A song of forbidden love. A heartrending, sorrowful love song.
A forbidden love you can’t tell anyone about.
If you’re reading this article, perhaps you’re experiencing a similar kind of love.
If so, there are probably many painful moments.
I’ve gathered some songs I want you to hear.
They capture the pain of falling for someone who already has a lover or partner and feeling lost, or knowing it won’t come true yet being unable to give up.
When things are tough, try finding one song that stays close to your feelings.
Like when someone listens to you, it might make your heart feel just a little lighter.
Songs of forbidden love. A heartrending, sad love song (1–10)
sunflowerSEKAI NO OWARI
The protagonist, who had been living in a dark world, ends up meeting “you,” someone dazzling like the sun—the beginning of a forbidden love as sung by SEKAI NO OWARI.
Listening to this song, you can feel that bittersweet thrill of knowing the person is off-limits, yet realizing thanks to them your world is starting to gain color.
Maybe it’s precisely because the melody is light and pop that it tightens your chest even more.
This track is included on the acclaimed album “Lip,” which topped the Oricon charts in February 2019.
It’s a song that gently stays with you in that helpless rush of feelings at the moment you fall in love, even when you know it won’t be returned.
smokerNEW!neguse.
This is a work by Neguse., released digitally in July 2021 and later included as the first track on their mini-album “Space Shuttle de Kimi no Ie made,” released in October of the same year.
Set in the closed space of a one-room apartment, it portrays the harsh reality of cheating and two-timing through the motif of cigarettes as a personal indulgence.
Even knowing that the person isn’t yours alone, you can’t escape the lingering traces of them soaked into the smell and the air.
These earnest, female-perspective emotions are conveyed with striking realism alongside an approachable melody.
Though it had no tie-ins, its relatable lyrics and the band’s passionate performance have made it beloved enough to often close out early live shows.
It’s a song that stands by those who are hurting from being cheated on—people who desperately want to let go yet can’t quite give up, struggling with those complicated feelings.
In loveHY
A jewel-like ballad that gives you the courage to take one step forward from the depths of sorrow at the end of a secret love you can’t tell anyone about.
HY, a band from Okinawa, wrote it as the theme song for the film “366 Days,” released in January 2025.
The track was released in December 2024 and is also included on the album “TIME,” which came out in January 2025.
Created as an answer song 16 years after the masterpiece “366 Days,” which etched the pain of unrequited love, this work features beautiful male and female harmonies that resonate together, gently affirming that even deeply wounding experiences have meaning.
It’s a song that will likely resonate with those who, while carrying the memories of a love that brought no reward, are trying to face forward and start walking again.
A Kiss of Affected Splendorshallm
A song you’ll want to listen to on nights when you’re tormented by relationships that can’t be smoothed over with pretty words and emotions you can’t show anyone.
Set to a thrilling arrangement that fuses jazz and rock, it portrays the true feelings behind superficial words and the aching emotions you long to say but can’t.
This track was released in July 2025 by shallm, who had put out the album “charme” in October 2024.
It was written as the opening theme for the Thursday drama “Love Prohibited.” Give it a listen when you’re lost in the fate of an unattainable love and wishing someone would quietly stay by your side.
FUCK LOVEchanmina
A poignant track that bares a wounded heart and loneliness behind the tough front of “I don’t need love.” It’s a song by Chanmina, who showcases a wide range of expression as both a rapper and a singer.
It’s included on her fourth album, “Naked,” released in April 2023.
The piece powerfully conveys the raw feeling—akin to resignation—that lurks behind aggressive words, a sense of “whatever happens, happens.” If you’re exhausted by a futureless, secret relationship yet still unable to cut ties and struggling with those lingering feelings, give it a listen.
It’s sure to resonate deeply with the pain of an unrequited love.
I’ll take it to the grave.Arukosaito
A heartbreaking rock ballad about the end of a secret love that can’t be told to anyone, and the resolve to bury those memories deep within and keep living.
Vivid, lifelike scenes—evoking the air of everyday life and platforms of Kansai train stations—heighten the reality of an unattainable love and tighten the chest.
This song is a signature work by Arcosite, included on the album “Until It Becomes a Memory,” released in March 2022.
It later resonated widely on social media, becoming a major topic in 2023 as its annual streams surged.
Blending quiet sorrow with the unique intensity of a band, this piece will surely stay close on nights when you struggle with an unrequited relationship and want to weep alone in silence.
Quivering with sweet sighsYoshii Kazuya
A song that weaves forbidden love and a longing that sinks deep, carried by a sound draped in a Showa-era kayō taste.
Kazuya Yoshii’s sultry vocals and unhurried sense of timing further accentuate the anguish of an unattainable love.
The piece was released in October 2025 as the theme song for the NTV drama DEEP: “From There On Is Hell,” a story of love and hate.
You can feel the mature allure of Kazuya Yoshii—also active with THE YELLOW MONKEY—in his solo work here.
It’s a track for those who have stepped into a secret relationship they can tell no one about, burdened by the fear that there’s no turning back.
Even when you know your feelings won’t be rewarded and still can’t let go, this song will gently stay by your side.