A Tearful Farewell Song: A Love Song About Parting with Someone You Love
Even when you understand it in your head, an unexpected breakup with a partner is hard because your feelings can’t keep up.
Everyone has different reasons for breaking up, but I imagine most people feel the same way—“it hurts,” “I just want to cry.”
In this article, we’re picking out tear-jerking breakup songs from popular love songs.
Focusing on tracks that sing about lingering feelings of love, we’ll introduce breakup songs that stay close to your heart.
When you feel like crying, give them a listen.
- [Songs About Loving Yet Parting] Love songs for those who want to overcome heartbreak
- Farewell Song: A goodbye song. A tearful parting song.
- [Tearjerker Guaranteed!] A Heartbreak Song Told from a Male Perspective
- Farewell Songs: Tracks that sing various kinds of “goodbyes”
- [Female Heartbreak Song] A soul-stirring song dedicated to you, who loved with all your heart.
- [Unrequited Love] Heart-wrenching Love Songs | A Roundup of Tear-Inducing Crush and Breakup Tracks
- [Tear-Jerking Breakup Songs] A curated selection of love songs that gently comfort a wounded heart!
- [Upbeat Breakup Song] Love songs and anthems that give you the courage to take a new step forward
- “I Want to See You”: A love song that makes you cry when you listen to it while you can’t meet
- Masterpieces of bittersweet breakup songs. Recommended popular tracks.
- [Once More…] A lingering-attachment song: a song about a love you can’t forget
- Just listening makes my chest tighten... Breakup songs recommended for the Yutori generation
- [Heart-wrenching] Vocaloid breakup songs. Classic love tracks that make your chest ache
[Tear-Jerking Farewell Songs] Love Songs About Parting with Someone You Love (41–50)
tear-coloredNishino Kana
Kana Nishino’s “Namidairo” is a song that captures tender feelings for an ex from a woman’s perspective.
The time they spent together, the way she changed for him—everything is slipping into the past.
She knows there’s no going back, yet she can’t bring herself to hate him.
Her lingering, powerful feelings for him come through so strongly it hurts.
If you’ve broken up but “still really love them,” listen to this song and cry it out as much as you need.
An empty kitchenTakahashi Yuu
“An Empty Kitchen,” sung by singer-songwriter Yu Takahashi, was released in 2011 as his fifth single.
It’s a bittersweet love song that captures the feeling of being suddenly overwhelmed by loneliness, and the inability to move forward because you’re trapped in memories of a lover and a longing to return to the days you spent together.
If you’ve just gone through a breakup, you may be feeling the same way.
For those who once lived with their partner, the scenes of “An Empty Kitchen” will especially come vividly to mind.
Let your own memories well up and let the tears fall.
not enoughwacci
It has a pop melody and vibe, but once you understand the lyrics, it makes your chest tighten.
It’s a song by the pop band wacci, included on their 2019 album “Empathy.” The lyrics are written from the perspective of a woman who put on a brave face to end a relationship, only to be left with lingering feelings.
When you finish listening, you’ll naturally find yourself wanting to experience a love without regrets.
It’s linked to one of their other songs, “Betsu no Hito no Kanojo ni Natta yo” (“I Became Someone Else’s Girlfriend”), so I recommend listening to that as well.
Cats and Allergieskinoko teikoku
This song delicately portrays the feelings of having to accept an inevitable farewell, even while still longing for a lover.
Accompanied by a heartrending vocal, the resolve to move forward while cherishing past memories resonates deeply.
It is the title track of Kinoko Teikoku’s album “Neko to Arerugī,” released in November 2015, a major-label debut that drew significant attention.
With its gentle arrangement incorporating piano and strings, the song signaled a new horizon for the band and has been embraced not only by fans but by many listeners.
It’s a piece I especially recommend to anyone who knows the ache of loving someone yet being unable to stay together.
You’re no longer here.FUNKY MONKEY BABYS
Although we were supposed to be so in love, our feelings somehow drifted apart before we knew it.
This is a heartbreaking breakup song that brings back memories of a former lover.
Perhaps because of its unadorned lyrics and melody line, the story that unfolds in the song vividly plays out in your mind.
If you’re a working adult listening now, it might make you remember your school-days romance.
You can feel both the sweetness and the sorrow.
It’s a track by the music group FUNKY MONKEY BABYS, released in 2007 as their sixth single.
First LoveUtada Hikaru
Hikaru Utada’s “First Love” is a song that captures the faint, bittersweet feelings of a first love that everyone experiences.
Released in 1999 as Utada’s third single, it became one of her signature songs, selling a total of 960,000 copies.
It also serves as the motif for the Netflix original drama “First Love” scheduled for release in 2022.
It’s a classic that confesses a heartbreaking truth: the relationship has ended, but you’re still in my heart.
I wonder if I’d still say it’s too late.Saucy Dog
This song by the three-piece band Saucy Dog can be heard either as a man’s heartbreak after being dumped or as lingering regrets after doing the dumping.
The feelings of noticing how an ex changes, wondering about the person they’re dating now, and secretly hoping you might get back together are emotions anyone who’s experienced heartbreak has probably felt.
If trying your hardest to forget only makes your mind even more consumed by that person, then, like in this song, maybe letting yourself fully soak in those lingering feelings could be what helps you finally take the next step.
