[Unrequited Love] Heart-wrenching Love Songs | A Roundup of Tear-Inducing Crush and Breakup Tracks
“Even though I know it won’t be rewarded…” Once you fall in love, it’s not so easy to stop your feelings, is it?
You tell yourself you can’t go on like this, that you have to end it, but when you see them, you just can’t hold back your love.
In this article, we introduce love songs that portray the pain of unrequited love and lay bare those unspoken feelings.
Listen to them when you’re tired of loving.
They’ll gently wrap around you, saying, “It’s tough, I know.”
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- Tear-jerking unrequited love songs that will break your heart: timeless classics about unattainable love
- Unattainable Love: A Heartbreaking Love Song About Falling for a Married Person
- “I Want to See You”: A love song that makes you cry when you listen to it while you can’t meet
- Songs that depict a teasing, suggestive attitude | Love songs to listen to when you're in unrequited love or a painful relationship
- [Today's Unrequited Love Song] Guaranteed to Make Your Heart Flutter! A Sweet and Bittersweet Love Song
- A heart-wrenching story that tightens the chest! A Showa-era unrequited love song
- [To Those in Love] Relatable Love Songs to Listen to When You’re Crushing Hard
- A classic song about a forbidden love
- A song of forbidden love. A love song about feelings that can't be stopped.
[Unrequited Love] Heartbreaking Love Songs | A Roundup of Tear-Jerking Crush & Breakup Songs (81–90)
a convenient relationshipDomura Riu
A song that delicately portrays a bittersweet, aching love.
With Riu Domura’s distinctive perspective and sensibility shining through, the lyrics vividly capture the emotions of those struggling with an ambiguous relationship.
Released in February 2021, the track resonated with many listeners and achieved notable popularity, including over 200,000 streams on the music platform AWA.
The relationship that begins at night, and the emotional conflict they can’t help repeating even though they both understand what’s happening, echo in the heart alongside the tender vocals.
It’s a must-listen for anyone troubled by love or grappling with complex feelings.
In love with Shizukuindigo la End
A gem of a love song that portrays a heartrending romance standing still in a monochrome scene.
The imagery—overlaying feelings for a longed-for person with the transience of raindrops, while being battered by rain at an old bus stop—strikes straight at the heart.
Released by indigo la End in September 2015, this work was their first new release in about seven months since the album “Shiawase ga Afuretara,” and its unique sound, woven from delicate guitar work and fragile vocals, captured listeners’ hearts.
A breakup song that seeps into the soul—one you’ll want to listen to alone on a rainy day.
I wish I were the one you liked.Te ga kuriimu pan
Getting the person you like to like you back is really difficult, isn’t it? But wanting them to fall for you is something anyone in love feels.
That bittersweet, painful feeling in the chest is captured in Tegakuri-mupan’s “I Wish I Were the One You Like.” With its simple instrumentation and understated vocal delivery, the song overflows with the sorrow of unrequited love.
You truly want to confess your feelings and become mutual lovers, but the fear of it not going well makes you hesitate to take that first step…
Many people can probably relate to the dread of a future where love doesn’t come true, and to this situation where, despite that, you just can’t suppress your feelings.
NAOHY
This song, included on HY’s fourth album, “Confidence,” portrays an unrequited love you can’t give up on even when you know it won’t come true.
It’s especially popular among young women.
With a beautiful, grand gospel chorus, Izumi Nakasone delivers a stunning vocal performance.
A little more, just a bit moreZARD
A song by ZARD about a love that cannot come true.
Even while knowing it’s a forbidden relationship, the protagonist finds herself wishing to be loved “just a little longer.” The song captures her emotions, and because the love is taboo, her earnest feelings resonate with a striking purity.
There’s an anecdote that Izumi Sakai, who also wrote the lyrics, felt saddened while singing it—an episode that speaks to the song’s poignancy.
Released in September 1993, this work compels deep reflection on the weight of unrequited love and the intensity of loving someone.
AiHata Motohiro
“Ai” is a song released by Motohiro Hata in 2010.
Its melody is simple yet deeply moving, and the lyrics delicately portray someone who had lost sight of love gradually changing through a new encounter.
The track drew attention as it was featured in a Panasonic commercial and used as a theme song for a TV program in Hata’s hometown of Miyazaki.
When you’re weary of romance or find yourself unable to believe in love, why not let this song soothe you? It will gently deliver the warmth of love to your heart.
[Unrequited Love] Heart-wrenching Love Songs | A Comprehensive Introduction to Tear-Jerking Crush & Heartbreak Songs (91–100)
That’s not fair…arekunn
Are-kun’s song, which beautifully portrays aching love and suffering, has deeply moved many listeners.
While harboring intense feelings for the other person, the work delicately weaves the complex emotions of a woman swayed by ambiguous behavior.
Released in August 2021 as an advance track from the album “Breath,” it was also chosen as the ending theme for TV Asahi’s “BREAKOUT” in September, allowing it to resonate with an even wider audience.
Confused and hurt by the other person’s vague kindness, yet unable to suppress her feelings—this piece offers heartfelt empathy and comfort to anyone who bears the pain of an unrequited love.