Title: Break Down 

Artist: Mariah Carey

Recommended by: Eden Essick, an extraordinary, thoughtful, fashionable success story of a human being stationed in New York

Sophie Says: MAN, Mariah Carey could just SING SO WELL. I don't feel disappointed by "Glitter" at all, by the way. I have seen "Glitter" three times. I wish I could have told young, whispery Mariah -- as she is here -- that she would someday meet Nick Cannon and he would love her even when she was fat and they would have twins together. MAYBE THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO TELL OURSELVES, WORLD.

Listen:  Mariah Carey - Breakdown

 

Title: Breaking Up

Artist: Rilo Kiley

Recommended by: Alex Kerr, teacher and sports logo nerd, and absolutely fantastic friend to anyone who is lucky enough to know him 

Sophie Says: Remember when Rilo Kiley went down this road where they were playing sort of funk-inspired songs? That was a fun time. That was before they broke up. Do you feel like individual members of the band now play this song about them breaking up? I'll bet they do. This is an outstanding "FUCK THIS SITUATION" song, by the way. Perfect score for that.

Listen: Rilo Kiley - Breakin' Up

 

Title: Call Your Girlfriend

Artist: Robyn

Recommended by: CJ Hunt, far and away the funniest person I know. Sorry to all you other funny people. You haven't met CJ.

Sophie Says: I think CJ maybe picked this song because when he is trying to move on he likes to sad-dance. Robyn has never been through a break-up, though, I decided, because HAVE YOU SEEN HER? No one is breaking up with Robyn. 

Listen: Robyn - Call Your Girlfriend

 

Title: Don't Think Twice, It's Alright

Artist: Bob Dylan

Recommended by: Ben Stevens, serial genius and music nerd (he had one of those terabyte hard drives JUST FOR HIS MUSIC before external hard drives were even a thing. Did I spell terabyte right?)

Sophie Says: This is a gimme, right? Why didn't anyone else pick this song? This is the one I would go to, too. I AM SIMILAR TO A MUSIC NERD/ GENIUS IN THIS WAY!

Listen: Bob Dylan - Don't Think Twice, It's Alright

 

Title: Everything Is Everything

Artist: Lauryn Hill

Recommended by: Jessica Thompson, best friend of all time, brilliant artist, thoughtful emoter, all-around winning human

Sophie Says: Jessica has my favorite taste in music out of everyone in the world. One time we traveled the world together watching Ben Folds perform. We wore Ben Folds T-shirts. Jessica even posted on a message board about Ben Folds. WE WERE TRUE FANS. R&B truly lends itself nicely to break-up music, doesn't it? Just in terms of the rhythm... and blues... of it. 

Listen: Lauryn Hill - Everything Is Everything

 

Title: Gives You Hell

Artist: All American Rejects

Recommended by: Avery Lawrence, smiliest, nicest guy you've ever met, with a deep gift for the art of cupcake decoration

Sophie Says: YESSSSSS THANK GOOOODDDDD someone else picked this one, because otherwise I would have had to pick it! This is that roll-down-the-window shit that YOU NEED WHEN YOU ARE DRIVING YOUR CAR AND YOU HAVE JUST BEEN DUMPED. Let's shut this thing down. NOTHING IS GOING TO BE BETTER THAN THIS PICK.

Listen: All American Rejects - Gives You Hell

 

Title: Gonna Get Along Without You Now

Artist: She & Him

Recommended by: Kim Neer, truest soul-mate, calm, collected, mindful, beautiful thinker on the other side of the country

Sophie Says: I'm glad Kim picked this song, because I think it is the song my mom would have picked too. I think it is originally from the '50s or something, by a woman named Teresa Brewer. My mom loved this shit. She sang it all the time. It was like she waited for me to go through a break-up so she could sing this. She sang it to me about Trevor, who I loved FOR NINE YEARS, and I did NOT get along without him before I met him, because I was a BABY before I met him. But she didn't understand my love for Trevor. He totally rejected me. I DID get over it, though, so I guess there was some truth to the song. Badass pick, Kim and Mom.

Listen: She & Him - Gonna Get Along Without You Now

 

Title: I Learned The Hard Way

Artist: Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings

Recommended by: Emily Nelson, knower of all the best hip tattoos and possessor of none; hard-working molder of young lives

Sophie Says: Oh man, this song just rocks so HARD. It should be on the radio ALL THE TIME. The fact that it is not is a disgrace to all of humanity, I think. I would never cross Sharon Jones again if I was the dickhole in this song.

Listen: Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - I Learned The Hard Way

 

Title: Just By Myself

Artist: Greg Brown

Recommended by: Bryn Roshong, independent spirit, lover of wonderful stately dogs, and celebratory grower of plants

Sophie Says: This is a really good song for that time when you are REALLY over it; like, you are honestly over it and you're not even really thinking about it anymore, actually, and you're not really interested in anybody else because WHO IS GONNA BE AS BADASS AS YOU BY YOURSELF? I'm into that right now; that's very much where I am. Bryn knew that. Bryn really knows me, across the miles and miles.

Listen: Greg Brown - Just By Myself

 

Title: No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)

Artist: Donna Summer

Recommended by: Tami Nelson, extraordinary improviser, never-misses-a-beater (beater?), beater of lots of other things as well, actually, all-around winner

Sophie Says: Tami says this is the first record she exhausted, and I get that... this is a great song. Bring your damn tissues with you as you close yourself in a phone booth with the Haagan Daas and you listen to the first two minutes of this. And then after that, PLEASE put on your roller skates and disco dance the fuck out of that phone booth and throw that Haagan Daas at that tool who screwed you over. 

Listen: Donna Summer - No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)

 

Title: Ocean Breathes Salty Air 

Artist: Modest Mouse

Recommended by: Chris Trew, unparalleled comedian, who does all kinds of comedy, yes even prop comedy, if by prop comedy you mean he pretends to have sex on stage a lot of times, and one time he only wore scarves on stage

Sophie Says: Guys, when this song used to come on 94.7 NRK in Portland, I would turn it up so damn loud, and I would listen to it and I NEVER HEARD THE LYRICS. Now I'm hearing these lyrics, and yeah, this is a really great break-up song. "Get away from me!" is a central lyric in this. Did you know that? Oooh... no one picked Ludacris' "Get Out The Way." What the fuck is up with that?

Listen: Modest Mouse - Ocean Breathes Salty Air

 

Title: On The Borderline

Artist: Sally Seltmann

Recommended by: Andrew Witherspoon, the single best graphic designer in Portland, who manages to always fill his world with beauty and laughter, and who always makes me smile

Sophie Says: Andrew almost certainly picked this song because he knew I would like it. I like it because it has spare female vocals and a quiet seventies pop melody and really kicky drum beat, and anyway, Andrew really knows me pretty well. That said, this one is also perfect for that "seriously though you guys I'm over it now" moment. 

Listen: Sally Seltmann - On The Borderline

 

Title: One Of Us Must Know

Artist: Bob Dylan

Recommended by: Ariana Rampy, brilliant writer, successful food preparer, teacher of theatre to young people, and shooting star on her way to the sky

Sophie Says: This song is a great song for when you and your significant other mutually kind of know that it wasn't going to work out, but really, they're more of a dick than you are in the end, and that's a good thing to have in a song. On a related note... BOB DYLAN SURE UNDERSTANDS HEARTBREAK. Right? Am I right?

Listen: Bob Dylan - One Of Us Must Know

 

Title: The Ghost

Artist: Deer Tick

Recommended by: Ben M, mysterious lover of birds, printing presses, and equality

Sophie Says: First things first: this song does a great job of utilizing the under-utilized shaker egg. So six points for that. Also, this is of the hip-country genre, which is absolutely the genre that lends itself best to I'm-over-you songs. I would say mainstream country lends itself the best to this, but I just feel weird advocating mainstream country in general. Maybe if you buy me a drink first.

Listen: Deer Tick - The Ghost

 

Title: Too Many Birds

Artist: Bill Callahan

Recommended by: Andrew Hall, drummer for the fabulous Dude York, satirical writer, too-smart-for-his-own-good knower of truths

Sophie Says: This project of asking for these songs was born out of asking Andrew for five, and receiving a list so perfect that it made my mouth dry. I'm only posting one, because Andrew's list felt very personal to me, and I want to greedily keep it to myself. But he says this about this song: "Joanna Newsom and Bill Callahan's breaking up was weird not because she left him for Andy Samberg but because they literally never once acknowledged it in public while their records (his Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle and her Have One On Me) very very very much acknowledge it in public.  [...] Something about the way he adds one line to the previous line, again and again, changing the sentiment each time. There's something in that."

Listen: Bill Callahan - Too Many Birds

 

Title: You Make Me Feel Like A Whore

Artist: Everclear

Recommended by: Nady Persons, wonderful decorator of homes, defender of children, skater of roller derbies, biggest role model of the most people I've ever known

Sophie Says: This is another one where I want to throw my hands to the sky and thank heaven someone picked this track. YES THIS IS WHAT I LISTENED TO AFTER EVERY BREAK UP I HAVE EVER BEEN THROUGH IN MY WHOLE ENTIRE DRIVING LIFE. I say driving life because you need to put the windows down for this. You know you do.

Listen: Everclear - You Make Me Feel Like A Whore

 

 

Sophie's Top Five

Here are five that I've been listening to on repeat. They are wonderful, perfect shining moments in the getting-over-it process encapsulated in music. I do think that getting-over-it music should probably have drums, which is why I haven't made any personally yet. Although I am thinking about it. I am feeling over it. Now. Let's get some WINDOWS ROLLED DOWN!

Ben Folds Five - Song For The Dumped (You can't stop a classic, can you?)

Slow Club - Giving Up On Love (Amen.)

Typhoon - Starting Over (Gotta give some love to those Portland kids. They go through break-ups, too.)

Eamon - Fuck It (AMEN.)

Stars - Your Ex-Lover Is Dead (I don't care how much of a cliche it is, I love this song. It's the only song I can think of that is about being ambivalent or indifferent. "There's one thing I want to say, so I'll be brave: You were what I wanted, I gave what I gave. I'm not sorry I met you, I'm not sorry it's over, I'm not sorry there's nothing to say.")