10 best apology pop songs, including Adele’s ‘Hello’

Adele released her first new music video in four years and the whole Internet is in tears about how emotional it is. “Hello” shows flashbacks of a past relationship: first the good times and then the bad. As a six-minute mini-movie, it’s shot cinematically, pulling at the heartstrings even more. And leave it to Adele to not only re-enter the music scene with a smash hit but by also making history: “Hello” is the first music video made with IMAX cameras.

Here, we round up some other noteworthy apology songs.

Adele’s first two albums were dripping in heartbreak and “Hello” teases that her third one will be more of the same, despite the fact that she’s happily married now. “Hello” has only been out a day, but it’s already gaining a rep for an iconic apology song.

Justin Bieber also released an apology song this week, aptly called, “Sorry.” Think of all the things he must have to apologize for. No wonder the lyrics say he’s made a couple hundred mistakes. We like apologetic Justin. Plus, this song is crazy catchy.

When a S.O. wrongs you, it can be satisfying to wait for him or her to apologize. But sometimes, it’s too little too late, which this song gets across. And given that is has over 114 million views on YouTube, it’s a sentiment many can comiserate with.

This ’90s hit has a rep for being one of pop’s best apology songs, but taking a deeper look at the lyrics, it doesn’t seem like the singer is in the wrong; she’s just searching for a reason why she was treated so badly. Still, everyone can relate to that feeling of a relationship not working out and that gnawing question, What did I do wrong?

Hey, even rockers known when to apologize. Kurt Cobain wrote this song to his wife, Courtney Love. The lines “Married…Burned” say it all.

This song is heart-breaking. Mary J. Blige knows she messed up and in this song, she’s begging for a second chance, asking her bae to stay.

Of course Taylor Swift has an apology breakup song. In this one, rumored to be about Taylor Lautner (remember when that happened?), enough time has passed since the breakup that she has a clear head, and is apologizing for her side of what went wrong.

Sometimes when you make a mistake, you can’t find the words to apologize and some good lovin’ seems to be the best solution to putting it all aside. Tracey Chapman gets it.

You mess up, break up, and date other people, but that doesn’t mean you move on. Sinead O’Connor sings about a past love that no one new measures up to. How long does she have to pay for a past relationship mistake?

John Mayer has a rep for being a less-than-stellar boyfriend and judging by this song from his early days, it isn’t a new thing. What exactly is he apologizing for? Well, the title really says it all.