Some artists say that nothing inspires like sadness. This may not necessarily be a solution that will work in the long run, but there are musicians who have even built their careers on sad love songs. For others, one such hit was enough.
He wrote the original version in the mid-1980s. Prince, who at the time was making about one song a day, which is probably why he wasn’t too attached to songs – even the best ones. The artist recorded a demo version of the song, but eventually released “Nothing Compares 2 U” to your group TheFamily. The song was actually lost on the album, and the world only learned about it thanks to it Sinead O’Connor. The Irish singer’s manager came up with the idea for his protégé to record a cover of this song for her second album. The artist did it so well that she made one of the record company executives cry, and many people couldn’t believe it wasn’t Sinéad’s song. Some Prince fans were convinced that “Nothing Compares 2 U” was about the artist’s former domestic worker who gave up her job to support her family, but O’Connor’s version leaves no doubt: it’s a love song. An unfortunate one that ended exactly 15 days and seven hours earlier.
The Swedish duo had several sad songs about feelings, but this one became their biggest hit, reminding many people of their own breakups. It’s a song about lost love, for which you probably could have fought harder, but it’s too late. “It Must Have Been Loved” – which is probably the most surprising thing – was released as a… Christmas song. The record company asked Roxette for some “smart piece for Christmas” and she got it. However, the single was not heavily promoted abroad, so it probably would not have become a big hit if it had not been included in the film. “Pretty Woman” turned out to be a cinema hit, and at the same time helped promote several now-famous songs. People who left the screening were already in love with “It Must Have Been Love”, and a cosmetic change in the lyrics allowed the Christmas song to become a hit the following summer. Single not only went gold and platinum, but also received an unusual distinction. In 2021, Per Gessle received an award for six million broadcasts of the song on American radio stations.
“Sometimes love lasts, and sometimes there is pain instead,” sings the queen of breakup songs. Adele has written many songs about unhappy love, and one relationship even inspired an entire album “21“, which made the singer a world star. The artist’s ex-boyfriend even tried to take credit for it, because if he had not broken up with the singer, there would have been no great success, but the only thing he could get for these “merits” were Adele’s songs on every step. The song that for many people became the soundtrack to their own failed relationships was the single “Someone Like You“. The singer had a lot of bad things to say about the boyfriend who let her down, but she left the song for herself at the very end of the album. The song was written when Adele was sitting at home sick and had just found out that her ex was engaged to his new love. Then the singer decided to finally close the chapter of a failed relationship and worry and wrote that she would find someone new and there would be peace in her life again. It turned out that she was not the only one who had such thoughts, because the song became an anthem, at least temporarily, for millions of people in the world.
Work on this piece took several weeks and was not that easy, but it was finally done Gotye he did not regret the effort he put in. If it weren’t for this single, the musician would probably still be known mainly in his native Australia. “Somebody That I Used to Know” is not a song about a specific person. The singer decided to describe his previous breakups “wholesale”, so at least there was no risk that one ex-girlfriend would boast on a TV talk show that it was about her. The song was supposed to feature a “famous singer”, whose name the artist did not reveal, but the singer withdrew at the last minute. Desperate, Gotye tried to hire his girlfriend as a replacement, but she sounded “too happy” and nothing came of it. However, the musician was very lucky, because she offered to help Kimbra, who had no idea at the time what would happen around the song. The song first conquered the Australian charts, and later did the same in dozens of other countries and became the biggest hit of both musicians’ careers.
There were several icebergs on the way to creating this hit, but the creators managed to avoid them efficiently. Film producers “Titanic”, where the song was released – although it’s hard to believe – they doubted the success of the work. So they urged the director to put a song at the end that would become a hit and help promote the film. JamesCameron he wasn’t thrilled with the idea, but at some point he himself was afraid of failure, and besides, work on the song was already going on in the background. Composer James Horner and lyricist Will Jennings they came up with an idea for a song that would not be too modern for the film, but at the same time would be heartwarming. But who will sing it? The artists have already tried to cooperate with Celine Dionbut nothing came of it, so now they cared even more about this star.
However, history almost repeated itself. Horner performed the song in Dion’s hotel room, but James wasn’t the best singer, so Céline quickly decided she didn’t like the song. For the Canadian, it would also be another film in her career, and she was not very thrilled with this prospect. Rene Angelil – the artist’s husband and manager – however, asked her to record a demo version “My Heart Will Go On“. The singer did it soon in New York, and one take was enough to make the studio crew cry. Horner carried the cassette with the song for several weeks, waiting for James Cameron to be in a good mood. However, the director knew after the first listen that this was it. , what the film needed.
Many people said it was a song about addiction or depression, but the singer herself dispelled their doubts. “It’s a song about a relationship that’s falling apart. Then you go back to what you know, but for example, I didn’t have a job, so I didn’t really have anything to sink into,” Amy told CNN. Blake Fielder-Civil, who later became the artist’s husband, became an inspiration for many of her works. The relationship was very stormy, and photos of the couple regularly appeared on the covers of tabloids. Newspapers and portals wrote about the addictions of these two, quarrels, even fights, breakups and betrayals. Many fans still blame Blake for the star’s decline because of him and his penchant for drugs. “Back to Black” was created after Fielder-Civil left the singer and returned to his former love. Amy Winehouse She was already sure that this was the end of her relationship, which was doomed to failure from the very beginning. What she didn’t predict was that when “Back to Black” was released, the couple would be together again and get married. The idyll did not last long, unfortunately Blake once again made sure that the song would soon become relevant again.
Before Adele she became the unofficial queen of songs about unhappy love, she conquered the world with her sad hit Toni Braxton. Interestingly, it was very close to “Un-Break My Heart” sang someone else. How is this possible? The American singer really wanted to record the song “Because You Loved Me”. If the title seems familiar to you, it’s a great clue. The artist’s record company said that a single between albums didn’t make sense, so she finally got the song Celine Dion, which turned it into a big hit. However, it so happened that Toni soon received another great piece. It turned out that “Un-Break My Heart” was “up for grabs” because Céline Dion had just given up on it. Except Braxton didn’t intend to record the song. The singer was fed up with breakup songs and another sad single was the last thing she dreamed of. However, her colleagues insisted so much that the star agreed to sing the song just to be on the safe side. This is how “Un-Break My Heart” became one of the biggest hits of the 90s, and an immortal hit for Toni.
This song regularly appears on lists of the most romantic songs, which is even surprising Chris Isaac, because the story of the piece is not very romantic. The musician recalled that one evening a friend called him and wanted to visit him. The woman stated, “I want to come and talk to you until you can’t stand.” The singer quickly realized that it wasn’t about talking at all. The artist knew well that the meeting would get him into trouble, but he agreed anyway. Before the friend showed up at the door, Isaac had already written “Wicked Game“. It’s a song about obsessive love and things that shouldn’t happen, but happen because you can’t control your emotions. The song was featured in the movie “Wild at Heart” by David Lynch and thanks to this piece, American radio stations became interested in it, and you already know the rest perfectly well.
This is the newest song on this list, but the power of this song is proven by the fact that it became one of the biggest hits of 2021. The former Disney star described her difficult breakup, but putting her emotions into words – as she said – helped her deal with the pain. “Drivers License” is the story of a girl who gets her driving license, gets behind the wheel and visits all the places she associates with her ex-boyfriend. The song caused quite a stir in the world of Disney stars, because Olivia’s former love was a colleague from the set, and his new girlfriend turned out to be another actress from the same universe. Moreover, the new couple released their own singles, which referred to “Drivers License”, so the situation began to resemble a Mexican telenovela. They only benefited from this Olivia Rodrigobecause the confusion helped her promote the single, and the artist herself proved to the doubters that she takes her musical career seriously and can really sing.
If only marketing specialists decided to start in the music business, Lewis Capaldi he would have no chance for a career. The artist did not fit any description of a future mass star, nor did he have the image of a polished poster boy who spends more time in front of the mirror than in the studio. Fortunately, however, the Scot’s start in the show business did not depend on the decisions of marketing specialists. Capaldi won the hearts of the audience with his sense of humor and, above all, with sincerity, which is abundant in his songs. “Someone You Loved” also doesn’t really fit the mold of a simple hit, which didn’t stop the song from conquering the charts – although of course it didn’t happen right away. Similarly to the creation of the song itself, which took half a year “I think my best songs are created when “I sit at the piano and spend hours banging my head against the wall and trying to come up with one good melody,” the singer admitted in an interview with NME. “Someone You Loved” is, of course, a sad story about a relationship that ended and missing the person who left, although the song was inspired not only by the adventures of love. Lewis was in mourning after the death of his grandmother, so he tried to write something universal about loss. Considering the popularity of the song – he succeeded.