[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 Times] (41–50)
worst; minimum; the lowest; awfulIvy to Fraudulent Game
Amid a dreamlike, piano-centered soundscape, this work quietly resonates with self-denial and loneliness.
Included on Ivy to Fraudulent Game’s major-label debut album “Kaiten suru,” released in December 2017, it was written and composed by drummer Yuya Fukushima.
The lyrics, which portray the feelings of blaming oneself for not meeting expectations and the pressure of a cornered heart, really hit home.
Give it a listen on nights weighed down by self-loathing.
Omelet riceReoNa
It’s sure to resonate with anyone who couldn’t go to school.
Released digitally by ReoNa in May 2024, this track features lyrics and composition by Vocaloid producer Toa Kasamura and arrangement by Ryohei Arahata.
The lyrics, which begin with a question, symbolically portray the protagonist’s loneliness and sense of self-negation through the imagery of a lunchbox scene.
A wistful melody seeps into the heart.
It’s a song that gently reaches out a hand to those who, even while carrying pain, still wish to face forward.
I like you, but it seems you don’t really like me.back number
A quintessential back number love song that distills the pain of unrequited love right into its title.
It’s a track from the album “Chandelier,” released in December 2015.
With plain, direct lyrics, it draws the gap between a wholehearted devotion to someone and the reality that those feelings don’t reach them.
Even while realizing that your world revolves around that person, you’re not someone special to them—that frustrating ache hits hard.
It’s a song you’ll want to hear if you’re in a one-sided love or struggling because the person you like won’t look your way.
I want to forget.wacci
This is a song by wacci that poignantly sings of the pain of wanting to sever memories of an ex but being unable to.
Released in July 2024, it was produced as the third installment of a three-part love song project.
It portrays a protagonist who, even while spending time with someone new, suddenly sees traces of their former lover—and the more they try to forget, the more vividly the memories return, conveying a deep sense of heartache.
If you’re nursing the pain of a breakup, it will surely hit home.
I didn’t want to know, if it meant losing it.atarayo
This piece portrays the emotional struggle of someone hurt by a lover’s betrayal, yet tormented by feelings that won’t fade.
Released by Atarayo in January 2022, it was produced as an advance single for the album “Gokuya ni Oite Tsuki wa Katarazu.” Born from a collaboration with the platform Jun-Aidan, which features real-life romance stories, the song is based on a story selected from over ten thousand submissions.
Even after being lied to repeatedly by someone you trusted, and knowing in your head that you should break up, you still can’t stop loving them.
It’s a song that will resonate with anyone carrying those contradictory feelings.
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.
seamUeno Daiki
When we confront the uncertainty of memory, how much anxiety do we carry? Written by Daiju Ueno for the drama “Unmet: A Neurosurgeon’s Diary,” this piece overlaps with the struggles of a protagonist living with memory impairment.
It features a mysterious sound marked by lingering strings, and Ueno says he “challenged a kind of topline melody I wouldn’t normally use.” The lyrics carefully trace the blurry borders of the memories we all possess, the unease toward time that has vanished, and the surges of emotion we long to reclaim.
When you want to reconnect your past self with who you are now, this song will quietly stay by your side.