A famous song about setbacks. A song that stays by your side when times are tough or you feel like giving up.
While living, there are happy moments, but there are surely many times when we feel crushed, too.
I researched songs about the theme of setbacks—ones that can give you encouragement.
Rather than songs that just say “Keep it bright and push through!”, I mainly picked tracks that stay close to those frustrating feelings during a setback and the tough times.
So when nothing seems to be going right, please give them a listen.
May setbacks become the seeds of success.
I’m sure music will give you plenty of strength!
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A masterpiece that sings of setbacks. Songs that stay by your side in tough times or when you feel like giving up (81–90)
Everything is exhausting!takayan

This is a song that brilliantly encapsulates the everyday stress and conflicts everyone experiences.
The lyrics, which empathize with familiar struggles like frustration with a part-time job boss and tangled relationships, resonate deeply.
Showcasing Takayan’s sincere emotional expression, this work is his 56th single, released in April 2024.
A solo concert is also scheduled for November in Shibuya, Tokyo, promising a special day for fans.
While encouraging a brief escape from reality, the lyrics also convey hope that things will improve someday, offering support to young people who feel crushed by societal pressure.
To Us Who Were Once GeniusesCreepy Nuts

A warm, encouraging song by Creepy Nuts that powerfully portrays the potential for genius everyone once had and the individuality that gets lost within society.
It’s a track from their second major album, “To Us Who Were Once Geniuses,” and was released to the world in August 2020 as the TV commercial song for Teikyo Heisei University.
Riding on a hip-hop rhythm, it carefully depicts the limitless possibilities everyone had in childhood and the purity that fades as we grow up, while delivering a message to keep looking forward without giving up.
When you feel crushed by social pressure or self-doubt, listening to this song will surely give you the courage to take a new step forward.
Resolution on the Seventh DayUVERworld

Based on a scene seen in a dream, this moving song questions the fragility of life and the meaning of living.
It speaks as if to remind us that “even in an imperfect state, people can find happiness” and that “change can begin right at this very moment.” Released in June 2014 as UVERworld’s 26th single, it was also included on the album Ø CHOIR and reached No.
2 on the Oricon weekly chart.
In live performances, it is positioned as a key track that creates a sense of unity with the audience.
This work gently stands by those who feel uncertain about their own worth or struggle to take the first step toward change.
gardenFuji Kaze

A gem of a song by Fujii Kaze that gently portrays the impermanence of life through the changing seasons, accompanied by soothing, comforting sounds.
Just like the shifting seasons, life is a drama woven from meetings and farewells, and there are moments when our hearts feel like they might break.
Yet this work whispers that every experience becomes an irreplaceable garden that enriches us.
Released in March 2022 on the album “LOVE ALL SERVE ALL,” it was also featured as the TV commercial song for Nature Lab’s “Laundrin.” It will gently stand by those who are suffering, feeling lonely, or on the verge of breaking.
To My AdolescenceAka-hoho Shishunki (BOL4)

A healing song by BOL4 (Bolbbalgan4) that wraps the delicate emotions of adolescence in acoustic tones.
It gently traces the emotional journey from days tormented by loneliness and self-denial to gradually finding hope with the passage of time.
Included on the September 2017 album “Red Diary Page.1,” this work made the Melon Music Awards’ Top 10 for three consecutive years, Korea’s largest music awards.
Alongside the crystalline vocals, it brings into sharp relief the complex feelings of sensing parental love yet being unable to accept it straightforwardly, and the image of youths who shrink under the gaze of those around them.
When you feel on the verge of losing yourself, listening to this song will surely let a ray of hope shine into a heart filled with loneliness and anxiety.
Small RevolutionSUPER BEAVER

This song powerfully sings of the small acts of courage hidden in everyday life and the desire for self-transformation.
Included on the album “Ongaku,” it was released in February 2024 as an insert song for the TV Asahi drama “MARS: Zero no Kakumei.” With an emotional rock style characteristic of SUPER BEAVER, its melody and sound quietly yet fervently urge us to give voice to our inner feelings and reevaluate who we are.
It was also featured in TBS’s special music program “Ongaku no Hi 2024” for a mass sing-along project, where it was performed together with many viewers.
It’s a song that gently gives you a push when you feel life is hard or lonely, or when you want to take a step toward tomorrow.
Masterpieces that sing of setbacks: songs that stay by your side when times are tough or you feel like giving up (91–100).
Write it as “regret,” read it as “future.”mafumafu

A rock ballad by Mafumafu that gently resonates with the hearts of those carrying sorrow and despair.
Through delicate lyrics and an emotional melody, it portrays the inner cries of a protagonist tormented by anguish so deep they wish for death, yet lacking even the courage to end their life.
Released in January 2021 and included on the album “Yoaiseki Universe,” the song was written for the smartphone rhythm game “Project SEKAI COLORFUL STAGE! feat.
Hatsune Miku.” It is a track that tenderly embraces those who are exhausted by living or burdened by pain they cannot share with anyone around them.

