[Songs of Infidelity] A collection of forbidden love songs about unattainable romance
Have you ever been in a love where you couldn’t tell anyone about the things that made you happy, the moments of joy you felt, or even the tiniest bits of happiness? You might think, “I’d never fall for a love that won’t be returned!” and yet, isn’t it often the case that you realize, before you know it, that you’ve fallen for someone? In this article, we’ll introduce songs we want you—who are experiencing such a sorrowful love—to listen to.
There are countless love songs out there, but we’ve carefully selected tracks that are perfect for those troubled by an unattainable love.
May you find a song that stays close to your heart.
- [Cheating Song] A forbidden love that crossed the line — infidelity song
- [An Adulterous Love] A love song about a secret affair you can't tell anyone about
- Unattainable Love: A Heartbreaking Love Song About Falling for a Married Person
- A classic song about a forbidden love
- [Unattainable Love] A love song about two people who feel the same way but can’t be together
- [Unrequited Love] Heart-wrenching Love Songs | A Roundup of Tear-Inducing Crush and Breakup Tracks
- A song of forbidden love. A heartrending, sorrowful love song.
- A song of forbidden love. A love song about feelings that can't be stopped.
- Bittersweet love songs to listen to when the person you like already has a girlfriend or boyfriend
- [Songs About Loving Yet Parting] Love songs for those who want to overcome heartbreak
- “I Want to See You”: A love song that makes you cry when you listen to it while you can’t meet
- A Tearful Farewell Song: A Love Song About Parting with Someone You Love
- [Today’s Heartbreak Song] A poignant love song that gently wraps your wounded heart
[Song of Infidelity] A collection of forbidden love songs about unattainable love (41–50)
AyaMy Hair is Bad
My Hair is Bad is a rock band gaining attention for songs that portray realistic depictions of romance between men and women.
Aya is a track included on their 2022 album angels.
Its heartrending lyrics, which depict a thrilling relationship between two people, conjure vivid scenes.
Paired with a warm band sound that unfolds at a slow tempo, the song is sure to resonate in your heart.
It beautifully captures both the fragility and the beauty of love.
Give it a listen when your feelings overflow for someone you love—even if you know it’s a love that won’t be returned.
[Adultery Songs] A Collection of Forbidden Love Songs About Unattainable Romance (51–60)
Other people’s relationshipsHitoto Yo
Hitoto Yo’s rendition of “Tanin no Kankei” feels a bit different from the usual songs about affairs.
It stays dry: whenever they meet, things heat up, and when it’s over they coolly go back to being two strangers and head their separate ways… yet you can still feel that they’ll never truly let each other go.
Kanae Kikko’s version is sultry too, but Hitoto Yo’s delivery is so intensely seductive it gives me chills.
When Someone’s Wish Comes TrueUtada Hikaru
This song, a single by Hikaru Utada released in 2004 and used as the theme for the film CASSHERN, is an impressive 8 minutes and 55 seconds long.
At first glance, “Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro” might seem like a feel-good track about wishes coming true—but it’s not.
In fact, it conveys the exact opposite: when someone’s wish is granted, someone else is shedding tears in the background.
In the context of love, it could be the kind of tangled, hard-won romance that doesn’t go smoothly.
The lyrics, which quietly speak of the sorrow of loss, feel fresh even as poetry.
With piano-centered accompaniment and no English lyrics, it’s a track in which Utada herself pursued a “new Hikaru Utada.”
a nuisance (as pesky as flies in May)RADWIMPS
RADWIMPS’ “May’s Fly” is a song about a messy love affair.
You can feel the intense feelings toward someone who won’t be yours—emotions that go beyond love and turn into hatred.
In the chorus, the lyrics exude a sense of madness, as if wishing for everything to fall apart.
It’s a track that evokes a stark sense of reality and fear in those emotions that have crossed from love into loathing.
Don’t Stop LoveKōda Kumi
From pop vibes to grand love ballads, Kumi Koda has released many love songs.
Among them, the one that sings of an unattainable love is “Ai wo Tomenaide” (“Don’t Stop Love”).
Released in 2011 as her 51st single, she performed this song at that year’s Kohaku Uta Gassen.
After a breakup, there are times when you can’t move forward because you keep thinking about your ex over and over.
You know it’s impossible, but you still want to see them one more time—this song poignantly depicts that unshakable longing for someone you can’t give up on.
Unraveling Loveyama
A song that tightens your chest with yama’s faint, heartrending vocals.
It portrays the complexity of love and the pain that can’t be avoided, delicately depicting two people who hurt each other yet still love one another.
Wanting to be together but being unable to say it honestly reflects an awareness that someone is being hurt and that the relationship should not go on.
It makes you think deeply about whether happiness awaits a love forged at the cost of hurting many, and its quiet, lingering ache of unrequited love pierces the heart.
This is a track I especially recommend to those struggling with clumsy, awkward love.
immoralityAbe Mao
This is “immorality,” a collaboration between Mao Abe and Okazaki Taiiku.
It came to be after a passionate offer from Mao Abe, which brought this duo together.
The song was chosen as the theme for the drama “Furin Shokudo,” starring Kei Tanaka.
Written from a male perspective, it’s an affair-themed song about a woman who already belongs to someone else.