[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.”
- Unrequited Love Song: A heartrending love song dedicated to you who are going through a painful romance
- [Adultery Song] A forbidden song about an affair that sings of an impossible love
- [Unattainable Love] A love song about two people who feel the same way but can’t be together
- Bittersweet love songs to listen to when the person you like already has a girlfriend or boyfriend
- 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 and breakup tracks (201–210)
Love StoryAmuro Namie
I’m very much in love, but we can’t be together.
Even so, I love them so much I can’t truly forget… This song captures those complicated feelings of a woman, along with the resolve to keep moving forward with strength.
It’s a mature love ballad—poignant, yet filled with a woman’s strong determination.
Fall in LoveKobayashi Akiko
It’s a song that conveys both poignancy and warmth.
This is the biggest hit by Akiko Kobayashi, an artist renowned for her love songs.
It’s a love ballad that portrays the feelings of a woman who falls for someone already in a relationship and is torn by a love that cannot be fulfilled.
#302Hirai Ken
Ken Hirai, a singer with a captivating husky high-tone voice, is known for his many popular love songs! In these lyrics, the protagonist has feelings for a woman who has just had her heart broken.
The song depicts the two of them going to karaoke together, and it’s truly moving.
That’s because, while he feels it’s unfair to be kind to her when she’s vulnerable, he still wants to be her support—an expression of love from the bottom of his heart.
If you’re wondering what to do when the person you like has just gone through a breakup, maybe treating them gently, as in these lyrics, could be one way to go.
distress (at sea/in the mountains); being lost; stranded; a disaster situationToukyou Jihen
It’s a song about two people who, even knowing they shouldn’t, can’t help but fall headlong into a dangerous love.
With lyrics penned by Ringo Sheena in her distinctive wording, it portrays the bittersweetness of an adult romance.
Its melody, reminiscent of Showa-era kayōkyoku, also exudes a mature allure.
It hurts.Kiyoshi Ryujin
Some of you might find yourselves carefully watching the gestures of someone you like, or pondering the meaning behind their offhand words.
This is a song by Seiryu Jin, a singer-songwriter from Osaka Prefecture.
It was released in 2010 as his third single.
Feelings for the other person overflow uncontrollably—but it’s heartbreaking to think about what happens when those feelings don’t reach them.
First LoveFukuyama Masaharu
Masaharu Fukuyama’s “Hatsukoi” could truly be called a song about an unattainable first love.
Even after building a family with someone else and having another place to return to, you can sense the lingering feelings that won’t easily be severed and the pain they cause.
It’s a song that deeply resonates with those who can’t move forward because of unforgettable memories of love.
Please give it a listen.
Pure Love RhapsodyTakeuchi Mariya
Released in 1994, this is a song by Mariya Takeuchi—known for delivering a variety of love songs—about an office romance.
It tells the story of an office worker who has reached a marriageable age; as her friends marry one after another, she finds herself falling in love with a married man at her workplace.
It portrays the “pure love” hidden in the heart of a modest woman who describes herself as always being a supporting character.
You can’t help but root for her, hoping she meets a wonderful man and finds happiness.