Gloria Gaynor performs during the ’Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive‘ premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Festival in New York on 9 June 2023. (Photo: Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images for Tribeca Festival) 
Breaking up is sad and painful, you’re left feeling shattered. But bouncing back is what happens next. It might take a week, a month, but eventually you’ll get over it, and then it can be exhilarating, fun, revengeful and rewarding.
As punk poet John Cooper Clarke once said: “Revenge is a sweet emotion.” Of course, you need the perfect song to soundtrack all this (and give you extra inspiration), so in this episode of The Perfect Song For... podcast, your regular hosts Fred de Vries and Tim Cohen are joined by arts writer and music aficionado Sarah Buitendach to sample a selection of songs which will move you off the couch, dump the ice cream bucket, leave the bottle, and get out there again.
But before that happens, there is going to be some getting even, a bit of self-affirmation, and a few scores that have to be settled.
This week’s selection consists of:
Back in the Saddle – Aerosmith
We are never Ever Getting Back Together – Taylor Swift
Dead Flowers – The Rolling Stones
You Oughta Know – Alanis Morissette
Another Girl – The Beatles
New Rose – The Damned
Good 4 You – Olivia Rodrigo
I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
Fuck You – CeeLo Green. DM
You can listen and subscribe to The Perfect Song For… podcast about the perfect song on Apple podcasts, Spotify and iono. Full versions of the songs are in Spotify and Apple playlists.
Contact the hosts of the podcast or email us your suggestions and alternatives at perfectsongfor@gmail.com
You can also follow the hosts on X: @perfectsongfor Insta: #perfectsongfor
Tim Cohen is the business editor of Daily Maverick. Fred de Vries is an author, writer, journalist and South Africa correspondent for Elsevier Magazine and De Groene Amsterdammer. He writes regular music columns for Platenblad in the Netherlands and Vrye Weekblad in South Africa.