An Anti-Love Playlist  

Beth Whitehead 

​​Music Journalist​  

​​Valentine’s Day, a day widely celebrated across the world.​ This love-centric holiday is known for making everyone’s hearts fuzzy and gives us an excuse to spend time with loved ones. If you have that special someone in your life, you probably bought them some flowers or an oversized teddy bear. If you turned on the radio on Feb 14, chances are you were hit with a barrage of love songs, some cheesy, some heartfelt and some repetitive. 

If you’re me, then you don’t celebrate at all. In fact, you despise it.

Personally, I have not been a fan of Valentine’s Day. To combat those Valentine’s Day blues, I decided to make an “anti-love” playlist this year. This playlist has breakup songs as well as songs sung from the perspective of the heartbreaker. From classic country to alt-rock, this playlist has a song for everyone, regardless of genre. 

The playlist begins with one of my favorite breakup songs, “Separate and Ever Deadly” by The Last Shadow Puppets. In what is possibly the most British-sounding breakup song ever written, the English supergroup tells the tale of the breakdown of what was once a thriving relationship in heartbreakingly dramatic fashion. It’s one of those songs that could have easily been written into a miracle. 

The Cure also makes a few appearances. Even though Robert Smith and Co. are known for their iconic love songs (see: “Just Like Heaven” and “Lovesong”), The Cure has had their fair share of heartbreak. One of the band’s first singles, “Boys Don’t Cry,” makes its way onto the playlist as a classic tune of rejection and heartbreak. The intro’s driving riff combined with Smith’s dejected vocals make this song an anti-Valentine’s classic. Also, from The Cure is “Play for Today,” off the band’s second album, Seventeen Seconds. Released just one year after “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Play for Today” remains a crowd favorite, with its synth intro being sung by the crowd in live performances.

The other artist to have two songs on this playlist is Placebo. For this playlist, I picked “The Bitter End” and “Without You I’m Nothing.” Off their 2003 record Sleeping with Ghosts, “The Bitter End” is an edgy breakup track that often gets overlooked in the canon of anti-love songs. Characterized by Brian Molko’s whiny-sounding vocals, this song is perfect for that post-breakup angst. “Without You I’m Nothing” is the softer of the two Placebo tracks. This song takes on a much lighter tone compared to “The Bitter End.” Here, Molko takes a more desperate, pleading tone, as if he doesn’t want the relationship to end.

Another artist that brings that sense of longing is Patsy Cline. Her song “Crazy” is a country classic. It’s the type of anti-love song in which no angst or anger is necessary. Cline’s vocals are melancholic compared to other anti-love songs, with the singer sounding introspective while questioning her relationship. It’s on rotation every Valentine’s season in my house, since it’s also quite nostalgic. 

These are just a few songs that helped me get through this Valentine’s season. Whatever genre you’re into, this playlist is sure to help with that Valentine’s Day slump. Click Here to listen!