Stuffed animals, jewelry, clothing, flowers, photographs: There’s nothing like the typical remnants of a relationship to really get the blood boiling when Valentine’s Day rolls around. Instead of body-checking all the overly cute hand-in-hand couples today, be single with a vengeance.
In a cathartic effort to rid yourself of any physical memories of your ex and further motivate the embittered and jaded, here are a few prime tracks to help get over it and get back to being your fine self.
“Roman Holiday” by Every Time I Die
Throw on some warpaint. Pretend you’re Rambo, or Samuel L. Jackson in “Pulp Fiction.” Grab a pair of scissors and get to work. Tossing on Every Time I Die’s heavy scream-along will have you headbanging your way to emotional freedom as you turn his T-shirts and Costco photo prints into ribbons. “Roman Holiday,” at only a scant three minutes long, is the ideal introduction to your soundtrack of destruction. Its noisy opening is the fuse on a time bomb, leading into Keith Buckley’s larynx-shredding vocals as they ignite over distortion-saturated, down-tempo guitar chugging.
“Young Men Dead” by The Black Angels
If you’ve ever needed a song to make you feel like a total badass, “Young Men Dead” is it. A spaced out single-note guitar line introduces the doom-y vibe, then blossoms as Alex Maas channels Jim Morrison over a swaggering fuzzy rhythm section. This track is perfect for prowling at the bars or for simply watching a box of memories burn. The buildup and subsequent crescendo three minutes in also helps “Young Men Dead” to serve as a great workout track to get back to tip-top single shape after that breakup, too.
“I’m Gonna Find Another You” by John Mayer
Although the stripped down version on Continuum is more widely known, the live cut from Mayer’s 2007 “Where The Light Is” concert is the true healer. A swelling brass section adds a note of unwelcome melancholy that may invoke some relationship reflection, but it doesn’t last long. Mayer’s proclamation of finding an upgrade is uplifted by his falsettos while trading riffs with his equally adept co-guitarists, allowing you to put away gifted jewelry and hide it for good. This should be the coup de grâce to your suffering, letting you and your uncluttered life start conquering this V-Day.
