Yami songs recommended for college students: melancholic tracks to listen to when you're feeling down

I like you, but it seems you don’t really like me.back number

Bokuwa Kiminokotoga Sukidakedo Kimiwa Bokuo Betsuni Sukijyanaimitai

A quintessential back number love song that distills the pain of unrequited love right into its title.

It’s a track from the album “Chandelier,” released in December 2015.

With plain, direct lyrics, it draws the gap between a wholehearted devotion to someone and the reality that those feelings don’t reach them.

Even while realizing that your world revolves around that person, you’re not someone special to them—that frustrating ache hits hard.

It’s a song you’ll want to hear if you’re in a one-sided love or struggling because the person you like won’t look your way.

I didn’t want to know, if it meant losing it.atarayo

Atarayo – “I Didn’t Want to Know, If It Meant Losing You” (Music Video)

This piece portrays the emotional struggle of someone hurt by a lover’s betrayal, yet tormented by feelings that won’t fade.

Released by Atarayo in January 2022, it was produced as an advance single for the album “Gokuya ni Oite Tsuki wa Katarazu.” Born from a collaboration with the platform Jun-Aidan, which features real-life romance stories, the song is based on a story selected from over ten thousand submissions.

Even after being lied to repeatedly by someone you trusted, and knowing in your head that you should break up, you still can’t stop loving them.

It’s a song that will resonate with anyone carrying those contradictory feelings.

If I were to die tomorrowKitanitatsuya

If I Die Tomorrow / Tatsuya Kitani – Promise Me / Tatsuya Kitani

This is the song by Tatsuya Kitani that I want you to listen to on nights when, deep down, you find yourself wishing tomorrow would never come.

Released in January 2024, it opens the album ROUNDABOUT as the first track.

It begins with a beautiful piano melody and unfolds into a sweeping band sound—an arrangement that leaves a strong impression.

The lyrics carry a single-minded wish for you to keep living, even while holding despair.

For those of you getting through days that make it hard to breathe, it’s a song that feels like someone offering you an umbrella.

What do you want to become?Rozarīna

Rosalina 'What Do You Want To Be,' Official Lyric Video

If you’re a college student who feels crushed by anxiety about the future, please give this a listen.

It’s a track by Rozarina, included on the album “INNER UNIVERSE,” released in January 2020.

The song portrays the struggle of being overwhelmed by obligations and losing sight of what you truly wanted to do.

Its smoky vocals and acoustic tones gently wrap around a tired heart.

It’s a number I hope you’ll listen to without holding back your tears.

seamUeno Daiki

Daiki Ueno - Seam (Music Video) [Opening Theme for the drama "Unmet: A Neurosurgeon's Diary"]

When we confront the uncertainty of memory, how much anxiety do we carry? Written by Daiju Ueno for the drama “Unmet: A Neurosurgeon’s Diary,” this piece overlaps with the struggles of a protagonist living with memory impairment.

It features a mysterious sound marked by lingering strings, and Ueno says he “challenged a kind of topline melody I wouldn’t normally use.” The lyrics carefully trace the blurry borders of the memories we all possess, the unease toward time that has vanished, and the surges of emotion we long to reclaim.

When you want to reconnect your past self with who you are now, this song will quietly stay by your side.

AnswerIkuta Rira

Lila Ikuta 'Answer' Official Music Video

A warm cheering song that gives you the strength to look forward during tough times.

It’s a track by Lila Ikuta, released digitally in March 2021 and later included on her 2023 album “Sketch.” It was featured in a Tokio Marine Nichido Anshin Life commercial.

The song delicately portrays the feelings of trying to move ahead while carrying weakness and loneliness, offering comfort to the doubts and anxieties everyone experiences.

It’s a song I’d like people who are living through days without clear answers, or who are struggling with choices or relationships, to listen to.

The world to youEVE

A World for You – Eve MV

A work that gently stays by your side when you’re tired, delicately portraying the bittersweetness before a story’s end and the feelings for someone dear.

It’s included on Eve’s 2019 major-label debut album Otogi, where calm piano and strings softly envelop the heart and body.

This is a song I’d like you to listen to when you feel lonely or anxious about your relationship with someone important.