[Dark Songs] A carefully curated selection of deeply dark tracks and heartbreaking songs that accompany you in tough times
There are times when something tough or sad happens and you just feel down, right?
In those moments, listening to overly positive songs like “Keep your head up!” or “You can do it!” can actually make things harder for some people, surprisingly.
So in this article, instead of upbeat tracks, we’ll introduce songs with a darker mood that gently sit with your more negative feelings.
By intentionally listening to songs with heavy or heartbreaking lyrics, you might find your feelings become just a little easier to bear.
- [Melancholy] For when you want to sink all the way. Masterpieces that depict various kinds of gloom.
- [Yami Song] Fight darkness with darkness!? Deep tracks that stay close to your pain
- Songs that hit home when you're feeling blue: masterpieces of Japanese music
- Masterpieces that sing of despair. Recommended popular songs.
- [For High School Students] Melancholy Songs That Stay Close to Your Feelings [Tough Times]
- [Songs to Listen to When You Want to Die] I want to disappear... A song to support you who feel that way
- [Tearjerker] Songs that make your heart tremble with tears & moving tracks with lyrics that touch the soul
- [Yami Song] A mental breakdown track that sings the true feelings of a melancholic heart
- [So touching it makes you cry] A heartbreakingly wistful and sad song that tightens your chest
- Hidden gems of yami songs. Recommended popular tracks.
- [Songs of Bereavement] Songs about losing a loved one. Tracks to listen to while thinking of someone dear
- [Bereavement Song] To you whom I can no longer meet... Tear-jerking songs about death
- [Relatable Lyrics] Emo songs to listen to when you're stuck after a breakup or relationship troubles
[Dark Songs] A carefully selected set of deeply dark or heartrending tracks that empathize with painful feelings (51–60)
Participation prizesoredemo sekai ga tsuzuku nara
They’re a punk band formed in 2011.
The name is so unusual that once you hear it, you can’t forget it.
It almost feels like they’re saying, “We’ll give you a participation prize, so let’s stop putting up with this,” but… that kindness is frightening.
I get a sense of danger, as if life could be taken away in a hopeless instant—how do you take it? The song itself has a punk-like exhilaration, but there’s a certain darkness to it.
atonementKasamura Tōta
Even if something seems trivial to others, it isn’t trivial to you—right? For those who struggle with worries that others dismiss as “no big deal,” I especially recommend this track by the Vocaloid producer Toa Kasamura.
Released in 2018, it’s a piano-driven ballad whose beautiful tones carry a poignant sorrow, as if each note seeps into the depths of your heart.
Place a hand over your chest and listen while reflecting on the life you’ve walked so far.
Hill of DespairPlastic Tree
A dark and lonely song that tells you there’s despair because there’s hope.
It’s an early Plastic Tree track, and it’s a masterpiece marked by a heartbreaking surge of emotion and vocalist Arimura’s wistful, sultry delivery.
It’s not just sad—it also carries a sense of beauty.
The happiest way to die in the worldkoka
This song portrays the thoughts that flash through your mind when you’re at rock bottom—complex ideas that can even seem contradictory.
The way the negative emotions of leaving or disappearing are layered over warm, piano-centered sounds conveys a sense of emotional instability.
Although the lyrics say that the ideal way to disappear would be when no one is left to grieve, the pervasive sense of suffering also feels like someone desperately trying to talk themselves through it.
It’s a song that gently resonates at a deep level with the universal, downcast question of “how to vanish from here.”
[Dark Songs] A curated selection of deeply dark and bittersweet tracks that resonate with painful feelings (61–70)
Darkening RoomMatsutōya Yumi
It’s an incredibly luxurious combination: YOSHIKI from X JAPAN on piano and Yumi Matsutoya on vocals.
The phrases in the lyrics, which evoke a somewhat dark impression, feel as if they’re comforting a weary heart, don’t they?
QCQCKamisama, boku wa kizuite shimatta
The song starts with a light, upbeat guitar sound, but it carries a message of having become aware of the sad realities of this world.
It conveys sorrow and anger sent toward God over an unfair life—feelings that resonate with a poignant sadness.
With a catchy melody, it’s a track you’ll want to listen to again and again.
It was also used as the theme song for the 2017 TV drama, “Anata no Koto wa Sorehodo” (I Love You Just a Little Bit).
It’s a song that speaks for how we feel when we’re going through something painful.
TelepathYorushika
The song that many people are relating to is Telepath.
This piece was written by Yorushika as the opening theme for the anime Kaina of the Great Snow Sea.
Its content portrays the characters’ inner darkness and their struggles.
In particular, those who are troubled by human relationships may find it deeply resonant.
By the way, the title Telepath refers to a person who can use telepathy.
Keep that in mind as you listen.
