For as long as there have been singers, there have been songs of revenge and jilted lovers. In some cases, these songs are told from a distance, documenting the throes of love, even when at its most macabre. As years have gone by, these stories have become first-person, the likes of Richard & Linda Thompson and Fleetwood Mac not shying away from documenting their failing relationships in song (even in front of their former lover). In the modern age of public break-ups and Insta-feuds, revenge songs still manage to slice, often quite savagely, through the noise, as demonstrated by the raucous success of Lily Allen’s recent West End Girl.

As this list testifies, they can come in many forms, from mournful reflections on relationship breakdowns to character assassinations brimming with hate, to downright deadly narratives. So, if a looming Valentine’s Day spent alone sounds more like a death knell than a celebration, let these songs drown it out as they stand as proof that love really can cut deep.

1 Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger

‘Young Hunting’

Blood & Roses Volume Four

(Blackthorne Records, 1986)

One of the most-covered revenge songs of all time, ‘Young Hunting’ is also known as ‘Earl Richard’, ‘The Proud Girl’ and ‘Henry Lee’. Seeger – on vocals and banjo – goes for the jugular here on a version she learnt from Appalachian folk singer Jane Gentry. In the tale, a woman stops Henry Lee; when he says he must leave to see his other love, the woman stabs poor Henry and drags his body into a well. ‘That lady ten times fairer than me / She’ll never see you again’, she sings.

2 Jeca Mineiro & Bambuí

‘River of Revenge’

River of Revenge: Brazilian Country Music 1929–1961 (Vol 1 & 2)

(Death Is Not the End, 2022)

Part of a compilation which traces the origins of música caipira (‘Brazilian country music’), the stripped-back ancestor of Brazilian sertaneja, with recordings by pioneering folklorist Cornélio Pires, and driven by the ten-string viola caipira. This particular song is told through weeping harmonies, the duo painting the tale of a jilted lover, whose revenge is murderous: ‘he leaves the body, only God knows what happens to it’.

3 The Play Singer

‘Kusile Dale (It’s a New Day My Darling)’

Zulu Guitar Blues: Cowboys Troubadours & Jilted Lovers 1950–1965

(Matsuli, 2025)

Drawn from a compilation of Zulu guitar music from 1950–1965 comes ‘Kusile Dale’. The music is simplistic, with sparse guitar fingering that borrows from country and Hawaiian styles of playing. They underscore a single cheerful voice, which somewhat incongruously laments the demise of a romantic liaison. The lyrics are kept ambiguous however, alluding to the hope of a better South African future.

4 Chavela Vargas

‘La Llorona’

Chavela Vargas

(RCA Victor, 1961)

In Hispanic American folklore (especially in Mexico), La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) is a lady whose betrayal consumes her, a spectre with a sorrow so intense that the sound of her sobbing is punishment for anyone who hears it. The tale has been immortalised in countless poems and songs, with Chavela Vargas imbuing her own heartbreak onto this career-defining version. Her voice cracks with emotion, while simple acoustic guitar and a funereal tempo combine for a haunting rendition.

5 Richard & Linda Thompson

‘Did She Jump or Was She Pushed?’

Shoot Out the Lights

(Hannibal, 1982)

Described as “the quintessential breakup LP”, Shoot Out the Lights is a thrilling document of the moment when simmering resentment between a couple finally erupts. It marked the end of Richard and Linda Thompson’s career as a duo, and their marriage – they split up after beginning a notorious US tour to promote the album. ‘Did She Jump…’ is typical of the album’s frank tone, and is Linda’s one co-write on the album, a chance to put forward her version of events.

6 Tori Amos

‘’97 Bonnie & Clyde’

Strange Little Girls

(Atlantic Records, 2001)

Strange Little Girls is an album of tracks originally written and performed by men, reinterpreted by Amos from a female perspective. Her version of Eminem’s ‘’97 Bonnie & Clyde’ is particularly haunting, telling the twisted tale not from the position of the enraged jilted male lover, but from the partner who he’s trapped in the boot. Amos trades rap for whispers over ghostly piano and eerie strings, the song’s tension evoking the woman’s sickening claustrophobia. In doing so, Amos highlights that a song sensationalising femicide was being played across the world.

7 Eleni Karaindrou

‘Love’s Great Malevolence (Chorus II)’

Medea

(ECM Records, 2014)

Breathing fresh life into one of the world’s oldest revenge tragedies, Eleni Karaindrou’s score for Antonis Antypas’s stage production of Medea stands out for its use of a 15-voice polyphonic chorus, here punctuated by sorrowful santouri, powerful bendir (frame drum) and orchestra. Drawing on Euripides’ original text, translated into modern Greek, the chorus transforms Medea’s grief into a communal, palpable experience. The track restores a sense of humanity to a character who, by seeking revenge on her lover, commits the unthinkable filicide.

8 Anoushka Shankar

‘Bright Eyes’

Love Letters

(Mercury KX, 2020)

With a stunning opening underlining Anoushka Shankar’s sitar prowess, sparse chords are soon joined by minimal piano lines and the stirring voice of Alev Lenz. Before the song reaches its crescendo, Lenz deals the emotional blow: ‘Do you call her bright eyes too?’. This question, hitting at the pain of a loved one enjoying shared intimacies with another, perfectly encapsulates betrayal. The album, created with other women in solidarity after Shankar experienced disloyalty, uses its emotional rawness as a potent vehicle for revenge.

9 Rosalía feat Yahritza y Su Esencia

‘La Perla’

LUX

(Columbia, 2025)

Blending emotionally charged instrumentation with regional Mexican influences, this dramatic, pop-inflected tune still makes room for moments of minimalistic reflection. The gentle-then-intense ebb of the chords mirrors the emotional arc of betrayal, with Rosaliá, singing in Spanish, awarding her ex (whom many fans assume to be Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro) with the ‘Olympic gold medal for biggest jerk’, while also sitting with her feelings, calling him a ‘minefield for my sensitivity’.

10 Brennen Leigh

‘Dumpster Diving’

Don’t You Ever Give Up On Love

(Signature Sounds Recordings, 2025)

With a nod to honky-tonk so strong it becomes a full-body movement, Leigh’s classic tune, full of twangy guitars, steel pedals and upright bass, is a straight-talking wonder. It even prompted our reviewer in Songlines #213 to label it “the most brutal takedown of a cheating ex I’ve ever heard”. At just under two minutes, it’s short and sweet, with Leigh affirming her own sense of worth with lyrics like: ‘Don’t give that man your diamonds, he’ll trade them in for tin’.