User:DanTD/songs/List of songs about divorce

Songs about divorce, or for that matter, dealing with infidelity in general were once taboo in popular music. However, songs relating marital problems and extramarital affairs, have become increasingly popular since the 1940s. One of the earliest popular songs that addressed divorce explicitly in 1946, Merle Travis' "Divorce Me C.O.D.", was unusual for its time in that it treated the matter flippantly. Travis managed to obscure the songs message somewhat by spelling out abbreviations (not unlike the spelling in Tammy Wynette's hit "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" two decades later). "Divorce Me C.O.D." became a hit spending fourteen weeks as a #1 country single in 1947.

Most early songs dealt with the immorality of divorce, such as Hank Snow's "Married by the Bible, Divorced by the Law" (1952) or Kitty Wells' "Will Your Lawyer Talk to God?" (1962). Skeeter Davis, however, offered a different view of divorce and adultery with a pair of hit songs in 1959, "Set Him Free" and "Homebreaker" ("Homebreaker that's what you're calling me / But he stopped loving you before he came to me").

Over the years divorce has been depicted many ways in popular song, one of the more humourous examples is Jean Shepard's 1966 hit with Ray Pillow, "I'll Take the Dog". In the duet, when the couple fail to agree on the custody of the canine in question, they end up reconciling so that they can "both take the dog".

What follows is a list of popular songs dealing explicitly with divorce.

0-9

 * "25 Years" - Vroom

A

 * "Album of the Year" - The Good Life
 * "Angry all the Time" - Bruce Robison

B

 * "Because Of You" - Kelly Clarkson
 * "The Big Fight" - Stars (band)
 * "Broken Home" - Fan_3
 * "Broken Home" - Papa Roach

C

 * "Cheaper to Keep Her" - Mack Rice
 * "Confessions Of A Broken Heart (Daughter To Father)" - Lindsay Lohan

D

 * "Dear Judge" - Ernest Tubb
 * "Diggin up Bones" - Randy Travis
 * "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" - Tammy Wynette
 * "Divorce Me C.O.D." - Merle Travis
 * "Divorce Song" - Liz Phair
 * "Don't Hang Up" - 10cc

E

 * "Emotionless" - Good Charlotte
 * "Every Little Bit Hurts" - Alicia Keys
 * "Every Other Weekend" - Reba McEntire & Kenny Chesney

F

 * "Family Portrait" - P!nk
 * "Faze" - Aselin Debison
 * "Forget December" - Something Corporate

G

 * "Grounds for Divorce" - Wolf Parade

H

 * "Haitian Divorce"- Steely Dan
 * "Hearts and Bones" - Paul Simon

I

 * "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" - Sting
 * "I'm Sorry Now" - Jude
 * "In The Air Tonight" - Phil Collins
 * "Independence Day" - Martina McBride
 * "It's Too Late" - Carole King
 * "I Wonder" - Kellie Pickler

J

 * "Jezebel" - 10,000 Maniacs

K

 * "Knowing Me, Knowing You" - ABBA

L

 * "Love Will Tear Us Apart" - Joy Division
 * "Love For The Child" - Jason Mraz

M

 * "Mexican Divorce" - Burt Bacharach, Bob Hilliard
 * "Morning Bell" - Radiohead

N

 * "No Children" - The Mountain Goats
 * "Novocaine" - Bon Jovi

O

 * "Ode to Divorce" - Regina Spektor
 * "Ordinary World" - Duran Duran

P

 * "Precious" - Depeche Mode

S

 * "Seven Weeks" - InMe
 * "Stay Together for the Kids" - blink-182

T

 * "The Winner Takes It All" - ABBA
 * "Then" - The Charlatans
 * "There Must Be Some Other Way" - Genesis
 * "They'll Need A Crane" - They Might Be Giants
 * "This House is Not My Home" - Zebrahead
 * "Through the Heartache and the Tears" - John George Campbell
 * "Today My World Slipped Away" - George Strait

W

 * "Wedding Day" - Rosie Thomas
 * "We Just Disagree" - Dave Mason
 * "What About the Bond?" - Bruce Cockburn
 * "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You" - Marvin Gaye
 * "Wonderful" - Everclear
 * "What Is Love?" - Nevershoutnever

Y

 * "You Better Sit Down Kids" - Cher
 * "You Know Your Right" - Nirvana
 * "Your Dictionary" - XTC