The Beautiful History of the "Breakup Album"
OR... How I Learned to Stop Crying and Love The Bomb
The year is 1971. Two important albums have just been released: Tapestry by Carole King, and Blue by Joni Mitchell. These two records, both being singer-songwriter staples, share in common the fact that they are both heavily inspired by a breakup that the women had gone through. For King, it was her divorce from ex-husband Gerry Goffin, whom she had written 3 Tapestry songs with. For Mitchell, it was a breakup with fellow musician Graham Nash, and an intense relationship with musician James Taylor (In fact, Taylor and Mitchell can be heard as backup vocals together on the Tapestry track “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?”). These two albums were both critically and commercially successful in their original release, but over time have become known as THE staple breakup albums. Countless songwriters and musicians have accredited these albums as influences on their work. Especially when that work is influenced by a breakup of their own.
Joni Mitchell had released 3 albums at this point, had commercial success with singles “Big Yellow Taxi” and songwriter success with covers of her tracks, like “Chelsea Morning”, “Woodstock”, “The Circle Game”, and “Both Sides Now”. Carole King had also been a successful songwriter, with multiple Tapestry songs being recorded years prior by other artists. The already mentioned “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” had been a hit for The Shirelles, and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin. Songwriting and these two women are almost synonymous. It is no wonder then that albums penned by them, and focusing on heartbreak and lost love written would become beloved by millions, and ranked among the greatest albums of all time.
In the 70s, another iconic breakup album would be released. In 1977, Fleetwood Mac would release their 11th album (2nd with the duo of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham) Rumours. One of the best-selling albums of all time, Rumours was created amidst turbulence in the members' romantic lives. Christine and John McVie’s marriage was falling apart. Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were ending their long-term relationship. And Mick Fleetwood was in the middle of dealing with his own divorce. Suffice to say, there was tension. With this tension, however, came an album brimming with anger, frustration, and melancholy. Songs like “Dreams” and “Go Your Own Way”, detail these breakups from both sides. They couldn’t escape each other, so instead, they turned their torture into some of the most iconic and unforgettable songs, like the album centerpiece “The Chain”.
Whilst breakup albums and music didn’t fade away in the 80s, far from it, the singer-songwriter genre seemed to. In replace of the guitars and acoustic sounds of Joni and Carole and James Taylor, came the synth-heavy pop of Madonna and George Michael, and Janet Jackson. Goth rock and post-punk seemed to fill in the need for sad emotive music but were not the same as the lyrical vulnerability of the aforementioned albums. Maybe the socioeconomic state of the world in the 80s is to blame; why write about being sad over a relationship when the constant threat of nuclear annihilation is a much more unique topic to make a song about (see; “Ask” by The Smiths). The closest perhaps would be Bruce Springsteen’s Tunnel of Love from 1987. The 90s, however, saw the return of singer-songwriters, and the resurging popularity of sad and angry breakup albums can be attributed to the decade-defining Jagged Little Pill.
Alanis Morissette was 21 years old and had released two dance-pop albums, only in Canada. While her first, Alanis, had been certified Platinum, her second album did not get the same success. She had completed her contract with those albums, but the failure of her second album left her uncertain about her future. Fortunately for Morissette, her 3rd album, Jagged Little Pill, would push away those fears. As of 2009, it has sold 33 million copies and is one of the best-selling albums of all time (there is a continuing theme of these breakup albums selling well!). Lead single, “You Oughta Know”, is an angry and cathartic post-grunge pop-rock song, where Alanis leans into the “scorned women” trope to shame a lover who wronged her. And you can feel that anger and scorn in everything. Her vocals, her lyrics, her production. Morissette metaphorically smashes every lie and false promise he told her and rubs it in his face. If you couldn’t tell, I ADORE this song! It is also a big influence on a track on another album to come, but I will get to that later.
Aside from “You Oughta Know”, Alanis continued success with songs “Hand in My Pocket”, and “Ironic”, songs that point out the worst of life and the world around her, and yet is strangely optimistic. And that is the beauty of a breakup album like Jagged Little Pill; she is so broken and vulnerable, that Morissette can convey multiple contradictory emotions all at once. She was also obviously influenced directly by the works of Mitchell and King, particularly Blue by Mitchell. You can even see it in the similar named opening tracks (“All I Want", “All I Really Want”). And while being influenced by breakup albums of the past, Jagged Little Pill too would eventually become the blueprint for breakup albums to come.
The 90s was a renaissance for singer-songwriters, especially women singer-songwriters. Liz Phair, Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Sinead O’Connor, Tracy Chapman, PJ Harvey, Mariah Carey, Alanis Morissette. Important female-fronted bands like Hole, The Cranberries, Garbage, No Doubt, Veruca Salt, The Cardigans, Cocteau Twins, and the list goes on. A plethora of women in music existed in the 90s, and many, if not all, were inspired by the likes of Joni Mitchell and Carole King; unashamed to sing about their heartbreak, uncomfortable feelings, and trauma. The 00s, whilst not as good for this aspect, was still full of important heartbreak albums. Back to Black by Amy Winehouse, For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver, 808s and Heartbreak by Kanye, there’s heartbreak in every genre you look at.
It seems that there’s a 20-year cycle for female singer-songwriter breakup albums, as the 2010s brought forth MANY. Adele’s 21, Fiona Apple’s The Idler Wheel…, and most importantly, Taylor Swift’s RED. This 2012 release contained Taylor’s very first number 1 single, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, and shot Swift from American sweetheart country songwriter to bonafide popstar and cultural juggernaut. Not only does this album have a legacy of its own, but it is undoubtedly Taylor’s version of Joni Mitchell’s Blue. The album track, “The Lucky One” even alludes to the 70s songwriter and her rise and eventually rejection of fame. Taylor has since talked about how artists like Mitchell, King, and Morissette were direct inspirations to RED. Like Mitchell and Morissette, many of the songs on RED detail her highly publicized relationships, with RED allegedly being about actor Jake Gyllenhaal. This unfortunately brought forth a misogynistic wave of hatred towards Swift for being a “serial dater”, a topic she would later mock in her next album’s single “Blank Space”, taking on a persona, just like Morissette in “You Oughta Know”. Swift, like the already analyzed women, has become a great influence on the next generation of women songwriters, and RED, like Jagged Little Pill, Tapestry, and Blue, has become critically acclaimed, commercially successful, and beloved as the heartbreak soundtrack it is.
The 2010s not only had a wave of singer-songwriter women creating breakup albums, but also saw the rise of a particular niche: the upbeat pop breakup album. Emotion by Carly Rae Jepsen, Melodrama by Lorde, thank u, next by Ariana Grande; albums that lyrically detail the heartbreak, trauma, and suffering these women had faced, disguising it through the 80s inspired production and EDM. These albums have become some of the most critically acclaimed albums of the 2010s too. While Emotion was not very commercially successful, it turned Carly Rae Jepsen from a one-hit-wonder, into one of the most beloved cult popstars. Melodrama and thank u, next both were nominated for AOTY in their respective years, but both unfortunately lost. Finally, the 2010s had a wave of experimental and melancholic breakup albums, like Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool, Bjork’s Vulnicura, Mount Eerie’s A Crow Looked At Me, and even FKA Twig’s MAGDALENE. It seemed like in the 2010s, everyone was having the worst heartbreak of their lives.
With the start of a new decade, we haven’t yet begun to know exactly the trajectory of music and pop culture, however, there has already been a soon-to-be classic breakup album released. SOUR by Olivia Rodrigo, is the Y2K revival equivalent of Jagged Little Pill. Rodrigo has named artists like Morissette, Swift, Lorde, Mitchell, and King as influences, plus other women songwriters like Fiona Apple, Avril Lavigne, Hayley Williams of Paramore, and Hole. Songs off SOUR like “good 4 u” take an interpolation of “Misery Business” by the aforementioned Paramore, and the cadence and progression of “You Oughta Know”, and creates the Gen Z breakup anthem. Throughout the album, the influence of the past is made well apparent, yet it is not a cheap knockoff. Instead, Rodrigo seems to be aware of the inability to escape influence, so she purposely feeds into it. Swift and King and Mitchell and Morissette can be felt within tracks like “brutal” or “traitor”, whether in glaring detail or just in a phrase or lyric.
For the future of the breakup album, I cannot say for certain where we will go. I can totally see a revival of the Lilith Fair era of 90s music, as “sad girl” (a name I hate but one that has stuck) songwriters like Phoebe Bridgers, Mitski, Swift, Lana Del Rey, Lorde, Billie Eilish, Julien Baker, and Snail Mail have gained significant attention over the past couple of years. Add that into both the fashion of the late 90s and early 00s returning, and the newfound love for Hole, Apple, Mazzy Star, Tori Amos, and other 90s musicians from that era, and there may be a modern Lilith Fair festival of sad girls in the coming years. With this, we could have an era comparable to the ’70s or 2010s. Or perhaps the pop culture may totally shift, as an intentional action to escape the gloom and hopelessness of modern life, much like in the 80s. With the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic presumably over, it would not surprise me if people just wanted a bit of escapism. However, the breakup album will never be truly gone. It may exist as just a big hit song, or in an alternate underground scene, but eventually, someone will create another Blue, another Jagged Little Pill, and cause an eruption in music that will bring back the power of the breakup.