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 Infidelity] A collection of forbidden love songs about unattainable romance
- [An Adulterous Love] A love song about a secret affair you can't tell anyone about
- 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
- [Cheating Song] A forbidden love that crossed the line — infidelity song
- "A Love Song I Can't Tell Anyone" — a love song you can relate to when times are tough
- Unattainable Love: A Heartbreaking Love Song About Falling for a Married Person
- [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.
- [Empathetic & Tear-Jerking] A love song about an unrequited romance
- Bittersweet love songs to listen to when the person you like already has a girlfriend or boyfriend
- Songs that depict a teasing, suggestive attitude | Love songs to listen to when you're in unrequited love or a painful relationship
- [Love Songs] Say Goodbye to Uncertain Feelings! Love Songs to Listen to When You’re Not Sure If You Like Someone
Songs of forbidden love: love songs about unstoppable feelings (21–30)
cocoaaiko
A song that captures a love you know you shouldn’t pursue yet can’t stop yourself from chasing—feelings you can no longer control—Aiko’s “Cocoa.” It’s included on the single “Oyasuminasai,” released in 2001.
The song itself is very cute, but the need to hide the relationship from those around you inevitably brings to mind words like “affair” or “cheating.” While affairs and cheating are generally relationships to avoid, their beginnings may be as pure as the feelings in this song.
It’s a track I want to listen to as an anthem when I’m struggling.
Don’t Stop LoveKōda Kumi
A medium-tempo ballad by Kumi Koda portraying the forbidden love of an affair.
It beautifully expresses the conflict and sorrow of a man and woman who, despite their pure affection, live a love that cannot be allowed.
Released in September 2011, the song drew attention as the theme for the film “Second Virgin” and was also performed at that year’s NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen.
Included on the albums “JAPONESQUE” and “WINTER of LOVE,” it has become one of Koda’s signature songs.
It is sure to resonate deeply with anyone who relates to the loneliness of not being able to be with the one you love and the earnest desire to go on loving despite the gaze of society.
IenaiSoala
A bittersweet, aching vocal that tightens the chest, this love song portrays the feelings of a woman who has fallen into a convenience-based relationship.
Her emotions sway between tenderness and regret, spun with delicate words.
It’s striking how she sinks deeper into uncontrollable feelings even while knowing she can’t be his number one.
Released in August 2022 and included on the album “LOVE,” the track captivates with Soala’s translucent voice and a poignant piano-driven melody.
It’s a song that resonates deeply with those struggling in love that won’t go their way—whether long-distance relationships or one-sided, convenient arrangements—offering comfort and profound empathy.
C.O.S.M.O.S. ~Cosmos (Autumn Cherry Blossoms)~Sandaime Jē Sōru Burazāzu fromu Eguzairu Toraibu
The lyrics express the sorrow and pain of a woman and a man who, despite being in love, cannot be together, as the woman can’t stop the impulse of falling for someone she shouldn’t love.
It’s a profoundly heartrending song that captures the complex emotions of both as they struggle between their feelings and an inescapable reality.
Sleepless nights are because of you.MISIA
A wistful medium-tempo ballad released in August 2002.
It portrays the inner turmoil of being drawn to someone you shouldn’t love, set against the loneliness of the night and fragile hopes.
The earnest feelings—sleeplessness when memories surface, the desperate wish to see them even if only in a dream—are delicately woven through MISIA’s rich expressiveness.
Included on the album “KISS IN THE SKY,” the song was used in Kirin Beverage’s “RAKUDA” commercial and served as the theme song for the Fuji TV drama “Love Quotient” (Ren’ai Hensachi).
Recommended for those who want to connect with the bittersweetness and depth of romantic feelings.
Happinessback number
Rather than evoking an affair, this song centers on the theme of an “unattainable love.” It poignantly expresses feelings that make you wonder whose “happiness” the title refers to.
It feels like witnessing the person you love loving someone else, and it tightens your chest.
You are a cigarette; I am a soap bubble.Lovely Summer Chan
A melancholic guitar-pop song by Lovely Summer Chan that delicately depicts the end of a bittersweet love.
Featured on her major-label debut album “LSC,” released in November 2016, the track expresses the faint feelings for someone out of reach and the fragility of having no choice but to accept it.
Through the contrast between “cigarettes,” a symbol of adulthood, and “soap bubbles,” which vanish in an instant, it strikingly portrays the distance between two people who can never truly meet.
It’s a highly relatable song that offers comfort to those who strive to move forward even while suffering from an unrequited love.