Countless artists have successfully evoked the warmth and joy of companionship. But often, the most engaging and enduring portrayals of love include the painful, complicated emotions it can cause. This list contains songs that express unique perspectives on love — depicting unhealthy relationships with unpleasant honesty.

When affection consumes one’s entire life, they can find themselves completely reliant on their lover — an unsustainable situation of overdependence captured in the following four songs.

“Mojo Pin” by Jeff Buckley

In the introduction to his timeless album “Grace,” the late legendary singer employs aching vocals and an explosively passionate chorus to compare infatuation to a heroin addiction.

“First Love/Late Spring” by Mitski

Through vulnerable pleas like ”One word from you and I would / Jump off of this ledge I’m on, baby / Tell me, ‘Don’t,’ so I can crawl back in,” Mitski illustrates a relationship that has eroded her independence and weakened her into a confused, helpless “tall child.”

“All I Need” by Radiohead

One of many unforgettable moments on the album “In Rainbows,” this ethereal song features haunting lyrics like “I’m an animal trapped in your hot car,” a rumbling bass line and an awe-inspiring outro.

“Perfecto Miserable” by King Krule

With King Krule’s unique, dynamic voice and grunge-inspired bass guitar, “Perfecto Miserable” portrays someone who derives happiness and comfort from a single source. As the song intensifies, this unhealthy attachment to his lover evolves into insanity.

Though it’s not uncommon for relationships to cause changes in personality, some people feel forced into drastically altering their character to fit with that of another. These next four songs encapsulate the feeling of sacrificing oneself for love — examining the price that some pay to be accepted.

“Entombed” by Deftones

Like most on the album “Koi No Yokan,” this track crafts an expansive atmosphere and fills it with Chino Moreno’s powerful vocals, which paint a surreal image of someone transformed by devotion into another’s “device.”

“Bobby” by Alex G

With an intimate level of detail, the character Alex G inhabits makes promises like the insistent “I’d burn them for you / If you want me to” to surrender parts of their life to please an unknown love interest.

“Animal” by Dogbite

No longer certain of their own true identity, the speaker makes imaginative comparisons, listing the many inhuman forms they must assume to make their partner happy.

“In Circles” by Sunny Day Real Estate

Trapped in a spiraling relationship, the speaker’s feelings for his partner are so strong that he’s willing to endure physical pain and trauma to make them content.

Some of the most tragic songs on this list depict lovers hanging on to dead relationships and desperately clinging to a lost connection, powerless to revive the connection yet incapable of letting go.

“Mis” by Alex G

A view into the tortured mind of someone struggling to accept that their beloved wants nothing to do with them. The heart-wrenching lyrics are accompanied by somber piano and one of the most powerful examples of instruments speaking where words cannot.

“PDA” by Interpol

Fitting with the rest of the album “Turn on the Bright Lights,” this song is made memorable by its rapid guitar riffs and puzzling lyrics. Though the words of vocalist Paul Banks reveal a deep-seated resentment for his partner, he remains naively hopeful that the relationship can be saved by nights spent on the couch.

“Skeletons Coupling” by mark william lewis

Guided by echoing harmonica and guitar, the speaker manages to break free from a partner that would not let him release with the repeated lyrics of “You know you really got your teeth in.”

“For No One” by The Beatles

With a blunt honesty that feels almost ruthless, Paul McCartney speaks directly to a man still deeply in love with a woman who has long since moved on.

Some bonds built on unstable or transactional foundations are bound to fail from the moment they begin. It isn’t easy to recognize these situations from within one, but when represented in song, the flaws become painfully obvious. These final four songs reflect the inevitable recognition that dawns on lovers when their relationships are doomed from the start.

“Jigsaw Falling Into Place” by Radiohead

Alongside an instrumental with infectious energy driven by jazz-inspired bass, Thom Yorke delivers an animated recounting of every step in the sequence of superficial relationships. While his performance doesn’t represent these connections as without passion or humanity, it reveals that they are as predictable as the title suggests.

“He Can Only Hold Her” by Amy Winehouse

In an upbeat representation of a “rebound,” Winehouse’s lyrics describe a woman whose memory of a past relationship prevents her from being present in her current one.

“Keep Yourself Warm” by Frightened Rabbit

With witty and anguished lyrics, singer Scott Hutchison repeatedly reminds the listener that casual, emotionally disconnected sex cannot save someone from misery.

“Doo Wop (That Thing)” by Ms. Lauryn Hill

Structured as a warning for anyone entering a relationship, this song advises all to “watch out” for people who aren’t seeking true connection. In memorable verses, Hill shares cautionary tales of young lovers with minds too clouded by passion to see their partner’s problems.