The Songs of Despair

We all know that it is not always the technical quality of a song that determines the number of times it will be heard or the dollar signs it will generate for its creators, and it was in this context that the Colombian singer, Shakira, managed to break the record of new most listened Latin song ever, after having collected 63 million views on YouTube in just 24 hours.

Not jeopardizing the talent of the Colombian pop star, the theme of her most recent single, ‘BZRP Music Sessions #53’, produced by Bizarrap, addresses her controversial separation and divorce with former soccer player Gerard Piqué, who, however, started a relationship with Clara Chía, 23 years old.

«I don’t want to have another disappointment / You presented so much like a champion / And when I needed you the most / You showed your worst version»; «I’m sorry, honey, it’s been a while / I should have gotten rid of that sucker / A wolf like me is not for beginners / A wolf like me is not for guys like you», «You left my mother-in-law as a neighbor / With the press at the door and debts to Finance / You hurt me and I got stronger / Women no longer cry, women make money».

These were just some of the many tirades that the Colombian threw at the 35-year-old central defender of Barcelona and the Spanish national team, who decided to respond by signing a contract with the Japanese brand Casio and traveling to a Kings League event, a football league created by the athlete, in a Renault Twingo, a reference to the verses «You traded a Ferrari for a Twingo / You traded a Rolex for a Casio».

But the jokes do not stop there, with Shakira using this song to provoke her ex-mother-in-law, who lives next to the Colombian, with several videos published on social networks showing that the singer placed a huge witch on the balcony of her house, in Barcelona, ​​Spain, while playing this song over and over on your speakers.

While the “open war” between the former couple – who were together for 12 years and have two children – continues to interest the media and the internet, which is eagerly awaiting new caricatured episodes, we remember that this was not the first, nor will it be surely the last song written about betrayals. As has already been proven.

A few days after the release of this controversial song, the American singer, Miley Cyrus, revealed to the world ‘Flowers’, the first theme of her next album, ‘Endless Summer Vacation’, where she also throws barbs at her ex-husband, the Australian actor Liam Hemsworth.

In this song, released on the birthday of the actor who participated in films like ‘The Hunger Games’ or ‘Independence Day: New Threat’, Cyrus sings about how «We were good / We were gold» or how «We built a house and we saw it burn», ending with a chorus where she says «I didn’t want to leave you/I didn’t want to lie/I started to cry but then I remembered that I/I can buy myself flowers/Write my name on the sand / Talk to myself for hours / Say things you don’t understand / I can take myself dancing / And I can hold my own hand / Yes, I can love myself better than you love me».

This is not the first time that the singer has created a song about her ex-husband, as this is the central theme of one of her most popular songs, ‘Wrecking Ball’. “I came in like a wrecking ball / I never loved this way / All I wanted was to break through your walls / All you did was destroy me”.

An artist who has also always been open about her past and the end of her relationships is Taylor Swift, dedicating a vast number of singles to her former companions, for example, ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ and ‘All Too Well ‘ are about actor Jake Gyllenhaal, while ‘Style’ or ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ are about singer Harry Styles, while ‘Back To December’ is inspired by his relationship with Taylor Lautner, the werewolf Jacob in the movie saga ‘ Twilight’, and ‘Dear John’ is about guitarist John Mayer.

But not all cheating songs work as destructive criticism, for example, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, one of the most influential couples in the music world, used their creative abilities to overcome their problems.

In a trilogy of albums, which began with ‘Lemonade’ (2016), Beyoncé exposed her husband’s infidelity to the world, with a set of songs where she explored the “emotional journey” to overcome this betrayal.

«We built castles of sand that were dragged by the sea / I made you cry when I left / And although I promised I couldn’t stay / Not all promises work like that», sings Beyoncé in ‘Sandcastles’, a song where she reveals that no will give up on love.

‘Lemonade’, one of the most acclaimed albums of this century, was nominated for 9 Grammys, eventually winning two, and Rolling Stone placed it at number 32 of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Jay-Z edited ‘4:44’ (2017), which was interpreted as an emotional apology to his wife.

The couple’s reconciliation was celebrated on the album ‘Everything is Love’ (2018), the couple’s first collaborative album, where they signed as The Carters.

There are songs that have this restorative power in human relationships. Although there is still no certainty about the origin of the song ‘Angie’ by the Rolling Stones, which appears on the album ‘Goats Head Soup’ (1973), there was a rumor, for many years, that the song was about the first woman of David Bowie, Mary Angela Barnett, who allegedly found out that Stones frontman Mick Jagger and the “Starman” had an extramarital relationship together.

As an apology, Angela reportedly asked Jagger to write a song about her, which resulted in ‘Angie’.