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)
Blueberry Nightsmakaroni enpitsu
A song by Macaroni Empitsu that sings about messy, tangled emotions.
Included on the album “hope,” this gem portrays the complex feelings after a breakup.
It poignantly expresses lingering attachment to a cooled romance and the reluctance to accept reality.
The depth of the lyrics, hidden within a pop sound, resonates powerfully with listeners.
The track also drew attention as the lead song from their 4th mini-album “LiKE,” released in February 2019, earning strong support especially among younger audiences.
It’s a must-listen for anyone carrying the pain of heartbreak or struggling with complicated romantic feelings.
Your Dissection Pure Love Song ~Die~aimyon
Aimyon’s debut single drew attention for its crazed expressions of love and provocative lyrics.
Centered on an extreme possessiveness toward a loved one, the song symbolically conveys the desire to make the other person belong to oneself alone.
Released in August 2015, it reached No.
10 on the Oricon Weekly Indies Chart.
Aimyon herself reportedly composed it in about ten minutes—a shocking debut.
While its striking lyrics stirred controversy in some quarters, they also evoked deep empathy.
It’s a perfect track for those struggling with complex romantic feelings or anyone who wants to experience a whirlwind of emotion through music.
a May flyRADWIMPS
A track characterized by a brooding, all-pervasive heaviness and lyrics steeped in anger and hatred.
Released in October 2013 as their 16th single, it became a hit, reaching No.
3 on the Oricon weekly chart.
The provocative expressions scattered throughout the song and the protagonist’s emotions swaying between forgiveness and hatred pierce deeply into the listener’s heart.
It’s a work that showcases the breadth of RADWIMPS’s musicality, perfect for times when you want to confront the complex emotions that lie deep within.
Stalker’s Song: 3rd Block, Your HouseAbe Mao
A song by Mao Abe that, despite its seemingly upbeat melody, hides a startling theme.
Included on the album “Su.”, this track candidly portrays the mindset of a person whose overpowering attachment drives them to stalking.
Coupled with Abe’s clear, transparent vocals, it brings the darker side of romantic feelings into sharp relief.
Released in June 2011, the song compels listeners to reflect on the boundary between love and obsession, leaving a powerful impression.
It’s a poignant love song especially worth hearing for those who can’t move on from heartbreak or who sense the shadows that can lurk in romance.
hyperventilationTOC
This is a single released in 2016 by hip-hop MC TOC, which also served as the theme song for the TV drama “The Screenwriter and the Female Detective.” It’s packed with the feelings of a protagonist being toyed with by a free-spirited woman, and just listening to it can make your heart ache.
Set to a catchy, cool sound, it expresses messy, tangled emotions.
If you’ve ever been at the mercy of a captivating person who slips away the moment you try to catch them, this track will likely hit home.
Re:setSEKAI NO OWARI
A track included on the 2019 album Eye, which also served as the image song for the PS4 game Catherine: Full Body.
The lyrics, filled with abstract and enigmatic words, and the heavy, machine-driven sound seem to depict the inside of the protagonist’s mind or dreams as they curl up in bed in despair, as well as the reality without “you.” It’s a song I recommend for those moments when you want to immerse yourself in a nightmare-like world, then break free and hit reset.
curseYamazaki Hako
Sung by Hako Yamasaki, this work is a song that expresses deep resentment and grudge.
Using the ancient Japanese curse of hammering a nail into a straw doll as its motif, it poignantly conveys the agony of love.
The lyrics, which candidly lay bare the dark emotions lurking in the depths of the heart, pierce deeply into the listener.
Included on the 1979 album “Ningen Magai,” this track remains one of Yamasaki’s signature works, loved by many fans to this day.
It’s especially recommended for those suffering from heartbreak or clinging to feelings they can’t let go.
It may even help begin the healing of emotional wounds.