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Updated by Kendra Brea Cooper on Jun 22, 2017
Headline for Kiss and Sing: 10 Songs About Real Life Romance and Heartbreak
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Kiss and Sing: 10 Songs About Real Life Romance and Heartbreak

The love song is the cornerstone in any album, and is often the most successful song released. They're sometimes vague, and use wide reaching ideas of love, so the song fits perfectly into the life of the listener. Then there are songs written straight from the love stories of the artist, and those ones carry specific and personal details.

Don't Ed Sheeran

Ed is well known for his confessional songs. The words aren't vague, and they sound like a message left on his lover's answering machine. While it hasn't been confirmed, some say this song is about Ed's short relationship with Ellie Golding and the way the relationship fell apart.

Layla-Eric Clapton

Layla has many layers. Clapton's admiration of poet Nizami Ganjavi's The Story of Layla and Majnun was spurred by his real life love for Patti Boyd, who was married to George Harrison at the time. Love triangles can wreak havoc on the mind and heart, and it seems Clapton found solace in this story, and took pieces of it to make one of the greatest rock songs of all time. He re-wrote Ganjavi's story for himself, and all of us do the same thing with the stories that move us.

Justin Timberlake-Cry Me a River

Cry Me a River could sound like any other song about a heart broken by an unfaithful partner, but the hints of reality came through in the music video when fans noticed how much the actress resembled Britney Spears. The two were a very public dream couple, and when they broke up, many of us wanted to know why they would ever want to be apart.

You Oughta Know- Alanis Morissette

Easily one of the best angry breakup songs out there, You Oughta Know is about getting the last word when a lover has left you with so many things unsaid. Full House star, Dave Coulier, recently told US today that the song may be about him, which is what we assumed anyway.

Someone Like You-Adele

Romance is an idea, and while you may know your own feelings, you might never really know what your lover is thinking. Relationships don't exist in their own little bubble, they're influenced by our romantic stories and myths. In Someone Like You, Adele is singing about finding that idea again by rebuilding that connection with an ex lover. By saying "Never mind, I'll find someone like you", she's looking to recapture an essence, not a specific person. Adele revealed that it was about a close relationship with someone who didn't want to fully commit, but then committed to someone else when he had moved on.

Out of the Woods-Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is open, and doesn't just sing about her love life, but her life in general. Her true-story love songs are nothing new in the world of song writing, and some of the best have used the benefits of a broken heart. Out of the Woods isn't an angry song, it's about reflection once the anger and sadness clears. She hasn't told us who this song is about, but the internet assumes it's about her former 1D flame, Harry Styles.

Maps-The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

The story behind Maps is right in the title. Maps is an acronym for "My Angus Please Stay", and was written about Karen O's then boyfriend who was leaving for a job. The song carries that desperate feeling of not being to proud to beg when your heart is on the line.

Love will Tear us Apart-Joy Division

This is a song that takes romantic ideology, and tears it down by revealing the way it builds an unreachable dream. Ian Curtis wrote it about his marriage to Deborah Curtis and how it feel apart while he had an affair.

I Could Have Lied-Red Hot Chili Peppers

Sinead O'Connor denies this song is about her, but many seem to believe that this is about the break down of a relationship between her and Anthony Kiedis.

Chelsea Hotel No. 2-Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen doesn't hold back on the details. Most people find the last line especially brutal: I remember you in the Chelsea Hotel, that's all, I don't even think of you that often. The interesting thing about that line is how it immediately stops the song, and instead of being brutal, it's actually revealing the fact that he actually does think of her enough to write this. The song is about Cohen's tryst with Janis Joplin.