Love is one of the most common themes in music, and many sub-themes can be derived from within that. From first kisses to mourning soulmates, the spectrum of love is covered. Of course, part of the spectrum of love are lost loves.
Even within this sliver of the slice of music that are love songs, we can find different moods. That is the case with these three songs about ex-girlfriends. One of the songs is about reflecting on what might have gone differently, but didn't. One of the songs is about an ex-girlfriend for whom some bitterness seems to be mixed with a bit of lingering desire.
Before we get to those, here is a song to an ex-girlfriend that is about being bitter and spiteful, and holding a grudge.
Dead Flowers by The Rolling Stones
This song is about a relationship that seems to have been made in hell. Whatever it is that they once had is something she doesn't want and he isn't going to forget.
Take me down, little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the queen of the underground
You can send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flowers by the mail
Send me dead flowers to my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave
Apparently, she is choosing to hang out with rich people in silk upholstered chairs, so he does what anybody in that state of mind would do. He shoots heroin with someone else who, hopefully, will one day feel the same as his ex!
Well, when you're sitting back
In your rose pink Cadillac
Making bets on Kentucky Derby day
I'll be in my basement room
With a needle and a spoon
And another girl to take my pains away
Alison by Elvis Costello
This song is about two exes seeing each other. He seems bitter about her choosing someone else, and yet he still seems to care enough about it that it haunts him.
Oh, it's so funny to be seeing you after so long, girl
And the way you look I understand that you are not impressed
But I heard you let that little friend of mine
Take off your party dress
I'm not going to get too sentimental
Like those other sticky Valentines
Cause I don't know if you were loving somebody
I only know it isn't mine
It seems that things are not as rosy for her as she hoped they would be, or maybe he is just hoping that is the case.
Well, I see you got a husband now
Did he leave your pretty fingers lying in the wedding cake?
You used to hold him right in your hands
I'll bet he took all he could take.
Whether it is reality or fantasy, he makes clear that there is still a longing.
Alison
I know this world is killing you
Oh, Alison
My aim is true
If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot
If there were anything like textbook, break-up catharsis, this song by the Canadian balladeer would be the example. He is reflecting upon a lost love so that he can better deal with putting it behind him. He knows that not knowing what she was thinking is what is haunting him.
If you could read my mind, love
What a tale my thoughts could tell
Just like an old time movie
About a ghost from a wishing well
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
With chains upon my feet
You know that ghost is me
And I will never be set free
As long as I'm a ghost that you can't see
He then sings about what it would be like if he could read her mind. Would it be like a novel with him as the hero? He then reminds himself that heroes often fail. He also acknowledges how difficult it would be for her to talk about it.
And you won't read that book again
Because the ending's just too hard to take
The story is told in the third verse. There was someone else. Now he wants to script it to simply walk away, and it seems he is going to be able to do that.
I'd walk away like a movie star
Who gets burned in a three-way script
Enter number two
A movie queen to play the scene
Of bringing all the good things out in me
But for now, love, let's be real
I never knew I could feel this way
And I've got to say that I just don't get it
I don't know where we went wrong
But the feeling's gone and I just can't get it back
Ah, if that were only the ending. In the fourth verse, he still is determined to let it go, but he is also haunted by the question he cannot get answered.
But stories always end
And if you read between the lines
You'll know that I'm just trying to understand
The feelings that you lack
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Here are other posts in the series:
