Masterpieces that sing of freedom. Recommended popular songs.
When work, studies, or relationships aren’t going well and everything feels stifling, we all sometimes find ourselves thinking, “Ah, I just want to be free…” Freedom may be one of the things people seek most in life.
We fight for freedom, we struggle for it.
These are songs that sing of those daily endeavors and ways of living.
Some are quite serious—so moving they can feel heavy on the heart.
I hope you can find something that fits your current mood—songs that resonate, give you strength to live, or warm your heart—and use them as a change of pace.
- Masterpieces that sing about various lives. Recommended popular songs.
- Masterpieces that sing of freedom. Recommended popular songs.
- Timeless songs that sing of hopes and dreams. Masterpieces that lead those who strive toward the future.
- Masterpieces that sing of effort. Recommended popular songs.
- Encouraging songs: timeless masterpieces that resonate with the heart, recommended popular tracks
- A classic song that sings of the future. Uplifting future-themed music that inspires hope.
- A classic Japanese song about life. A track that gives you energy.
- Songs that give you strength. Recommended masterpieces and popular tracks.
- [Must read] Songs with great lyrics. Moving songs you’ll want to listen to while reading the lyrics
- [Tearjerker] Songs that make your heart tremble with tears & moving tracks with lyrics that touch the soul
- Songs with powerful lyrics. Recommended masterpieces and popular tracks.
- Stress-relief songs to listen to when you’re irritated—tracks that will make you feel refreshed.
- Classic songs that celebrate courage. Recommended popular tracks.
Classic songs that sing of freedom. Recommended popular tracks (51–60)
Easy★RiderOkuda Tamio
This is a signature work by Tamio Okuda, with a refreshing melody and liberating lyrics that color the important moments of life.
The image of an endless road you can freely keep driving down harmonizes beautifully with the music’s freeing feel.
Released in June 1996, it reached No.
4 on the Oricon Weekly Chart and stayed on the charts for 16 weeks.
It gained attention as the song for Nissan’s Wingroad commercial and was also used in a McDonald’s Japan commercial in 2021.
Its sound, which stirs a pure urge to hit the road without a set destination, is perfect when you want to step away from the everyday and see new scenery, or when you want to elevate the mood of a drive.
I just wanna be myselfLEO (BE:FIRST)
A song that celebrates the importance of staying true to yourself.
Set to a light, funky rhythm, it portrays moments when we feel the simple joys and happiness of everyday life.
With a positive message that “you only live once,” its warm lyrics champion self-love and a free-spirited way of living, resonating deeply.
Released in October 2024, it drew attention as the second installment of BE:FIRST’s LEO’s solo project.
Its debut performance at BMSG FES’24 and broadcasts on TBS further boosted the buzz.
It’s a track that lifts you up when you’re short on confidence or feel constrained by others’ expectations.
spring’s dry windIzumiya Shigeru
This is one of Shigeru Izumiya’s signature songs, released in 1972.
You could say that rejecting others and choosing to be alone is also a form of freedom.
The song portrays someone clumsy, out of step with society, and struggling to make money.
Is it a sense of freedom felt at rock bottom? Before he found success as an actor, Izumiya was well suited to elegies of low-wage labor.
When dawn breaksAsakawa Maki
Maki Asakawa, the female vocalist who reigned as the “Queen of the Underground” in the ’60s.
She sings about a woman who moves to a town just because she kind of likes it, and who, come morning, is ready to set off on a solo trip on a whim.
Is it that she relies on no one and loves no one? The song’s protagonist, so unmanageable in her own pace, overlaps with Maki Asakawa herself, who lived freely.
Hikaru Utada has also performed this song live.
Days of DeceptionHamada Shogo
The freedom in this song is a form of freedom seen from a poignant angle—from the man’s side, born out of the disconnect between a man and a woman, with him yearning for freedom.
Shogo Hamada’s voice resonates with sorrow, amplifying the sense of melancholy even more.
It’s quite an old song, and I think many people from younger generations may not know it, but when I think of the theme of freedom, this song naturally comes to mind.