The Pains Of Losing A Loving Relationship

Howie Day - Ghost

Bonnie Raitt - I Can't Make You Love Me

Coldplay - The Scientist

Avril Lavigne - Why

Kelly Clarkson - Behind These Hazel Eyes

The five aforementioned songs are meaningful in telling us something important about the American experience; however, they are certainly not your traditional blues songs. They are songs that many people have heard recently on the radio, and would probably be considered mainstream pop music. Regardless of genre, they can be considered be blues songs because they are relatively slow, sad songs in which the artist displays some sort of despair. You can almost feel their pain while listening to their lyrics which reflect their feeling of unhappiness and low spirits. All of these songs tell a story of what it is to have love or a romantic relationship and the pains of losing it.

Howie Day - Ghost: Day is singing about his relationship that has gone sour. While he once thought that this relationship would last forever, he now notes that he actually never wants to see his partner again because of the pain she has caused him. He realizes to a certain extent how pathetic he thinks he is and even says in the song "take yourself a photograph and laugh at me" (I know there's little use in crying/It's more wide awake and dying then I'm used to/I thought we'd walk these streets together/Now I'm hoping that I'll never have to meet you).

Bonnie Raitt - I Can't Make You Love Me: In this song, Raitt tells of a relationship in which she is currently still in, however, realizes that her significant other no longer feels the love for her as she does for him. She still loves this man, but recognizes that she will have to end the relationship (I'll close my eyes, then I won't see/The love you don't feel when you're holding me/Morning will come and I'll do what's right/Just give me till then to give up this fight).

Coldplay - The Scientist: In The Scientist, Chris Martin (lead singer), sings about doing something to upset his significant other which ultimately led to their breakup. He implies that towards the end of their relationship things were bad, but that he still did not want this relationship to end. He wants to go back to beginning of the relationship, which some refer to as the "honeymoon stage", because that is when the relationship was better (Nobody said it was easy/Oh it's such a shame for us to part/Nobody said it was easy/No one ever said that it would be this hard/Oh take me back to the start).

Avril Lavigne - Why: Lavigne is still in a relationship but is despaired at the fact that her partner may not still love her, and is afraid that the relationship is soon ending. Her anguish of the relationship ending is the result of her heavy dependency on her boyfriend (It's not supposed to feel this way/I need you, I need you/More and more each day/It's not supposed to hurt this way).

Kelly Clarkson - Behind These Hazel Eyes: Clarkson sings about her misery over what turned out to be another failed relationship for her. She is torn up inside because she thought that this man was going to be the one she was going to marry (Here I am, once again/I'm torn into pieces/Can't deny it, can't pretend/Just thought you were the one).

What these songs tell us about not only the American experience but also a cross-cultural experience is the heavy emphasis of being in a relationship and that the ending of a serious relationship causes immeasurable pain.