When you feel as if your friendship or romantic relationship is growing apart, it’s nice to have a song to listen to. Songs about growing apart can often be sad — but you’d be surprised at how many bittersweet and even happy songs there are about this subject!
Below, we’ve listed 20 of our favorite songs about drifting away from a loved one. These songs vary in genre and meaning, and we love all of them!
1. “Family Snapshot” by Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel’s 1980 song “Family Snapshot” follows the point of view of a mysterious man who has something sinister up his sleeve. At first, it’s easy to think this man is a photographer. However, as the song goes on, we learn that he is going to try to assassinate a political figure.
Throughout this song, we learn about this man’s state of mind. Towards the end of the song, we also get details about his upbringing — including his family. Peter Gabriel sings, “Come back, Mum and Dad / You’re growing apart, you know that I’m growing up sad”.
2. “Fight For This Love” by Cheryl
In Cheryl’s 2009 song “Fight For This Love”, she talks about relationships falling apart. Cheryl sees that something is amiss in her relationship. However, she’s not ready to end the relationship, as she feels that they can still work things out. They may be growing apart, but she wants to “Fight For This Love”.
She sings the lyrics, “Whenever you feel like we’re growin’ apart / Let’s just go back”.
3. “Mystery Girl” by Alexandra Savior
Alexandra Savior released her song “Mystery Girl on her 2016 album Belladonna of Sadness. In this song, Savior discusses how she thinks that her partner is cheating on her with a girl. As a result, she feels angry over her partner’s actions and questions everything that he does.
Because of her partner’s infidelity, she feels that they’re growing apart — and she doesn’t know if they will be able to work things out. She sings, “And you know that we’re growing apart / Because you planted the seeds yourself”.
4. “Drifting Away” by Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison’s song “Drifting Away” also deals with a romantic relationship that begins to fall apart. Orbison sings to his partner in this song, wondering where they went wrong — and wondering when they began to fall apart.
He sings the lyrics, “Don’t understand where we began just drifting apart / Drifting apart, feeling alone, drifting away”.
5. “Fade Away” by Susanne Sundfør
Susanne Sundfør’s 2014 song “Fade Away” also discusses growing apart in a romantic relationship! Sundfør knows that she and her partner are growing apart. However, she also knows that their relationship will always be special, and will always be something she returns to — even if their actual relationship doesn’t last.
She sings, “I think we’re drifting apart / We’re drifting apart, ever so slowly”.
6. “Just Friends” by Chet Baker
Chet Baker released his song “Just Friends” in 1955. In this classic sad song, Baker sings both about a romantic relationship that has ended, as well as growing apart from friends. Baker explains that his ex is now his friend. They’re “Just Friends”, and this makes it hard for Baker, as he can’t get over their past romance.
In many ways, this song could also be about a relationship that could have been. Instead, Baker’s ex wanted to return to being friends, leaving him heartbroken in the process. Explaining how he feels, Baker sings, “Two friends drifting apart / Two friends, but one broken heart”.
7. “It All Seems to Fall Into Line” by Perry Como
Perry Como released his song “It All Seems to Fall Into Line” on his 1973 album And I Love You So. Como sings about his romantic relationship, which has seemingly hit a wall. Como feels like his relationship is falling apart — and he eventually realizes that his partner has met someone else.
He explains how he feels about this relationship and betrayal, singing, “In a fog that isn’t lifting / We are drifting apart / I can see someone’s replaced me in your heart”.
8. “I Keep Forgettin’” by David Bowie
“I Keep Forgettin’” by David Bowie follows Bowie as he sings about a romantic relationship that has come to an end. In this classic rock song, Bowie admits that he still misses his ex. He keeps on forgetting that they’ve broken up, as he still loves his ex.
As a result of all this, he mentions how they drifted apart, singing, “Though I know in my heart / We’re drifting apart / I can’t believe that our love is dead”.
9. “You Can’t Fool My Heart” by B.B. King
B.B. King’s song “You Can’t Fool My Heart” is also about a romance that is struggling. In this song, B.B. King sings to his romantic partner. He lets his partner know that he’s aware their relationship has come to an end. He obviously isn’t happy about how they’ve drifted apart. However, he knows the truth of it — and knows they’ll soon be through.
He sings, “I don’t have to keep pretending / I know that we’re drifting apart / You might think you are fooling someone / But you can’t fool my heart”.
10. “When We Were On Fire” by James Bay
James Bay released his song “When We Were On Fire” on his 2013 album Chaos and the Calm. Similar to the other songs on this list, Bay sings about a romantic relationship. He opens the song with the lyrics, “Drifting apart, getting harder to hold you / Days getting dark and the nights are growing cold / Are we burning out?”.
So, in this song, Bay explains that he knows their love is burning out. However, he doesn’t want it to end — and he tries to find the spark the two had back when they first fell in love!
11. “Winter” by Daughter
In Daughter’s 2013 song “Winter”, the band opens the sign with the lines, “Drifting apart like two sheets of ice, my love / Frozen hearts growing colder with time”.
In this song, Daughter sings about a past romantic relationship that has now ended. However, the band discusses how they fell apart, as well as how much the singer relied on this person. At the end of the song, the singer compares the end of the relationship to winter, where everything dies.
12. “Weakness” by Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick released the song “Weakness”, which features Stevie Wonder, on the album Finder of Lost Loves. This song opens with the lyrics, “Every time I think our love is drifting apart / Something always throws it back together”.
Throughout the rest of the song, we learn the full story. Warwick and Wonder sing about how they love each other, even though they occasionally feel as if they’re drifting apart from one another. However, these moments of struggle don’t last long, as they always end up returning to each other!
So, this song talks about a romantic relationship that does grow apart — but that ultimately has a happy ending.
13. “This Is Gospel” by Panic! at the Disco
Panic! at the Disco’s 2013 song “This Is Gospel” details someone who struggles with addiction. However, this song also discusses relationships falling apart, including friendships, as a result of this addiction. So, if you’re looking for songs about drifting away from a friend, look no further.
In this song, as the band discusses addiction and problems that stem from addiction, they also mention the fear of the band breaking up — and friendships drifting apart. They sing, “And truth be told, I never was yours / The fear, the fear of falling apart”.
14. “Valleys (My Love)” by Whitney
Whitney’s 2019 song “Valleys (My Love)”, which appears on the band’s album Forever Turned Around, talks about a romantic relationship that may be ending while also discussing nature and the seasons. The singer doesn’t want this relationship to end. However, they are drifting apart — and he might not know what to do to save it.
The band sings, “I’ve been on my own all day / Pretending everything’s alright / We’ve been drifting apart for some time”.
15. “Say I Do” by Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie released his song “Say I Do” on his 1996 album Louder Than Words. In this song, Richie sings about finally realizing that he wants to be with his romantic partner forever. He wants to marry her.
As he comes to this realization, he remembers the past — and how they almost didn’t make it. He sings, “Found myself searching what was in my heart / Scared me when I saw us drifting apart / Even though I didn’t know any other way / I don’t want to lose you / I want you to stay”.
Therefore, here we have another song about growing apart that isn’t sad — or end with a breakup!
16. “On the Outgoing Tide” by Perry Como
In Perry Como’s song “On the Outgoing Tide”, Como sings about being torn apart from someone that he loves. He sings, “And although I know we’re drifting apart / If heaven has meant you for me, for me / I know I will sail at your side someday on the outgoing tide”.
These lyrics could hint that the couple didn’t just drift apart, as he mentions heaven. However, even though this sad song doesn’t end with any solution, Como does feel somewhat optimistic that they’ll somehow be reunited again in the end — even if they are only reunited again in death.
17. “Nothing But Time” by Eddy Arnold
“Nothing But Time” by Eddy Arnold also talks about growing apart! Arnold sings about his past romantic relationship, as he can’t stop thinking about how things went wrong. He realizes now that he didn’t spend enough time with his partner. He didn’t notice that his partner wasn’t happy.
As a result, he found himself completely alone. Now, he has “Nothing But Time” to think back on his past relationship and all of the things he should’ve done to get his partner to stay!
18. “Why Should We End This Way” by Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry’s song “Why Should We End This Way” follows a romantic relationship that is slowly meeting its demise. However, Berry isn’t happy about this, as he obviously still loves his partner. He doesn’t want this relationship to end like this, though he doesn’t quite know what he can do.
He ends up singing, “You know it hurts me deep in my heart / To know that we are drifting apart”.
19. “Angie” by The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones released their hit song “Angie” on their 1973 album Goats Head Soup. Throughout this song, singer Mick Jagger talks to his girlfriend “Angie” as he realizes that neither of them is happy. Even though he doesn’t want to hurt her, things have to change — and they have to find a way to move on without each other.
They’ve grown apart and now they’re not even happy in their relationship anymore! So, even though he doesn’t want to see her cry, he decides to end things.
20. “A Change of Heart” by The 1975
Finally, the last song on this list is The 1975’s “A Change of Heart”! In this song, singer Matty Healy explains how he has fallen out of love with his girlfriend, as the two have drifted apart. Upon falling out of love with her, he has realized that she’s not the woman he thought she was.
When explaining his state of mind and how he feels for her, he describes how he’s fallen out of love with her by saying that he “Just had a change of heart”.