Heartbreak Hurts But Women Artists Keep Turning Pain Into Power

As the famous adage goes, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Lily Allen’s new album “West End Girl” joins an incredible list of musical projects born of heartbreak. She took a devastating break up and turned into a full album exploring her own emotional turmoil. In just 10 days, Allen wrote about her anger, confusion, shock, and grief about the end of her marriage to David Harbour.

Her work captures the emotional turmoil that some of our favorites have immortalized in their work. True art, like “West End Girl,” is only possible because of human emotions so big that the only option is a creative outlet. We’ve all seen this before with singers like Paquita la del Barrio, Selena Quintanilla, Cazzu, Karol G, and so many other Latinas.

Let’s take a moment to revisit some of the most iconic breakup songs we have been gifted over the years.

First, let’s give some attention to “Ruminating” by Lily Allen

The song is the perfect audio representation of what it feels like to spiral after a breakup. We have all been there. There are moments in the post-breakup cloud where your mind is running wild through every what-if scenario. The music is a controlled chaos, as you would experience in your mind as you think about what just happened and how it could have changed. What if you had caught this comment earlier?

Yet, through all of the turmoil, you still love them. Under all of the pain, you still want them to love you. You want them to show you that you still matter despite the fact that they have hurt you. It is such a human emotion captured so authentically in the song that it will transport you back to your big heartbreak.

Cazzu – “La Cueva”

Cazzu is known for her Latin trap music, but she put that on hold for this one. Following the public love triangle between her, Christian Nodal, and Ángela Aguilar, Cazzu dropped this heart-wrenching ballad. The song really paints a picture of Cazzu’s and Nodal’s relationship.

She starts by reminding everyone how much work she put in at the beginning, something too many women understand. Yet, despite her selfless sacrifices for a man, he moved through space with one person in mind: himself. She digs deep into her emotions of feeling betrayed and watching her relationship turn into a parody.

Shakira – “BZRP Music Session #53”

After her long-term relationship with Gerard Piqué ended, Shakira went to the recording studio. She was on a mission, and it was to expose the heartbreak and frustration Piqué left behind. The song “BZRP Musical Session #53” is part of Shakira’s canon of work. The Colombian singer used her words as a scalpel.

She stood on business, reminding Piqué of what he was losing because of his actions. Drawing from the manosphere, she compared his new choices to cheaper alternatives. Her breakup song is a female empowerment anthem. It is a song that revels in the power of womanhood and the resilience of women who have been wronged. In less than four minutes, Shakira tears down the narrative of a heartbroken woman. Instead, she created a rallying cry for women wronged by men.

Karol G, Shakira – “TQG”

The two Colombianas teamed up to create the biggest collab of 2023, and it is all about heartbreak. Now, this isn’t a song about grieving a relationship because not every ending is sad. Rather, the two women showed that they are the ones who are moving forward.

The song starts with a little bit of shade from Karol G, who had just gone through a breakup with Anuel AA. The lyrics ask her ex to make sense of his unending infatuation with her. “You left saying you got over me / And you got yourself a new girlfriend / What she doesn’t know is that you’re still looking at all my stories,” Karol G sings in Spanish.

Karol G is not about to be weeping over some man. “TQG” really lays it all out there.

Carla Morrison – “Déjenme Llorar”

Carla Morrison leans into the emotional reaction to a heartbreak. Intertwining your life with someone else opens you up to potential pain. It is a risk that we all take when we open our hearts and start to rely on someone else on an emotional level. When it ends, there is a raw pain that exists.

“Déjenme Llorar” is a ballad that gives space for people to feel those feelings. Being strong and showing no emotion isn’t a flex all the time. Being strong means being able to tap into those emotions and letting them out. Sometimes all you need is a good cry.

As Morrison sings, “Let me cry; I want to say goodbye in silence, / Make my mind reason that for this there is no remedy.”

Heartbreak is a powerful tool in creating art

The emotional turmoil we experience is where we can create in the truest form. Lily Allen understood this when she decided to take her emotional maelstrom and turn it into art. Creating art from emotional vulnerability creates a new depth in the art people create. The pure emotion is unstoppable when you start to put it down on paper or audio.

Lily Allen, Shakira, Karol G, Carla Morrison, and Cazzu are just a handful of women throughout history who have leaned on emotions to create art. They take heartbreak and turn it into meaningful connections with humanity. They offer fans and art lovers a moment to explore their own emotions about heartbreaks past.

Art created from strong emotions will always be superior. Laying out your emotions so publicly for others to consume is more than a cathartic release. It is a rebellion against the dark shadows that form when you lose someone who was once important to you.