Tear-jerking summer classics: recommended popular songs
When you think of summer songs, many people might imagine upbeat, catchy tracks that everyone can sing and dance to together.
However, there are times in summer when you feel like listening to tearjerkers—like bittersweet love ballads or breakup songs.
So in this article, we’ll introduce a wide selection of moving, cry-worthy songs with a summer theme, spanning different eras and genres!
We’ve picked not only heartbreak songs, but also tracks that express a variety of emotions and situations.
Be sure to read the lyrics and listen closely!
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Tear-Jerking Summer Classics: Recommended Popular Songs (1–10)
First NightYorushika
The song “Daiichi-ya” paints summer scenes with emotional depth, and its lyrics are sure to grip your heart.
Many listeners will likely relate to the way it recalls someone who’s no longer by your side, bringing that person to mind in various moments.
Those memories of someone you loved surface at unexpected points in everyday life.
With vocalist sui’s voice and the melody working together, the sense of longing swells even more—making this a ballad you’ll want to listen to on a summer night.
Goldfish FireworksOtsuka Ai
Kinboko Fireworks (Kingyo Hanabi) is the fifth single released by singer-songwriter Ai Otsuka—beloved across generations for her cute voice and looks—on August 18, 2004.
It was used as the theme song for NTV’s “Super TV Information Frontline.” The track captivates with beautiful lyrics that liken unrequited love to the fleeting nature of fireworks.
Paired with her wistful vocals, it’s a tear-jerking summer classic.
Highly recommended if you’re in the mood for a bittersweet summer song—give it a listen!
Every time summer comesatarayo
The song crafted by Atarayo centers on the bittersweet memories and lingering attachment that resurface with the arrival of summer.
Each time summer comes, past memories return, and the lyrics portray the narrator involuntarily thinking about a former love, making the unbroken sense of yearning almost painfully palpable.
The track is included on the album “Kioku no Hako,” released in August 2023.
It’s a perfect song for those who feel the loneliness of summer’s end or want to look back on times gone by.
Tear-jerking summer classics: Recommended popular songs (11–20)
left-right confusionYorushika
This is a song by Yorushika that was released digitally in 2022.
Many of you may know it as the theme song for the film Even If This Love Disappears from the World Tonight.
The title term “sayūmō” refers to a state where one can’t distinguish between right and left.
It perfectly captures the protagonist’s painful feelings as their memories with someone important gradually fade, as depicted in the lyrics.
It’s a track that will make anyone who’s seen the film cry, but it’s also a deeply moving, heartrending ballad that I’d recommend even to those who haven’t watched the movie.
Song of PointillismMrs. GREEN APPLE
This song, with its piano timbre and beautiful vocal work, is “Tenbyō no Uta,” created by Mrs.
GREEN APPLE.
It was originally a collaboration featuring singer-songwriter Sonoko Inoue, and later a solo version by Inoue was also released.
Set at the end of summer, the lyrics portray a couple who think sincerely of each other, and many listeners are surely moved by the purity of their feelings.
At the same time, parts of the lyrics can be read as suggesting that their feelings might not be returned, or that the two may someday part ways, adding a touch of poignancy.
It’s a beautiful ballad perfect for late summer—be sure to listen while reading the lyrics.
Summer loverSHISHAMO
This song by the three-piece rock band SHISHAMO portrays a summer farewell.
Centered on a gentle acoustic guitar sound, the addition of strings seems to further emphasize the feeling of wistfulness.
The lyrics depict saying goodbye to someone dear with whom the summer was spent, along with the various conflicts leading up to that moment.
The portrayal of letting go of present happiness to move toward the future and the wavering emotions resonates deeply.
There’s a moment near the end when the drums and bass drop out entirely, and the vocal delivery there—like releasing pent-up pain—brings tears to your eyes.
End of SummerShimizu Shota
A gemlike ballad that overlays the bittersweet end of summer with the end of a romance.
Shota Shimizu’s powerful yet delicate vocals vividly paint the memories of a summer fling.
The track is included on the album “ENCORE,” released in March 2014.
With lyrics packed with youthful memories—like summer festival fireworks and kisses on the beach—many listeners are sure to relate.
While it conveys the loneliness of summer’s end, this is an uplifting breakup song that also sings of the joy of having met and feelings of gratitude.
It resonates even more deeply when listened to at the turn of the seasons.