Carrie Underwood’s “Cowboy Cassanova” warns the ladies against a troublesome cowboy, but she’s definitely not the first girl (or cowgirl) to fall in love and get burned. Here are some other tales of love gone wrong from some formidable female singers…

1. Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight.” This classic heartbreaker about a woman who spends her evening hours looking for the man she loves (who’s nowhere around) is perfect to crank up when your heart is breaking but you haven’t given up yet. Key quote: “I’m lonesome as I can be. I go out walkin’, after midnight out in the moonlight, just hopin’ you may be somewhere a-walkin’ after midnight searching for me.”

2. Alannah Myles’ “Black Velvet.” I’d been singing along with this sultry ballad for ages before realizing that it was a tribute to Elvis and a lament for his passing. Key quote: “Black velvet and that little boy’s smile, Black velvet with that slow southern style, A new religion that’ll bring ya to your knees, Black velvet if you please.”

3. Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” She thought he was going to rescue her from her dead-end life and overwhelming responsibilities, but instead he added to her problems and got her stuck even farther. Key quote: “You stay out drinking late at the bar, See more of your friends than you do of your kids, I’d always hoped for better, Thought maybe together you and me’d find it, I got no plans I ain’t going nowhere, So take your fast car and keep on driving.”

4. Beyonce’s “If I Were a Boy.” Her gender-bending song & video take a fresh approach to pointing out some of the cruel things men do and how odd they would look if a woman were doing them. The end of the video is a real tear-jerker, though. Key quote: “If I were a boy, I would turn off my phone, tell everyone it was broken, so they would think I was sleeping alone.”

5. Lilly Allen’s “Smile.” Ending this list on a slightly upbeat note is Lily Allen’s “take that” to a man who broke her heart by cheating. With help from her friends she has learned to just smile instead of crying when she sees the worm. Key quote: “When you first left me, I didn’t know what to say, I’ve never been on my own that way, Just sat by myself all day.”

This seems like a list that could go on forever. What are your favorite heartbreak songs? What did we miss?

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*This post also appears on BlueComet.TV, where new and live music live online.

In the most recent episode (review with spoilers here) of AMC’s hit show Mad Men, they re-created the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and it may be the most chilling and evocative dramatization of the event I’ve ever seen. It was definitely the first time I found myself realizing that for the people who lived through that moment, it was a real and raw and shocking thing– not something that had already accumulated dust on history’s shelf or started growing dim with distance. I could feel what the characters were feeling: vulnerability, surprise, uncertainty about the future, despair, etc. And as I caught myself empathizing with fictional people, I started questioning how they were spinning the web I was caught in. Through their clothing, and their hairstyles, and the dialogue, and the acting– and the music.

Although the music during the average episode of Mad Men is subtle enough to fade into the background and just become part of the whole, each episode ends with a carefully chosen song that rises in volume as the credits roll and ties into the theme of the evening. This week’s song about not being in love anymore contributed to the sense of melancholy the show left me with, and it also inspired me to see who else was talking about the music of Mad Men.

You can buy a soundtrack CD on Amazon (see the cover art above), AMC keeps a running list of the songs they’ve featured this season, and they’ve got Mad Men-inspired playlists available on iTunes.

Music is such a huge part of the television and movies we watch, and Mad Men is definitely doing it right in their selection of tunes.

1. Wham’s “Last Christmas”
I know it will be obvious from this list that I’m a child of the 80s, so I may as well start honestly. But does it get any better than this?

2. The Waitresses’s “Christmas Wrapping”
I feel like I used to wait all year to hear this when I was little. It sounded like the kind of romantic Christmas big girls in the city would have.

3. Adam Sandler’s “Hanukkah Song”
Ah, the Hanukkah Song. An instant classic.

4. Run DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis”
Aw, it’s just funny. You have to agree!

5. The Bird and The Bee’s “Carol of the Bells”
The Carol of the Bells is my favorite traditional Christmas song, and this version by The Bird and The Bee is especially good.

So those are mine. Who did I miss? What else belongs on this list of the best Holiday songs?

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen is a rock ‘n’ roll legend. The New Jersey native has been in the public eye for nearly 40 years, and in addition to giving us hundreds of amazing songs (we’ve got more than 400 of his songs in the MetroLyrics.com lyrics database), he also contributed significantly to launching the career of Courteney Cox by featuring her in his iconic video for the song Dancing in the Dark.

Check out young Courteney in the video below, and tell us about your favorite Springsteen song!