6 Songs To Text Your Ex To
We’ve all been there. It’s the end of the festival. Your ears are ringing and your legs are wailing, but you and all your friends are arm in arm and couldn’t be happier. However, a few moments later everyone is finishing off their drinks and are making their plans to head home. A couple of your friends have someone special to go home to, one or two have found someone for the night. And all that’s on your agenda is an awkward chat with an Uber driver, and debating whether to heat up last night’s leftovers, or just eat them cold and pass out. You open up messenger, and you see their name, accompanied by that taunting green dot. Do you do it?
Drake — Marvin’s Room
Marvin’s Room is quite literally a song where Drake gets drunk, croons to his ex about the times they’ve had and goes on to express that he’s not all that thrilled about her finding a new man. As far as getting drunk and texting your ex goes, it is undoubtedly the anthem. Why has Marvin’s Room held its spot on the ‘text your ex’ throne for almost 9 years now? Drake raps about having sex four times this week, paying for women’s hotels and struggling to adjust to fame, it’s not the most relatable content for all of us, but maybe that’s what makes the song hit so hard. Here’s a man with everything one could ever want in the world, and here’s you, waiting in line for the club with a flask of vodka shoved into your pants, yet the two of you are feeling the very same thing. It’s profound in its own weird way.
Frank Ocean — Self Control
Now and then you miss it, sounds make you cry, some nights you dance with, tears in your eyes
Obviously a Frank Ocean song had to be here, but it was tough to say which one. White Ferrari seems more likely to make you toss your phone into a river, Ivy will get you searching Facebook for your kindergarten crush and Bad Religion might be enough to make you give up on love altogether. It had to be Self Control. Self Control is a very succinct, yet incredibly powerful narrative. The first verse shows Frank very maturely reflecting on a relationship that fell victim to circumstance. Through the second verse, Frank reveals he is still carrying pain with him, to the point where he visits his old love interest. Through the outro he accepts that this love interest has to leave, yet pleads to have just the night. Self Control stings so hard because it first demonstrates the growth and perspective that can come after a relationship, then shows how a moment of weakness can strip that all away until you’re pleading for any scraps your ex might be willing to offer you.
Mac Miller — Right
The recent release of Mac Miller’s deluxe version of Circles includes two stunning additions to the original posthumous release. One of them being ‘Right’, a tale of Mac’s growth and a realisation that he wants an old lover back. A gentle rasp in Mac’s voice injects emotion as he glides over the instrumentation with the effortless precision of an Olympic figure skater. Despite reportedly having lots of music locked away in his vault, it’s very uncertain what the future holds for Mac Miller’s music. Though, if this was his last release, it was a gorgeous way to say goodbye.
FKA twigs — Cellophane
‘Cellophane’ is an anthem of exasperation. A cry for closure. A lullaby to love. Minimalistic piano notes and light percussion craft the canvas for Twigs to paint her pictures of a love turned unrequited. If you manage to make it through the song without sending that text and feel up to a real challenge, try making it through her tantalising performance of ‘Mary Magdalene’ and ‘Cellophane’ at the NME awards. Though be careful, we all know songs that hit you so hard that you pick up your phone in the late hours of the night, but Twig’s haunting vocals will you have shopping for engagement rings in broad daylight.
D’Angelo — On Mo’ Gin
On what one could argue was the best project to come from the legendary ‘Soulquarians’ collective, D’Angelo sings of his desire to reignite a love once lost. For some, the cover art that exhibits D’Angelo’s exquisitely sculpted abs and a smoulder that could make the Mona Lisa’s eyes dart away in shyness, may on its own be enough to make you pick up the phone. The dreamy electric piano melting beneath D’Angelo’s lightly layered vocals will have your fingers too sweaty to even put your passcode in.
Leon Bridges — Mrs.
I remember how it felt the first few times
Skin-to-skin before you knew how to get under mine
If we get it, get it right we’ll be together for life
Cause it only feels good after a good, good fight
From the opening lines of ‘I try to let go we end up on the floor’, Leon Bridges takes you right into his world. A relationship maybe not lacking love, definitely not lacking lust, yet things just aren’t working. The way Bridges describes his hot, steamy make up sex is similar to how one might feel while being offered a decadent chocolate cake for dessert. You know you’ll hate yourself after, yet you also know just how good it’s going to feel during.
However …
Sometimes you need a song to do the exact opposite, and get over your Ex and start feeling yourself again. So we’ve got you covered for that as well, try giving a spin to:
The Weeknd — Heartless
6lack — PRBLMS
Amine — STFU
Little Simz — Boss
Mahalia — I wish I missed My Ex
And we wouldn’t dare let you forget the classic …
Cee Lo Green — Forget You
