15 Songs About Being Ghosted by Someone You Like
Consider yourself lucky if you never had the tragedy of being ghosted. When someone abruptly ends a relationship and begins ignoring you, the feeling of being downright ditched can be hard to deal with. Thankfully, you can always count on music to express the various feelings that are hard to articulate. So in this article, I’m going to present to you my favorite songs about being ghosted, as well as songs detailing the emotions behind feeling ignored, led on, or ditched by someone you still very much care about.
Songs About Being Ghosted
Let’s begin with a song by Adele.
1) Hello by Adele
This is the ultimate ghosting song of the 2010s, about wondering years later if you can talk and get some closure and finally heal. Adele stated in an interview with American Songwriter, “Hello from the other side, was the other side of being a grown-up, the other side of being with my friends and my ex-boyfriends.”
In the song, Adele is repeatedly calling her ex to receive some closure and apologize, but he never answers. If a relationship has ended on bad terms, even years later, the other person may still be hurt and will ghost all of your attempts at communication. Adele is describing in the song how she is sorry for breaking this person’s heart but since he is ignoring her calls, he must not care and has healed from this.
I feel this song is great to listen to if you ever have that urgency after a breakup to call the other person and speak, sometimes things do not work out and we need to accept that, no matter how hard that may be. If I were in this situation I would listen to this song and think that if the other person is not answering my repeated calls to understand that it is okay to accept closure, even without contact from the other person.
2) Blow Me One Last Kiss by Pink
I think most people have been in a relationship where you are wondering where your relationship went wrong. There is a rush of emotions and sadness that can often turn to anger; possibly for wasting so much time on someone and being left with nothing. When Pink first released this song, it was considered the angry breakup anthem.
For being a breakup song, “Blow Me One Last Kiss” features an upbeat electropop melody and features a lot of girl-power sass that is sure to make you dance around while throwing out everything reminding you of your exes. This is a great song to listen to if you are over the grieving stage of being ghosted and want a song to pump you up.
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3) Make Me Cry by Noah Cyrus ft. Labrinth
Noah Cyrus is known for her soulful lyrics and her music is often very relatable. In “Make Me Cry” Noah pairs up with R&B singer Labrinth, and together won the Radio Disney Music Award for Best Breakup Song. This sad song can easily make you cry if you are fresh out of a breakup or after being ghosted.
“Make Me Cry” is about being sad and lonely after a breakup and how you might want to go back to that person no matter what they did, and sometimes when you try to reach out you may get ghosted. Listening to this song may bring forth a rush of emotions, but also listening to someone who has gone through the experience of being ghosted can help you understand that even though being ghosted is a horrible thing, even famous people deal with it as well.
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4) Cold Cold Cold by Cage the Elephant
Cage the Elephant created a masterpiece emulating songs from the late 60s, with heavy tambourine and shaker usage that pair well with the electric guitar rhythm and high-pitched vocals. Some people view this song as someone crying for help because they are unable to feel with a heart as “cold as ice.” They are seeking help because they feel as if they have nothing left and want out of it.
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our relationships that we lose our identity and when we are ghosted you can feel like a part of you has left as well. Some people may feel as if they lost a piece of themselves; this song is the perfect song to listen to if you feel as if you are as “cold as ice” due to losing someone that you thought you meant something to.
5) Ghosts by Katy Perry
The worst part about being ghosted is you have often spent so much time with this person that it seems like you have become one, then they ghost you and it leaves you thinking of them like they are a stranger. You no longer know what they are doing and often the people that do the ghosting reinvent themselves.
In “Ghosts” Katy Perry is describing how at first, they were best friends and were building a life together, with promises of being together forever. Then, he disappeared leaving behind the feeling of a ghost; here one second and gone the next.
At the end of the song, she is acting like this person is a ghost and that she never would have thought she could have been wronged so badly. Sometimes when people leave us after making such huge life promises, the easiest thing to do is act like they don’t exist and move on with your life.
6) Liability by Lorde
It hurts when relationships don’t last and you find yourself replaying what happened, questioning everything, and wondering what went wrong. The “Liability” piano ballad begins with six seconds of silence and then opens up with the big piano ballad that leads to Lord’s lyrics that you can tell have an enormous amount of emotion behind them.
When being broken up with or even ghosted, it can often leave you feeling worthless and hurt your mental health. When I listen to this song it can make me feel safe and help me to recognize that I don’t need to focus on the negative about what happened. I feel that Lorde is finally learning how to admire herself and falling in love with herself after being through heartache.
7) Games by Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato’s “Games” is an emotional ballad that can help you remember that loving yourself first is the key to recovering from a bad relationship ending. This song is about a relationship that turns sour, and ends with a boy leaving her “on read”, this leads to Demi having enough of his games. When you are in a relationship with someone and they leave you “on read” that hurts worse than just a casual fling doing that to you.
You have put effort, time, and commitment into this person and they can’t even be nice enough to tell you the reason they want to leave; or maybe they know they are wrong and cannot confront you because they know this. This song is about realizing your worth and knowing that you deserve better from this person who was supposed to love you, instead they leave without a word.
Demi Lovato presents a slight R&B feel in this song and I would use this to help empower you to get past being ghosted. In an interview with Billboard, Demi states “it’s about playing games when I got out of a relationship and started dating again.” Demi is showing that the result of being ghosted can cause frustration and lots of emotion, but it’s important to remember to love yourself and you will get through this.
8) The Night We Met by Lord Huron
When being ghosted, you often reflect on the beginning of the relationship; how it started, the good times, the bad times, and how it ended so poorly. This song is about wanting to go back to the beginning and warn himself not to go down that path. When you lose someone who meant the world to you, someone you could confide in and share the most intimate parts of your life with, and ending up as strangers with that same person has to be one of the most painful experiences to go through.
Lord Huron made “The Night We Met” into one of the most beautiful songs about lost love and the inevitable heartache that comes with it; ultimately the regret for even starting the relationship in the first place. If you were ever ghosted you tend to find yourself looking at how much you have put into that relationship, flashbacks, and wishing you could go back and choose to not start it at all.
When putting effort into another person you don’t expect it to abruptly end without closure. Lord Huron is singing about how he is still haunted by his partner’s ghost and the memories that they share together.
9) Operator (He Doesn’t Call Me) by Låpsley
This soulful song about ghosting is both intimate and displays high volumes of emotion. This Låpsley song is a sample from the 1975 Manhattan Transfer single “Operator” and Låpsley beautifully lays down the retrofuturism of disco with parallels to the nostalgic 1975 single.
If you have ever been ghosted, the first thing that may run through your mind is “why?” When a relationship ends you can be left wondering what you did wrong or if you could have done things differently, and many people are inclined to pick up the phone and try to contact the person who ghosted them. The lyrics, “He doesn’t call me so put me through operator” hits home when you decide to call because you were wronged by being ghosted. This is a very upbeat song with a very disco-like sound, that would be perfect to listen to if you are trying to get into a better mood and move on.
10) Lack Of You by Myylo
Myylo provides an authentic vibe and he sings about being so in love with a man and losing that relationship but holding onto the love that you felt. This is a true heartbreak anthem where he describes how he quickly fell head over heels for this man and started making plans for his future with him until “he ghosted me and I believe something still haunts me.” Myylo later writes that it’s been 5 years since he was ghosted but he still thinks about him often, saying that it’s pathetic.
If you are feeling like you need a release of emotion or are looking for the right words to put together after being ghosted, “Lack of You” is a great song to listen to.
11) How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore by Prince
Prince sang “How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore” with a gospel sound to match the romantic elements in the lyrics. He wanted to show his fans that he can slow down and get personal with his music, this song is about a love that he once had that is gone. The song covers how Prince has not gotten over his lover and still has items, like a picture, next to his bed. He mentions how he always “thought our love was right” and then goes into how they do not return calls anymore, leaving Prince feeling that “sometimes it feels like I’m gonna die if you don’t call me.”
I remember the first time in my life when I was ghosted after a year-long relationship. The rush of fear and uncertainty that I had when I could not get through over the phone made me sick to my stomach and it made me feel ill. Prince mentions begging them to call and talk and just pleading to speak again.
If you are in this same state after being ghosted, I think what you can take away from this song is that the emotions you are feeling are very real. It’s okay to mourn and grieve over someone who just left you with no talking or closure, but you can’t let this affect you so much that you become physically ill.
12) Shadow by Britney Spears
Ghosting can take many different forms and one of which is a frequent hookup that never manifests in a relationship. This song is about a girl who hooks up with the same guy repeatedly, she wants a relationship but he doesn’t. The guy starts to grow cold towards her because she is not what he wants, just someone to pass the time with.
The lyrics “I’m watching you disappear but you, you were never here” hits very close to home. She describes how he is slowly losing interest in her and is fading away, but he was never really there because he never wanted her in the first place. I feel that a lot of casual hookups end with someone being ghosted because they don’t want a relationship, they want a part-time companionship, so they feel that they do not owe you any explanation and ghost you.
This song is a slower song, with periods of more upbeat singing and music to reflect the emotion that is going on, I would listen to “Shadow” if I were dealing with a situation where someone is emotionally ghosting me.
13) Let Her Go by Passenger
It’s true that you only want what you can’t have. A breakup or being ghosted may trick you into thinking that you want or need that person when in reality you just want what you can’t have. Life happens and time passes quickly, you can forget to show love for the people who care about you and in return, things can end.
When it does end you may find yourself realizing that you did love that person, yet you were unsure about your feelings during the relationship. The singer is taking responsibility for his actions and how the relationship ended, he is describing how you don’t fully understand happiness until you have felt the pits of despair.
14) Big God by Florence + The Machine
Florence + The Machine show you an alternative way to deal with the pain of being ghosted in their “Big God” song. Instead of reveling in the inevitable pain that comes with being ghosted, Florence + The Machine show you how you don’t need to hide from the pain. You can dance in the pain and rage against yourself, and in doing so you might be able to find someone who can replace what you are missing.
Florence Welch has said that this song is about the hole that you may feel in your soul that you can’t fill up and someone also ghosting her over a text message. I think this song would be perfect to listen to to help you get over being ghosted, it may help you realize that you deserve better and you can find something else or someone else to help fill up the void that you may be feeling.
15) Where Were You In The Morning by Shawn Mendes
One of the worst things that could happen with new relationships is when someone says they want to get to know you more and then you never hear from them again. You might be quick to blame yourself, but if you are getting ghosted without the decency of a reason, they are not worth your time crying over. This song is about Shawn finding himself alone after a night with a new partner, “you said that you were staying over, but then I woke up to the cold air.”
This song tells us that these two people had something unique, that was turned into nothing when she abruptly left that night without saying goodbye. This song is perfect for when someone ghosts you in person, as opposed to over the phone, there is something about being ghosted in person that hurts more and feels more personal. Shawn Mendes did a fantastic job on this song that appeals to so many listeners and lets you know that if Shawn Mendes dealt with being ghosted and moved on okay, you will be all right.
Conclusion
Ghosting is one of the biggest fears in dating in the 21st century, you can put all of your time and effort into a relationship, or friendship, and someone decides to just never talk to you again with no explanation. Music therapy is great and songs can hold deep meaning and give you messages that you can interpret however you need to make yourself feel better. These are the 15 best songs about being ghosted that tell a story about how to deal with being ditched by someone you truly cared about.
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