Taylor Swift, Harry Styles of 1D, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber. Photo / AP, Getty Images
Taylor Swift, Harry Styles of 1D, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber. Photo / AP, Getty Images
Using art to put an ex on blast is nothing new. Carly Simon sang You're So Vain to someone long before Justin Timberlake tiptoed around the house of a Britney Spears lookalike in the Cry Me a River video. (In retrospect, that was actually pretty creepy.)
But rarely have the pop charts been so dominated by he said/she said, in which one singer unleashes an account of his or her pain only to have the accused respond.
Of course, with every break-up, there are winners and losers, so let's take a look at some of the singers who aren't afraid to air their dirty laundry on the pop charts and see how things are shaking out.
Swift is the reigning queen of thinly veiled songs about famous exes. She won't generally confirm who a certain song is about, but come on: Dear John has to be about John Mayer; You're Not Sorry seems pretty clearly directed at Joe Jonas.
With Style, the subject is even more obvious, thanks to the puntastic title. Swift dated One Direction's Harry Styles for approximately seven seconds in 2013 - just long enough to get some song inspiration.
Sample lyrics: "Cause You got that James Dean day dream look in your eye / And I got that red lip classic thing that you like / And when we go crashing down, we come back every time / Cause we never go out of style"
When 1D's song debuted last month, people couldn't help but notice the similarities between the single and Swift's Style. The choruses sound more or less identical, which is all the more obvious when you listen to a mash-up of the two songs together.
So seeing as Taylor Swift is obviously the lyrical subject of 1D's Perfect and the tune is the same as Style, will she get royalties?
Then there are the lyrics, which make the subject of the song that Styles co-wrote fairly clear.
Sample lyrics: "And if you like cameras flashing every time we go out / And if you're looking for someone to write your breakup songs about / Baby, I'm perfect"
The winner: Swift. Perfect sounds like a knock-off, which, let's be honest, it is.
Ed Sheeran vs. Ellie Goulding
The song:Don't by Ed Sheeran
The wee ginger isn't generally known for his rage, but he packed a lot of anger into this ditty, which is the quintessential "but I'm a nice guy!" argument with more rap-singing. At first he refused to admit who it was about, despite wide speculation the lyrics were directed at songstress Ellie Goulding, who apparently ditched him for One Direction's Niall Horan. But then Sheeran admitted it by not really admitting it, saying that he wouldn't explicitly kiss and tell - he's a nice guy, after all - because everyone seemed to know the truth already.
Sample lyrics: "But you didn't need to to take him to bed, that's all / And I never saw him as a threat / Until you disappeared with him to have sex of course / It's not like we were both on tour / We were staying on the same hotel floor / And I wasn't looking for a promise or commitment / But it was never just fun and I thought you were different."
The rebuttal:On My Mind by Ellie Goulding
This song is not about Sheeran, Goulding insists. Still, the hotel reference is interesting, considering the lyrics of Don't, as is the line about tattoos, considering Sheeran is covered in them. Hmmm.
Sample lyrics: "Thought that you were cute and you could make me jealous / Pour it down, so I poured it down / Next thing that I know, I'm in a hotel with you / You were talking deep like it was mad love to you / You wanted my heart, but I just liked your tattoos."
The winner: This contest was over before Goulding released her song, around the time the singer told Elle UK, "I did go on a few dates with Niall, but I was never in a relationship with Ed. I have absolutely no idea where that came from and why it was turned into such a big thing."
That certainly puts a fresh spin on Sheeran's bitterness.
Justin Bieber vs. Selena Gomez
The song:Sorry by Justin Bieber
Bieber still loves his ex, Selena Gomez. We know that because he has been telling any interviewer who will listen recently. He also divulged to Ellen DeGeneres that a few songs off his most recent album are inspired by Gomez. One is Mark My Words, but Sorry is about her, too, at least "a little bit." Which makes sense because Biebs has a lot of people to apologise to. Given the lyrics, though, it's probably safe to say this isn't about the neighbor whose house Bieber egged.
Sample lyrics: "Yeah, is it too late now to say sorry? / Cause I'm missing more than just your body."
Like Goulding, Gomez is mum on who her new single is about, but Bieber has a feeling a lot of the songs off her new album, Revival, are about him, which is why he hasn't listened to it yet. "I know I had a lot of play in that one," he told Billboard Magazine. "I don't know what she's saying about me."
Sample lyrics: "I'm so sick of that same old love / That s***, it tears me up / I'm so sick of that same old love / my body's had enough
The winner: Gomez didn't actually write her song, so Bieber takes this one by default.
