Top 12 songs about breakups #3

“By the Time I Get to Phoenix” by Glen Campbell

Songwriter Jimmy Webb found the perfect interpreter for his songs in country singer and session guitarist Glen Campbell. Allegedly written about a girl called Susan, the muse for so many of Webb's songs, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" gave Campbell his first Top 40 hit, in 1967 (and won two Grammys as well). The chorus-less song charts one man's thoughts of how his former lover will respond to his absence as he drives across the country, away from her. Vainly he imagines her crying when she realizes he's really gone, though we never get to find out her real response. It's also worth hearing Isaac Hayes unique version which stretches to nearly 19 minutes and includes an imagined back story for the couple. It's like a soul soap opera.

“Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover” by Paul Simon
While there are countless songs about how someone feels when a relationship is over, there are very few that tell you how to actually go about breaking up with someone. Frustratingly, while the title of Paul Simon's 1975 single "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover" promises the definitive ex-lover's guide, it delivers only a measly five possible options. And of those five, we'd say that only "Slip out the back, Jack" and "Hop on the bus, Gus" are really of any use. We certainly don't recommend "Just drop off the key, Lee" as you don't want to risk bumping into her mother who'll have most certainly gone round there to console her. And "Make a new plan, Stan" doesn't begin to address the complex and often financially crippling consequences of separation. We don't know which option Simon chose when divorcing from first wife Peggy Harper; "Just give her a call, Paul"?

“Idiot Wind” by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan reacted angrily to suggestions that his song "You're a Big Girl Now" was about the breakup of his first marriage, writing in the sleeve notes to the "Biograph" compilation: "I don't write confessional songs." But what is undeniable is the attitude with which Bob laced the songs on 1974's "Blood on the Tracks" album, from which it was taken, written as his relationship with his wife Sara began to crumble. And it's difficult not to conclude that the man who wrote "Idiot Wind" was consumed with spite. Spitting bile throughout a masterpiece of symbolism, metaphor and poetic imagery with lines as unabashed as: "I kissed goodbye the howling beast on the borderline which separated you from me", Bob concludes with a far more prosaic and resigned declaration: "We're idiots, babe / It's a wonder we can even feed ourselves." She got the mansion, full custody of the kids and a hefty chunk of his fortune, which isn't bad for an "idiot".

“Whole Lotta History” by Girls Aloud
Should Girls Aloud ever tour together again, we imagine this song will take on a new meaning for one band member. Taken from their 2005 concept album "Chemistry," "Whole Lotta History" is known to be a favourite amongst the girls and we don't think we're out of line in saying it's their best ballad, by far. Typical of Xenomania's compositions for the group, there's no conventional verse/chorus structure, with the song unfolding over seven differing musical sections. It's the line: "You cost me so much love / So finally I just decided to go" that's bringing a lump to the throat as we listen to it now.