Whether you miss an old friend and wish you could turn back the clock, or are fuelled with regret over time wasted with fake social relationships, our playlist of songs about ex best friends covers it all, picking out the best modern pop songs to carry you through the hard times.
Songs About Ex Best Friends
1. Suggi – Ex-Best Friend
Suggi’s track, Ex-Best Friend devotes its harmony to a carefree, bubblegum pop sound; building a bright, layered landscape in striking contrast to the downcast lyrical concept. Suggi centres his track around being used by an ex-best friend and the shock of loneliness which ensues.
Suggi stylistically neglects to rhyme the lines describing the downfall, mirroring the disharmony of unexpected endings and let downs;
“When you were one of them hated, I would stand for happier you, When you’re washin’ out of the waters, I would dry my body too, I would show you how to love and tell you how to be a friend, but instead you took it right to someone else and let me go.”
2. Bebe Rexha & G-Eazy – FFF (F*** Fake Friends)
Bebe Rexha and G-Eazy’s powerhouse pop hit, FFF (F*** Fake Friends), harnesses an addictively catchy and confident ambience to repel the gruelling negativity of fake BFFs.
Bebe’s concept is anchored in the cheap sheen of the L.A. lifestyle, where true connection is drowned out by swathes of manipulation and deceit;
“Friends come and go, go like the seasons… Friends come and go without a reason, I’ve been in L.A. for way too long, can’t get this air inside my lungs, it feels like I’m suffocating from all the lack of the realness here.”
FFF is an anthem to trusting in your own self-worth, oozing with the assured energy you need to step above artificiality; “F*** fake friends, we don’t need ’em, only thing they’re good for is leaving, and I ain’t got the time, money on my mind, I’ll say it to your face, f*** fake friends.”
3. Caroline Kole – Ex Best Friend
Caroline Kole’s pop anthem about losing a friendship is embellished with a unique comparison between friends and lovers; “It sucks to have an ex best friend, you hurt me worse than any break up did, I hear your name and I’m thirteen again, crying in my bed, thinking how did I get hеre again?.”
This track artfully refrains from dropping into a fully-fledged, emotional chorus. Instead, Kole bases her track’s harmony in uplifting indie rock inspired guitars, creating a clear-headed and optimistic soundscape perfect for letting go of burdensome memories;
“Know we were only kids, it didn’t feel like it, worst pain I’d ever know, first time my heart it broke.”
4. Taylor Swift – You’re Not Sorry
Although this Taylor Swift track is undoubtedly a boyfriend break up song, it’s lyrical message translates just as beautifully to a best friend break up.
This country-pop power ballad is overtly emotional, balancing personal strength with an unshakeable feeling of apathy over the end of a faltering connection.
You’re Not Sorry looks back at a friendship or romance with regret for your naivety, its honest one-to-one approach adopting the form of a final goodbye;
“All this time I was wasting hoping you would come around, I’ve been giving out chances every time and all you do is let me down … You don’t have to call any more, I won’t pick up the phone, this is the last straw, don’t wanna hurt any more.”
5. Alec Benjamin – How It Feels To Be Replaced
The end of a friendship offers a sad yet exceptional opportunity to re-evaluate what you’re truly seeking in your daily relationships, before shaking up the mix with fresh faces and personalities attuned to your new sense of self.
But when you’re the person being let go and replaced, it’s almost impossible to see the positive side of natural, individual progression.
Alec Benjamin’s meditative pop track, How It Feels To Be Replaced describes the crushing feeling of being let go by your group so they can spend time with new people and lovers, leaving you stagnant in overbearing loss while they march forwards with their new life.
This is a track for anyone who didn’t suffer a catastrophic, relationship-ending argument, instead watching their friendship smoulder shamefully to embers after lengths of stunted communication;
“It’s been eighteen weeks since I’ve seen my friend, and it’s hard for me to comprehend how this happened … I just can’t see how we can mend this divide now, I know friendships fade and plans can change, was naive to think that we would stay close forever, maybe that was my mistake.”
6. Tate McRae – Dear Ex Best Friend
Tate McRae fashions her pop track, Dear Ex Best Friend, as a letter to an ex-friend you still awkwardly cross paths with every day. McRae floods her sparse piano soundscape with reverb-doused vocals, reflecting the bittersweet dissociation of two friends drifting apart.
This track’s melancholy flair hints at the dissolving sense of self after losing one of your closest friends, backtracking through memories no longer shared and wishing things could have turned out differently;
“We walk by and it’s like I don’t even know you … I see our pictures on my phone and question why we didn’t try … To my once ride or die, the one who always knew me right, we would swear it’d always end up you and I, we really messed up this time.”
7. Jetpack Jay – Dear Best Friend
Saving the best track for last, Jetpack Jay’s breathtaking track Dear Best Friend takes a masterfully creative approach to the topic of moving on from ex-friends.
This unusual track is crafted in spoken word, its lyrics artistically reading as a heart-felt letter to a lost friend, rather than diffusing their gripping emotion with needless melody.
The heartfelt emotion commanding every line of this song echoes astoundingly with any ex-friends who still keep love and respect between them despite their differences;
“I want to say thank you, even though it broke me into a million pieces when you left, I want to say thank you, even though I miss you everyday … You make me want to be better, you make me want to work on myself.”