Classic and popular songs about unrequited love

365 daysMr.Children

Mr.Children “365 Days” Mr.Children TOUR POPSAURUS 2012

It’s cool to make the number of days people can love each other in a year the title.

It’s a song that conveys the deep feelings characteristic of Mr.Children and resonates from the bottom of your heart.

Sakurai’s vocal timbre is wonderful, and his soaring high notes are a must-hear.

The bassline and more make it an incredibly cool track.

NE-CHU-SHOWbotchiboromaru

NE-CHU-SHOW / Bocchi Boromaru (Music Video) | TV Anime “Baban Babamban Vampire” Ending Theme

An upbeat tune that rides a danceable beat to capture the exhilaration of falling in love.

Produced by Bocchi Boromaru, the track was released in January 2025 and chosen as the ending theme for the TV anime “Babanbabamban Vampire.” It features a hybrid sound that skillfully blends rock, pop, and rap, brimming with energy that feels like it raises your body temperature just by listening.

Uniquely, it aligns with the bathhouse-themed world of the work, expressing the heat of love as “overheating” and “thirst.” It’s a song we especially recommend to anyone experiencing a fervent one-sided crush that makes your head spin with infatuation.

A Little Love SongMONGOL800

MONGOL800 / A Small Love Song

An inspiring message song that gives you courage.

If there’s someone you like right now, you’ll feel like confessing your feelings right away.

It tells you that the person who matters isn’t far away or in some unknown place—they’re close by.

It carries the passionate spirit of the Okinawan people on a simple eight-beat rhythm.

Unrequited lovemiwa

miwa 'Unrequited Love'

With a relaxed tempo, this unrequited love song conveys an overwhelming sense of sorrow, singing of the pain and sadness of harboring feelings for someone whose love will never be returned.

Though love is supposed to be free, it expresses the doubt of whether one is even allowed to fall for that person.

I want to be your lover.Abe Mao

Mao Abe – I Want to Be Your Lover [Official Music Video]

These lyrics are so relatable.

I think many of us have experienced regretting sending an email.

Her slightly husky voice even gives off a bit of a Shiina Ringo vibe.

The lyrics are cool, but make sure to pay attention to Mao Abe’s unique singing style as well.

Too belovedKG with Tiara

KG / Too Beloved (duet with Tiara)

A duet by KG and Tiara.

The bittersweet lyrics sung in KG’s sweet voice feel like they squeeze your heart.

It’s a song about the sorrow of not being able to be with the one you love, and for some reason it makes you feel like you’re about to cry, so you’ll need a handkerchief.

It blends J-pop and hip-hop, making it easy for anyone to listen to.

swallowtail butterflyPorunogurafiti

Porno Graffitti – Swallowtail Butterfly / THE FIRST TAKE

In contrast to the passionate Latin rhythm delivered by Porno Graffitti, what unfolds is a heartbreakingly bittersweet tale of unrequited love.

At first, simply “meeting you was enough,” but somewhere along the way, the wish to be “loved” took hold, and the whole world changed.

Chasing after the other, who flutters like a beautiful butterfly, they seem like a desert oasis—always out of reach.

Knowing they can never have them, the protagonist aches for love as if thirsting for moisture, their anguished cry pressing upon the heart.

Released in June 2001, this million-selling track was also featured in a cosmetics commercial.

When you’re suffering from a love that won’t be returned and can no longer suppress the feeling of “wanting to be loved,” this is a song that stays close to that helpless pain.