Bittersweet love songs to listen to when the person you like already has a girlfriend or boyfriend

someone I likeUeno Yūka

Yuka Ueno “Suki na Hito” Music Video

It’s a dream team: Hanako Oku, the best at writing heartrending ballads, paired with Yuka Ueno, a top-tier singer of them.

The lyrics focus solely on one point—falling for a friend’s boyfriend.

For some reason, the tears just start flowing naturally.

It’s a song I recommend when you’re reminded of how complicated the human heart can be.

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Ozaki Shunji

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camouflageFujita Maiko

camouflage

Here’s a profoundly heartrending tearjerker by singer-songwriter Maiko Fujita from Nagoya: “Camouflage.” The love songs that Fujita writes and composes have a way of making your heart ache a little, no matter which angle you listen from—whether you’re the one who loves or the one being loved.

This track, too, paints a picture of a love triangle, but in the end it’s the protagonist who’s left alone.

Even from the position of “the person I like already likes someone else…,” the protagonist steadfastly protects her own feelings—just that could carry a whole movie.

I’m sure anyone in the same situation will be moved to tears!

scumbag man and stupid womanDomura Riu

Scumbag Man and Idiot Woman – Riu Domura (Official Audio) Prod. Misty Melody

This track, included on Riu Domura’s album Irregular Diary released in April 2024, resonated with younger listeners and became a major topic on social media.

It portrays a relationship between a man who whispers the lie “I love you” solely to be showered with money, and a woman who falls for him and loses sight of true happiness.

The lyrics are written entirely from the man’s perspective, making you think, “What awful lyrics…,” but in the end the narrator shifts and delivers the message, “Don’t get caught by a guy like this.” Featuring a bad man who controls for money, the song gives you the courage to break free from a distorted relationship.

AloneMayo Okamoto

Mayo Okamoto — alone

A gently woven ballad that carries hidden feelings along with a piano melody.

Released by Mayo Okamoto in November 1996, this song portrays the heartrending emotions of a woman whose boyfriend is taken by her close friend.

Though she puts on a brave face and smiles for those around her, she continues to carry loneliness in her heart.

The pain she feels upon glimpsing the couple by chance on a station platform, and her yearning not for sympathy but for true love, are expressed with delicate nuance.

This piece is a long-cherished ballad she had nurtured since before her debut.

It’s a song that quietly stays by the side of anyone trying to look forward while bearing the pain of heartbreak.

worst; minimum; the lowest; awfulren

Ren – The Worst (Music Video)

Carried by a piano melody where poignancy and fragility melt together, Ren’s translucent voice resonates throughout.

Portraying the anguish and heartache of a protagonist who can’t forget their feelings even while their lover keeps secrets, this work lays bare the inability to say anything to someone who’s crying, as well as the anxieties and frustrations lodged in both hearts.

Released in October 2022, it sparked major buzz, with a short video set against Tokyo’s night skyline—posted on social media—surpassing one million views.

With lyrics and a melody that speak to Gen Z, this song gently embraces listeners struggling with impossible love, such as affairs or unrequited feelings.

just a littleIgarashi Haru

Haru Igarashi – A Little (Official Music Video)

A song whose heartrending, soul-stirring vocals move every listener.

With delicate wording, it weaves a poignant love swayed by the whims of fate—encounters that come at the wrong time.

Haru Igarashi is a singer-songwriter with the unusual background of being a former police officer.

Released in March 2024, this work has drawn major attention, topping the Billboard JAPAN Heatseekers Songs chart for two consecutive weeks.

The line about pretending to like what the other person likes just to stay by their side is so earnest it tightens the chest.

I became someone else’s girlfriend.wacci

wacci “I Became Someone Else’s Girlfriend” Music Video

This song, “I Became Someone Else’s Girlfriend,” grabs your attention from the title alone.

It’s a love song written from the perspective of a woman who’s found a new boyfriend, addressed to her ex.

She brags about her current boyfriend, but she does so by comparing him with her ex, and you can really feel how strong her feelings and lingering attachment to the ex still are.

It makes you want to shout, “If you like him that much, why get a new boyfriend?!” But mixed in is the wish that her ex will quickly find a new girlfriend too, so she can finally cut off those lingering feelings.

Love really is complicated, isn’t it?

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utatane

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