn’t reach the charts in US or UK. |
| Senorita (ft. Pharell Williams) | Justin Timberlake | This slick R&B track about playful flirtation was co-written by Justin Timberlake, and The Neptunes’ Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. Timberlake revealed that the song was influenced by singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder. |
| Beast Of Burden | The Rolling Stones | A rare Stones song from the ’70s that treats women as equals, written by Jagger/Richards, it’s a groovy plea for emotional support, mixing swagger and vulnerability. A beast of burden is an animal that labours for the benefit of man, like an ox or a pack mule. It was written by Richards as a kind of homage to Jagger for having to carry the band while Richards was strung out on heroin. |
| No More Tears (ft. Donna Summer) | Barbra Streisand | A disco-power-ballad anthem of female empowerment, written by Paul Jabara and Bruce Roberts, performed by two iconic divas at the height of their vocal powers. The backing vocals were performed by Julia Waters, Maxine Waters and Luther Waters, a legendary vocal group part of iconic records, such Michael Jackson’s Thriller. |
| Girl Is Mine (ft. Paul McCartney) | Michael Jackson | Michael Jackson wrote this playful love-triangle duet by two pop titans. Jackson and McCartney recorded the song together in April 1982 at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles, which was home base for the Thriller sessions. This was the first single released off the Thriller album. Toto band members David Paich (piano), Steve Lukather (guitar), Jeff Porcaro (drums) and Steve Porcaro (synthesizer programming) contributed to this track. |
| My Forbidden Lover | Chic | A disco banger about dangerous love constructed by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, the two guitarists that founded Chic. Chic were pioneers of funk, disco, and post-disco grooves. |
| Upside Down | Diana Ross | Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, the duo behind the disco group Chic, wrote and produced “Upside Down”. Ross met the production duo backstage at a Chic concert in Santa Monica, California and told them she wanted her record to sound like that. Several Chic band members contributed to the track: Edwards on bass, Rodgers on guitar, Tony Thompson on drums, Raymond Jones and Andy Schwartz on keyboards, Alfa Anderson and Luci Martin on backing vocals and the signature Chic Strings from Karen Milne, Valerie Heywood, and Cheryl Hong. |
| Love Really Hurts Without You | Billy Ocean | A Motown-inspired track about romantic anguish. Billy Ocean (born Les Charles in 1950 in Trinidad) a UK-based singer and a huge Motown fan, became a hitmaker in soul and pop during the 70s and 80s. |
| Que dolor | Raffaella Carrà | Italian disco diva Carrà sings about the pain of love with flair and sass. A European pop icon, she mixed camp, glam, and sex appeal into pop anthems. The song was written by Danilo Vaona, Gianni Gastaldo and Ignacio Ballesteros Diaz. |
| Livin’ Without You | Patricia Paay | Patricia Anglaia Margareth Paaij (born on 7 April 1949 in Rotterdam, Netherlands) is a Dutch singer, radio host, glamour model and television personality. In 1984, Paay was the first glamour model in the Dutch edition of Playboy. In 2009, at age 60, she posed for the third time. |
| Ave María | David Bisbal | “Ave Maria’ is a Latin pop anthem filled with yearning. David Bisbal (born June 5, 1979 in Almeria, Andalusia, Spain), a Spanish pop singer, rose to fame from Operación Triunfo and became a major Latin music star. |
| Elle Danse Seule | Axelle Red | A melancholic chanson-pop track about solitude and womanhood written by French Richard Seff. Axelle is a Belgian singer-songwriter known for blending pop, soul, and feminist themes. |
Sources
The information sources of the song facts include, but are not limited to, Wikipedia, songfacts.com, discogs.com, secondhandsongs.com, YouTube and artists’ related websites.
