The Break-up OST

James Blunt? Limp Bizkit? Mumford & Sons? Adele...? Oh God, please, not Adele! 

My boss really loves Abba. So all we listened to at work today... was Abba. After 6 hours, the vivid daydreams of grabbing the evil box from whence came the sounds of "honey I'm still free... take your chance on me..", and throwing it into a sea of vicious fire, manifested in the crazy eye twitch I was trying to suppress. One of my colleagues then said, "I don’t care much for Abba." Who does?  “Abba was the soundtrack to my break up...” *silence* and then just fits of uncontrollable laughter! Huh?? “It wasn’t by choice! They were just always... there; Abba themed parties, Mama Mia had just come out, there was no escaping it on the radio- everywhere! So I went with it... And, boom! Break-up Soundtrack." 

Really?

It got me thinking, did any of my breakups come with an appropriate backing track? Does anyone knowingly create a breakup playlist? In fact doesn't the opposite happen? Don't we try to avoid listening to songs that remind us of once upon a time...? Which might, for some, mean boycotting music altogether? Breaking up with music is the worst thing ever... Why would you do that? Seek help!

I suppose in school, after my then boyfriend and I parted ways in what was probably my best breakup, I listened to a lot of Frank Sinatra, Kelis (when she was good), and this weird ski mix my mate put together for me with such gems as Smash Mouth’s rendition of the Bare Necessities. 14 year old me, post-breakup, listened to a lot of Blink 182 and Fall Out Boy and Disney songs (I was rehearsing for a play...) But that's just what I was into at the time... So a playlist it was not. 

Another breakup was overshadowed by a lot of other events so I can’t even give it full credit for my song choices around that time. I listened to Eye of the Tiger a lot as I tried to sum up the courage to quit my job... And a lot of gospel music for when I just needed affirmation from a more superior source than my parents (as a maniaphobe I need that regularly) and occasionally, I listened to Rack City... that was probably just  the breakup...

To be perfectly honest, post-breakup, it's probably best to listen to the complete opposite of what your mind is telling you to... Is your brain begging for some Adele? Listen to Vanilla Ice instead.