[Relatable Lyrics] Emo songs to listen to when you're stuck after a breakup or relationship troubles
Heartbreak, relationships, work, school—sad and painful things can happen in so many parts of life.
You might find yourself hating someone, lamenting your bad luck, or even feeling self-destructive at times.
Here are some “dark” songs to listen to in those moments.
Because these lyrics are written and sung by artists who have been through a lot, they’re raw and real enough to sit with your feelings—and I’m sure you’ll relate.
I’d be happy if listening to the songs I’m about to introduce helps lift your spirits, even just a little.
- [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
- [Unrequited Love] Heart-wrenching Love Songs | A Roundup of Tear-Inducing Crush and Breakup Tracks
- [Yami Song] A mental breakdown track that sings the true feelings of a melancholic heart
- [For High School Students] Melancholy Songs That Stay Close to Your Feelings [Tough Times]
- [Dark Songs] A carefully curated selection of deeply dark tracks and heartbreaking songs that accompany you in tough times
- [Tearjerker] Songs that make your heart tremble with tears & moving tracks with lyrics that touch the soul
- [Trash Songs] A carefully curated selection of tracks about the lowest, worst kind of loser—and hidden gems!
- My heart aches with bittersweet pain! Breakup songs I’d recommend to Gen Z
- [Female Heartbreak Song] A soul-stirring song dedicated to you, who loved with all your heart.
- A breakup song with great lyrics. A beautiful message that lingers in the heart.
- For When You Need a Good Cry: Soul-Soothing Tearjerker Classics — Life, Love, and Work
- Gently staying close to a wounded heart… A Reiwa-era heartbreak song
[Relatable Lyrics] Depressive Songs to Listen to When Heartbreak or Relationships Have You Stuck (21–30)
in my placeHiguchi Ai
A song that embraces the parts of yourself that feel incapable and lights the courage to keep moving forward.
It’s the second installment of Ai Higuchi’s “Soliloquy Trilogy,” released digitally in August 2025.
The expansive sound and gentle vocals are a perfect match.
The lyrics depict the feelings of repeatedly grappling with self-loathing while taking one step at a time.
Try listening on a quiet night or on a heavy-footed morning on your way to class.
It will bring your heart’s pace back to your own stride.
IdentitySakanakushon
If you’re different from others, you get pushed out by society’s communities, but then you’re seen as a boring person without individuality.
The lyrics express the worries and feelings that artistic people especially tend to carry in their younger years.
Despite the content of the lyrics, the upbeat rhythm of the song is quite addictive.
[Relatable Lyrics] Emo songs to listen to when you're stuck after a breakup or relationship issues (31–40)
indigoSukima Suichi
It’s a song packed with the painful emotions of unrequited love, and anyone who’s been there will feel a pang in their chest.
It’s full of a somewhat clingy, male point of view.
You think, “If this won’t be returned, then just disappear,” yet in the end you still find yourself eagerly waiting for the next time you can see them.
Those feelings come across very realistically.
Our FailureMorita Doji
The voice is gentle, but the singing is unstable, which, to put it bluntly, gives off an eerie impression.
Because the song is very simple and calm, the lyrics resonate all the more.
Even when you’re not in the mood for something grand or lively, this song will probably slip right into your ears.
mentally unstable personMioyamazaki
A song by Mio Yamazaki, a four-piece rock band formed in Tokyo.
It opens with a spoken style and then suddenly shifts into a heavy, intense sound.
The structure also drops into 3/4 time partway through, lowering the tone.
Together with the lyrics’ unstable, precarious mood, this creates a unique sense of tension.
The protagonist’s uncontrollable feelings and screams shake the listener’s heart, making it a track that feels mad yet irresistibly addictive.
Sentimental KissShio Reira
This work depicts an unbreakable lingering attachment—the kind where you can’t cut off an ambiguous relationship with a former lover.
It’s a song by Rei La Ushio, released in May 2022 as her third digital single.
Chosen as background music for ABEMA’s dating show “He and the Wolf-chan Are Not to Be Deceived,” it topped Spotify’s Viral Chart and has surpassed 50 million streams worldwide.
Its gentle sound, centered on acoustic guitar and piano, embraces the complex emotions that arise as the distance between hearts and bodies grows inversely proportional.
Many listeners may find themselves relating to the experience of being unable to fully end a relationship and letting it drag on.
Girls don’t cry.katahira rina
I think there are people who fell for someone they shouldn’t have and ended up feeling mentally unwell.
For anyone like that, I recommend Rina Katahira’s “Onnanoko wa Nakanai” (“Girls Don’t Cry”).
The lyrics tell the story of a girl who falls in love with someone she knew would hurt her, expressing that troubled, heavy feeling.
Even though the lyrics feel dark, the melody is bright, and that contrast really makes your heart skip a beat, doesn’t it?
