Heartwarming songs recommended for high school students

HOMEShimizu Shota

Shota Shimizu 'HOME' MV

These lyrics feel like they’re saying: keep your wonderful memories tucked away deep in your heart, and every now and then take them out softly and let yourself feel that sweet, bittersweet ache.

That’s enough.

Even if we lose ourselves in our memories, we can’t go back to that day, that moment—but that isn’t a bad thing.

It’s a song that says “It’s okay,” carrying both gentleness and strength.

SCHOOL DAYSshiritsu ebisu chūgaku

[MV] Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku “School Days”

It’s a song that feels like a springtime gift.

It’s a March 2025 single by Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, with lyrics and composition by Katsuhiko Sugiyama.

The beautiful melody portrays the expectations and anxieties of starting a new chapter, warm friendship, and a resolve toward the future.

The music video—featuring the members in pure white uniforms deepening their bonds in a forest—also leaves a strong impression.

I think it will resonate not only with students, but with anyone who needs the courage to leap into a new environment!

Promise of SunflowersHata Motohiro

Motohiro Hata / Promise of a Sunflower (Short Ver.)

He says he brought “sunflowers” so that even children would understand.

Sunflowers carry images like “bright” and “lively,” and from those qualities, the song conveys warmth, kindness, and a sense of sorrow in parting.

PlasmaYonezu Kenshi

Kenshi Yonezu – Plazma

The world of Kenshi Yonezu woven from imaginative melodies and innovative electronic sounds.

Set against the backdrop of space, this work—depicting life’s choices and fateful encounters—was released in January 2025 as the theme song for the animated film “Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning-.” It carries Yonezu’s signature delicate sensibility and straightforward passion, familiar from albums like “diorama” and “BOOTLEG.” Alongside its high-energy musicality, the lyrics powerfully convey the courage to step into new worlds and the drive to face the unknown, leaving a deep impression.

It’s a song I especially recommend to younger listeners who are determined to forge their own path.

crescent moonayaka

Ayaka – Crescent Moon

It’s a heartfelt ballad that slowly seeps into the soul.

It conveys the idea that one’s feelings for a loved one far away are connected “through the moon floating in the sky.” For this music video, they set up a streetlight specifically for filming, and Ayaka sat on it with a safety harness to shoot the scene.

Under the same skyTakahashi Yuu

Takahashi Yu “Under the Same Sky”

Yu Takahashi says this song is “for the community of people who aren’t the ones who can do it.” You feel like you might be crushed by loneliness, with no allies or understanding.

It carries the wish to reach those who are in that darkness.

The music video may look like it’s lost its dream, but it’s actually filled with the will to face that dream head-on.

A Gentle BallAimer

Aimer “Gentle Ball” Lyrics/English/Indonesian | NHK “Minna no Uta” | 25th single “SCOPE”

Set at a starlit nighttime ball, this enchanting work spins a fantastical tale.

Aimer’s husky voice blends exquisitely with the classical waltz motif, vividly portraying mysterious scenes unfolding in the stillness of the night.

Beautiful like a fairy tale yet tinged with a certain wistfulness, its world seems to mirror the feelings of a girl wavering on the boundary between dreams and reality.

Included on the single “SCOPE,” released in February 2025, and broadcast around the same time on NHK’s Minna no Uta, this piece is made all the more magical by arrangements from Ryota Nakano and Yusuke Tanaka.

It’s a song that will stay close to your heart—whether you’re spending time with friends after school in an empty classroom or lost in thought while gazing up at the night sky.