A breakup song is a song describing the breakup of an intimate relationship, with associated emotions of sadness, frustration, anger, and sometimes of acceptance, relief, or even liberation. As one source states (discussing the upbeat breakup song "Better Things" by The Kinks), "Pop music is littered with break-up masterpieces", but "[i]t's a rare break-up song that isn't bitter".[1]
Listening to breakup songs during a breakup can help the listener to experience a sense of catharsis.[2] For example, songwriter Phil Collins notes that "People hate a break-up, but they love a break-up song. "Against All Odds" pins down how it feels to be broken-hearted, and it's one of the songs most often mentioned when people write to me, describing how it helped them through the trauma of heartbreak".[3]