[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
- [Songs of Infidelity] A collection of forbidden love songs about unattainable romance
- [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] Heart-wrenching Love Songs | A Complete Showcase of Tear-Jerking Crush & Breakup Songs (211–220)
Wasn’t it me?misaki
A bittersweet heartbreak song woven by Misaki, a singer-songwriter represented by the music creator agency muchoo.
Based on her own experiences, it’s said to portray the feeling of “being in a relationship yet still pining as if it’s unrequited love.” Those depictions of constant misalignment—of feeling like maybe you were never the right one and having no choice but to give up—will likely resonate with anyone who’s known a sad romance.
Misaki’s voice, still tinged with a touch of innocence, fragile yet pure, leaves a strong impression, wrapping a wounded heart in gentle comfort.
I can’t bring myself to hate (you/it).ren
Ren is a singer-songwriter who mainly works on TikTok, creating music around the theme of gently staying by someone’s side.
Their first original song, “KIRAI NI NARENAl (I Can’t Come to Hate You),” leaves an impression with its rich ensemble featuring delicate piano sounds.
The lyrics portray feelings that don’t fade even after betrayal or a breakup, and if you’ve been through something similar, your own memories might overlap with the song.
It’s an emotional number with a sentimental melody that tightens the chest.
balladKetsumeishi
Ketsumeishi’s heartrending track “Ballad,” famous as a “song about an affair.” It conveys, almost painfully, the feelings that swell for someone you can’t meet even though you long to, a love that just can’t come true; if you’re experiencing a similar unrequited love, it’s a song you can’t listen to without tears.
A love song for someone you’ll surely never forget, even from here on out.
The music video feels like a drama: while the lyrics are a love song from a male perspective, the MV intensifies the sense of heartbreak whether you’re a man or a woman, so I hope you’ll watch it along with the song.
[Unrequited Love] Heartbreaking Love Songs | A Comprehensive Introduction to Tear-Jerking Crush and Breakup Songs (221–230)
Unfit to be a loverKoresawa
As an answer song to “Tobacco,” Koresawa herself covered a track she had originally written for the singer Miyuhan.
It tells of a lover who’s moved out, capturing the loneliness and sadness of her absence.
Right after she’s gone, memories of her cute quirks from when they were dating—and the way she used to ask for cigarettes—come flooding back one after another.
Even after the breakup, the lingering feelings for her come through strongly.
Love SpiritsChatto Monchī
Chatmonchy’s second single, Love Spirit.
It’s a bittersweet love song marked by a striking solo vocal at the start, with an emotional sound that tugs at your heart.
When you’re in love, there are moments when you think you catch a glimpse of someone else in your partner.
This is the song I want you to listen to at times like that.
You can keenly feel the anxiety that this affection might not be directed at you, but at “that person” mentioned in the lyrics.
Even so, it’s a track that makes you want to cherish and nurture your feelings of love.
bad womanHiguchi Ai
Do you prefer Ai Higuchi at the piano singing and playing, or belting it out with a full band? Her bluesy track “Warui Onna” (Bad Woman) showcases another side of her.
It was also the ending theme for TV Tokyo’s drama “Snow Woman and the Crab,” so if you watched the show you might think, “Oh, that song.” The lyrics paint a heartbreakingly poignant world where she takes all the blame—“We broke up because it was all my fault”—to honor the person she loved.
Her outstanding, intimate vocal delivery is beyond doubt, as if she’s speaking directly to you.
A perfect pick for anyone who wants to fully immerse themselves in the sea of heartbreak.
C.O.S.M.O.S. ~Cosmos (Autumn Cherry Blossoms)~Sandaime Jē Sōru Burazāzu fromu Eguzairu Toraibu
The lyrics express the sorrow and pain of a woman and a man who, despite being in love, cannot be together, as the woman can’t stop the impulse of falling for someone she shouldn’t love.
It’s a profoundly heartrending song that captures the complex emotions of both as they struggle between their feelings and an inescapable reality.
