We Made a Playlist For Everybody Who's Celebrating Valentine's Day Alone

Once upon a time, hopeless romantic Rob Gordon asked what's arguably the most difficult question to answer: “Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?”

It's the question that still bothers many of us today, no matter if we've been single for a while or if we've just broken up with our significant other.

Unfortunately for us (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), there's no shortage of sad pop songs in Indonesia. Here, we have a saying, “Muka Rambo Hati Rinto.” We say it to people who look "threatening" but have a soft heart a.k.a crybabies. It references one of the country's music legends Rinto Harahap, who was famous for his melancholy.

Indonesian sad pop music is a genre that has been weirdly resilient. In the New Order Era, then Minister of Information Harmoko banned sad pop music because he thought that it didn't fit the revolution. He said such music was "a lament for the weak" and "distasteful"). OK, hater.

I talked to Denny Muhammad Ramdhan, a veteran journalist, to hear what he had to say about this. He said that sad pop music can't be separated from our history. Indonesian music is greatly influenced by Indian and Malay music which sound slow and melancholic.

“Lyrically, Malay music was often used for gratitude and praise,” Denny told VICE Indonesia. “But then there's a shift in the music industry. Songs of gratitude now turn into a lament.”

Denny went on to say that the music industry actually reduced the meaning of art. The music we hear now is all about romance between a man and a woman. But back in the day, sappy music was an escape from social and economic pressures that the country suffered after the chaos in the Old Order era.

Remy Sylado, in an essay that appeared on the journal Prisma in 1977, said that melancholic lyrics has been a staple in Indonesian music for a long time, even before the country gained independence in 1965. Even today, writing love songs is a must, if a musician wants to make in the local scene. It becomes a problem when a musician writes a love song just for the sake of writing one, he said.

So on this Valentine's Day, if you're desperately single, VICE Indonesia has picked some of the most depressing Indonesian pop songs of all time for you to cry to at your party of one:

Interfaith marriage is possible in Indonesia, but what what do you do if your parents don't approve of your relationship? The solution is to put this song on repeat until the words don't mean anything anymore, of course.

One day, when you finally meet the one, make sure to put a Rinto Harahap song in the mixtape you're gifting your significant other. Trust me.

You've probably heard your dad singing this song, which is about unrequited love, a million times.

To answer Nia Daniaty, you don't belong to anybody but yourself! But a strong, independent man or woman needs love too sometimes.

If you're lucky enough to have a loving family, listen to this song regularly to remind you the reason why you come to work everyday despite how much you hate your boss.

It seems like in pop songs from the 80s, love and lies were inseparable. Every singer claimed they're a victim of a lying, unfaithful partner. Wait, for a second I forgot that pop songs today are still like that.

How do you make somebody fall for you even when they've told you they're not interested, you ask? Once Mekel, Dewa’s vocalist, has the answer.

If you just can't commit, just take a break from the dating world. It's better for everyone involved. Hey, this song was famous way before Indonesia's anti dating movement was born.

Ebiet G. Ade doesn’t sing about tragedy only. His music is good for you to think about your life and future.

Why on earth was this not a part of the soundtrack for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? I mean, the whole song is about erasing somebody from your memory.

There's no need for explanation here. The lyrics and the dangdut beat speak for themselves. Via Vallen is a literal goddess sent to this world to make us cry and dance at the same time.