[For High School Students] Melancholy Songs That Stay Close to Your Feelings [Tough Times]
School isn’t all fun and games, is it?
It’s sad, but some people might even say, “Most of it isn’t fun at all!”
Still, no matter how tough it gets, those memories and feelings will become the strength that supports you.
In this piece, we’ll introduce some “dark” songs that will stay close to your tired heart.
There are plenty to choose from, so if you go through the songs listed, you’re sure to find something you can relate to.
Let’s borrow the power of music and get through the present together.
- [Yami Song] Fight darkness with darkness!? Deep tracks that stay close to your pain
- [Songs to Listen to When You Want to Die] I want to disappear... A song to support you who feel that way
- [Dark Songs] A carefully curated selection of deeply dark tracks and heartbreaking songs that accompany you in tough times
- Songs to listen to when you’re feeling down! Tracks that boost your self-confidence
- [Recommended for Teens] Songs to Listen to When Your Heart Is Tired / Songs You Want to Hear
- Emo songs recommended for junior high school students: A roundup of classic and popular Japanese tracks!
- Uplifting songs recommended for high school students
- [Relatable Lyrics] Emo songs to listen to when you're stuck after a breakup or relationship troubles
- [Melancholy] For when you want to sink all the way. Masterpieces that depict various kinds of gloom.
- [For those doing their best] A comforting song to listen to when you're tired of life
- Songs that hit home when you're feeling blue: masterpieces of Japanese music
- [Tearjerker] Songs that make your heart tremble with tears & moving tracks with lyrics that touch the soul
- Yami songs recommended for college students: melancholic tracks to listen to when you're feeling down
[For High School Students] Emo Songs That Stay Close to Your Feelings [Tough] (21–30)
Hey HoSEKAI NO OWARI
This is SEKAI NO OWARI’s 10th major single, released as a support single for “Bremen,” a project carried out in collaboration with the NPO Peace Winds Japan aiming for zero animal euthanasia.
Rather than loudly insisting “Let’s help them!” the understated lyrics gently stay close to someone’s SOS, making the message linger even more strongly.
It’s a masterpiece that reflects SEKAI NO OWARI’s aesthetic, with a worldview that reassures you—this world is not something to be thrown away.
HereditySaitō Kazuyoshi
Saito Kazuyoshi’s 46th single.
With a relaxed tempo, it’s a work filled with melancholy, especially when paired with the music video.
Perhaps because the vocal phrasing is quintessentially Saito and the guitar sound is simple, the emotions embedded in the song come through directly.
AliensKirinji
This is one of Kirinji’s signature songs.
It became a hot topic when the actress Non sang it a cappella in a commercial, so some of you might know it from that.
Although it’s a song from the ’90s, it doesn’t feel dated at all.
The sweet vocals and harmonies soothe anyone who listens.
to liveMizuno Atsu
This is a song that gently stays close to a delicate heart that feels weighed down even by the smallest moments of everyday life.
Released in July 2021 as a collaboration between Atsu Mizuno and the Vocaloid Kafu, it has reached 10 million views on YouTube.
The conflicting emotions—wanting distance from school or relationships, blaming oneself, yet still wishing to keep living somewhere deep inside—are carefully portrayed within a simple, piano-centered soundscape.
Listen to it on nights when tomorrow feels frightening, or in moments when you feel no one will understand you.
NonfictionHirai Ken
This is Ken Hirai’s 42nd single, released in 2017.
It was written as the theme song for the drama “Little Giants.” The lyrics are based on Hirai’s own experiences and carry the meaning of a requiem.
They poignantly express the suffering of those left behind in this world and the longing to meet those who have departed once more, leaving a strong impression through their intense sense of pain.
The gradually intensifying sound reflects the deepening of those emotions.
InfluencerNogizaka 46
The word “influencer” tends to evoke someone who affects the broader public, but in this song it portrays an influencer on a smaller scale—someone who influences you personally.
It depicts the constant concern over what the person you like is interested in, and how being swayed by that can sometimes become painful.
The sound, with its passionate atmosphere accented by flamenco guitar tones, gives the impression of a powerful feeling within oneself blazing up.
Tomorrow as wellSHISHAMO
It’s a song that encourages people who struggle through school or work from Monday to Friday.
Early on, it doesn’t try to teach ways to fix those hard days; instead, it speaks to how having time on the weekend to connect with what you cherish and long for can give you the strength to endure the tough parts.
It also shares the message that seeing the way the person you admire lives can later become the catalyst that changes you, ending with words of encouragement.