A song of forbidden love. A love song about feelings that can't be stopped.
Even though you know you shouldn’t, there are some loves you just can’t stop, aren’t there…?
This article introduces love songs about holding onto feelings you can’t let go of—romances people tell you to avoid, and that you yourself know aren’t good for you.
When you don’t know what to do, listening to a song about a similar kind of love might calm your heart a little, and maybe even bring you closer to an answer.
Try finding that one song that will support your heart.
Songs of forbidden love: romance tracks about unstoppable feelings (1–10)
pink bloodnarumiya
Released in September 2025, this song uses the folktale Momotaro as its motif to depict a “forbidden love” that can never be fulfilled.
The band ensemble carries a gently nostalgic feel that’s truly lovely and draws you in.
It’s an emotional rock tune marked by a poignant story of two people drawn to each other despite being destined to be enemies.
I think it will especially resonate with younger listeners!
MELROSE ~A Promise Not to Love~EXILE ATSUSHI
A ballad that portrays the bittersweet feelings of a man and a woman drawn to each other despite a promise not to fall in love.
The wavering heart caught between reason and emotion pairs beautifully with EXILE ATSUSHI’s deeply expressive vocals.
Released in December 2012 as his third solo single, the song is included on albums such as Music and Love Ballade.
It was also featured as the ending theme for NTV’s Sukkiri!!, garnering widespread attention.
This is a track that resonates deeply with those who relate to the complexities of adult romance or who are striving to move forward while carrying a sense of longing.
wanderingAKASAKI
A bittersweet love story portrayed as if wandering through the city at night.
With the purity of youth and a delicate sensibility, AKASAKI sings of a heart swayed by love.
Together with a chorus that soars in the hook, it becomes a gem of a ballad that beautifully conveys guilt and yearning.
Released in April 2025, this work, though arranged simply with piano and guitar, resonates with young listeners thanks to its richly expressive vocals.
Not every love story is pure and straightforward.
This song accompanies those who wrestle with the feelings smoldering deep in their hearts and those who hesitate to find the courage to take a step forward.
just a littleIgarashi Haru
A song whose heartrending, soul-stirring vocals move every listener.
With delicate wording, it weaves a poignant love swayed by the whims of fate—encounters that come at the wrong time.
Haru Igarashi is a singer-songwriter with the unusual background of being a former police officer.
Released in March 2024, this work has drawn major attention, topping the Billboard JAPAN Heatseekers Songs chart for two consecutive weeks.
The line about pretending to like what the other person likes just to stay by their side is so earnest it tightens the chest.
even ifHirai Ken
It’s a song by Ken Hirai that conjures up the image of a man at a bar counter, tilting his glass and hiding his true feelings as he sits beside someone gazing at their lover’s ring.
You can almost feel the protagonist’s painful frustration as he wishes they’d miss the last train, yet swallows the words instead.
Released in December 2000, the track reached No.
3 on the Oricon weekly chart and is also included on the classic album “gaining through losing.” For those entangled in a forbidden love—knowing it won’t come true yet unable to stop their growing feelings—this song may quietly keep you company.
You let me do as I please, and yet…arekunn
A song that resonates with the anger toward someone who only reaches out when it suits them, and the aching feeling of not being able to forget them.
In contrast to its melodic, gentle sound, the lyrics are striking for their candid, down-to-earth emotions.
Released in September 2020 and gaining buzz mainly on social media, the track is also included on Are-kun’s album “Breath.” It features the soft timbre of an acoustic guitar and an emotionally rich arrangement.
If you’re struggling with a romantic relationship, sensing your partner’s feelings drifting away but not wanting to admit it, or have been hurt by someone’s misleading behavior, you’ll likely find this deeply relatable.
Crime and PunishmentShiina Ringo
A song by Sheena Ringo whose heartrending cry—wanting nothing more than to hear her own name—pierces the chest.
The figure who seeks only the certain “now,” even at the cost of abandoning the future, seems to portray the agony of a heart falling into a love it knows is forbidden.
This work was released as a single in January 2000 and was also included on the classic album Shōso Strip.
It apparently wasn’t originally slated to be a single, but there’s an anecdote that its release was decided due to strong demand from fans.
When you listen to it at times when your heart feels like it’s about to break between the pure desire to be with someone and the reality that such desire is a “sin,” you may feel as if the song affirms your pain along with everything else.