The 22 Best Songs to Say ‘Sorry’ (2024)

• Cher – “If I Could Turn Back Time”

  

  When you’ve made a mistake, it’s common to wish you could go back in time and handle the situation differently. Enter Cher, whose 1989 classic captures the yearning for the past to “take back those words that’ve hurt you and you’d stay.”

• Ciara – “Sorry”

  “Say baby, I’ll do what it takes / And I will be here all the way, baby / All you had to do is say that I’m sorry,” Ciara sings to her ex-lover in the 2012 title track from her album that year, hoping that he gives her the chance to forgive him.

• The Ramones – “Swallow My Pride”

  Sometimes you just gotta swallow your pride and apologize, which is exactly what The Ramones do in 1977’s “Swallow My Pride.”

• Madonna – “Sorry”

  

  Madonna is over her man’s crocodile tears in her 2005 hit, running through apologies in different languages, saying that she’s “heard it all before.”

• The Decemberists – “Apology Song”

  Colin Meloy apologizes and begs for forgiveness from his friend Steven for letting his bike get stolen under his watch. “I was feeling really sorry, Steven, and I spent all morning grieving,” he sings.

• Bryan Adams – “Please Forgive Me”

  “Please forgive me, I know not what I do / Please forgive me, I can’t stop loving you,” Adams sings in the heartbroken track from his 1993 album, So Far So Good.

• will.i.am. feat. Cheryl Cole – “Heartbreaker”

  When you’re a “Heartbreaker,” you can’t help but break hearts — even if you feel bad about it. In their 2007 collaboration, will.i.am and Cheryl Cole sing, “The way I let you down it made you hurt / I didn’t mean to make you hurt.”

• John Mayer – “My Stupid Mouth”

  “My stupid mouth. Has got me in trouble. I said too much again,” Mayer opens his 1999 classic, marking one of his most relatable lines.

• Demi Lovato – “Sorry Not Sorry”

  Why be sorry for moving on and being happy? Demi Lovato put a confident spin on an apology for her summery 2017 hit.

• Blue feat. Elton John – “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word”

  “What do I say when it’s all over?/ Sorry seems to be the hardest word,” says the chorus of the 2002 ode to regret. It’s an update of Elton’s 1976 classic fromBlue Moves.

• Taylor Swift – “Back To December”

  

  Taylor Swift says all the things she wishes she could say, down to specifics, in her Speak Now fan favorite track.

• Christina Aguilera – “Hurt”

  “Oh I’m sorry for blaming you / For everything I just couldn’t do / And I’ve hurt myself by hurting you,” Xtina sings in the devastating chorus.

• Linkin Park – “In Between”

  Linkin Park has trouble keeping the person they love on their Minutes to Midnight track, “Between my pride and my promise / Between my lies and how the truth gets in the way”

• Eminem – “Cleanin’ Out My Closet”

  Eminem raps about things he wishes went differently in his life on “Cleanin’ Out My Closet,” including his father abandoning him as a child, his relationship with ex-wife Kim, and his damaged relationship with his mother Debbie.

• OneRepublic – “Apologize”

  People can say sorry all they want, but sometimes, it’s just “too late to apologize” — right OneRepublic?

• Justin Bieber – “Sorry”

  

  While he might have “let you down,” Bieber hopes it’s not “too late now to say ‘Sorry'” in his uptempo 2015 hit.

• Outkast – “Ms. Jackson”

  “‘Ms. Jackson’ came from just wondering — after a relationship kinda goes to the left — about a parent of a girl who has a child, like, how does she feel about the situation? And that’s what birthed that song,” Outkast said of their beloved 2000 hit.

• Nirvana – “All Apologies”

  “Find my nest of salt / Everything is my fault / I’ll take all the blame / Aqua sea foam shame,” Kurt Cobain sings in the track from Nirvana’s third album, In Utero.

• Adele – “Hello”

  

  Adele calls up her ex-lover and says all the things she feels on her Grammy winning hit, “Hello.”

• Prince and the Revolution – “Purple Rain”

  “I never meant to cause you any sorrow / I never meant to cause you any pain,” Prince opens the iconic hit, just wanting to see the song’s subject laughing in the “Purple Rain.”

• John Lennon – “Jealous Guy”

  We all fall victim to jealousy here and there, right? Lennon captures that green with envy feeling when he sings, “I’m sorry that I made you cry / Oh no, I didn’t want to hurt you / I’m just a jealous guy.”

• Lewis Capaldi – “Before You Go”

  “So, before you go / Was there something I could’ve said / To make your heart beat better?” Capaldi sings, as he attempts to receive closure over a relationship gone sour.

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