A love song that sings about messy, muddled feelings
There are plenty of themes in love songs—unrequited love, mutual love, heartbreak, and more.
In this article, we’ll be introducing love songs that are a bit unusual: tracks that sing about messy, tangled emotions.
These “messy songs” depict a range of scenes, from feelings for someone you can’t forget, to emotions for someone you can’t bring yourself to hate even though you know they’re deceiving you, to twisted affections where love has turned into hatred.
These are carefully selected, intense love songs we especially want people to hear if they’re feeling distrust toward their partner or can’t let go and keep dragging their feelings along.
- [Menhera & Yandere] A love song so single-minded it makes you sick
- [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
- [Unrequited Love] Heart-wrenching Love Songs | A Roundup of Tear-Inducing Crush and Breakup Tracks
- [An Adulterous Love] A love song about a secret affair you can't tell anyone about
- [Love Songs] Say Goodbye to Uncertain Feelings! Love Songs to Listen to When You’re Not Sure If You Like Someone
- Songs About Age-Gap Love: A Curated Selection of Exquisite Love Songs
- [Jealousy & Possessiveness Songs] A curated selection of popular tracks to listen to when possessiveness feels overwhelming!
- Unrequited love songs that strike a man's heart. Love songs from a male perspective that really hit home.
- Bittersweet love songs to listen to when the person you like already has a girlfriend or boyfriend
- Songs that depict a teasing, suggestive attitude | Love songs to listen to when you're in unrequited love or a painful relationship
- [Cheating Song] A forbidden love that crossed the line — infidelity song
- Songs to give to your lover or someone you like. Love songs devoted wholeheartedly to your boyfriend or girlfriend.
A love song about messy, muddled feelings (1–10)
Cinderella BoySaucy Dog
A song that portrays complex romantic feelings, and the first one for which Saucy Dog’s vocalist, Shinya Ishihara, wrote lyrics from a woman’s perspective.
It offers comfort to those who love someone but aren’t rewarded for it.
Included on the mini-album “Lazy Sunday,” released in August 2021, this track later helped lead to the band’s appearance on the NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen.
While you sink into the sadness of heartbreak, you may also find yourself encouraged, as if receiving a gentle push forward.
The guitar’s soft melody and the emotive vocals compellingly convey the intricacies of the psyche.
A masterpiece I’d recommend to anyone harboring complicated feelings of love.
MOANSukekiyo
A song by sukekiyo, the solo project of Kyo from the rock band DIR EN GREY.
It’s a track that fuses a catchy, Showa-era-tinged kayōkyoku vibe with a rhythmic rock sound, and once you hear it, it’s addictively unforgettable.
Written from a female perspective, it presents a worldview twisted once, twice over—hardly befitting the peaceful word “mama.” How about letting yourself get drunk on its hefty sound that blows away the darkness and weight—precisely because you’re caught up in a love that’s anything but straightforward?
I bear a grudge.Nakajima Miyuki
A gem of a love song woven by Miyuki Nakajima, imbued with the pain and anger of heartbreak.
It was included on the remastered album “Ikite Itemo Ii Desu ka (Remaster)” released in March 2018.
More than a mere lament, its powerful message—laced with criticism of society—strikes a chord.
It portrays the complex emotions of a betrayed woman and grips the listener’s heart.
Highly recommended for anyone carrying the scars of a breakup or clinging to feelings they can’t let go of.
Each listen reveals something new, making it perfect for when you want to share raw, tangled emotions.
Love songs singing messy, tangled feelings (11–20)
mentally unstable personMioyamazaki
A track included on Mio Yamazaki’s 2015 album “Otona ga Dame tte Itta Yatsu” (“The Things Adults Said Were Bad”).
It’s packed with the pain of a woman who is overwhelmed by an all-too-intense love and longs for someone to understand her “off-the-rails” self, as well as her wish for the person she loves to accept it.
With its hard rock sound and near-shouted vocals, it’s perfect for immersing yourself and letting your emotions loose.
If you’re in a turbulent kind of romance, this messy, muddled song is likely to have at least a few parts you can relate to.
CountdownCocco
A stunning debut where music and passion collide.
Cocco’s “Countdown” is like a flood of fierce emotions surging up from the depths of the heart.
Released in May 1997, this song vividly captures the delicate nuances of a complicated love affair.
The clash between anger toward a cheating partner and a love that refuses to fade is a raw, messy portrait of romance.
Its overwhelming vocal power and expressive force seize the listener and never let go.
Twenty years later, in March 2017, it finally made its first TV appearance, and its impact remained undiminished, leaving a lasting mark on many hearts.
It’s a song that resonates deeply with anyone nursing heartbreak or struggling with a complicated relationship.
prostitutionjoōbachi
Prostitute by Queen Bee, a four-piece band with a unique worldview, stands out for its melodies and lyrics that evoke a sense of forbidden allure and bittersweetness.
The vocals capture the complex emotions of both men and women, creating a song that makes you feel love and pain at the same time.
Though the song unfolds like a dialogue between a man and a woman, it’s actually sung entirely by vocalist Avu—an impressive display of vocal prowess.
This dangerous-scented love song is one we want people in non-permanent, complicated relationships to hear.
ComplicityKankaku Pierrot
A track that exudes a chest-tightening sense of heartbreak.
Its lyrics pour in the murky emotions of love, vividly expressing both devotion to a beloved and the pain of betrayal.
Released by Kankaku Piero in February 2022, this song captivates listeners with its distinctive lyrical world and resonant melody.
It’s a highly relatable piece that stands beside those troubled by love or suffering from heartbreak.
Many will surely find solace in lyrics that feel as if they’re speaking on their behalf.