A tear-jerking love song. A love song that stays close to a hurting heart.
Love isn’t always fun, is it?
You might mustered up the courage to confess your feelings only to be rejected, be led on and strung along, or realize from the start it was a love that could never come true… Chances are, you too have experienced a painful love.
In this article, we introduce tear-jerking love songs that sing about that kind of heartbreak.
If you’re hurting right now, why not try finding a song that stays close to your feelings?
Listening to songs about the same situation might help you find clues for facing that love.
Tear-jerking love songs. Love songs that comfort a hurting heart (1–10)
It doesn’t reach.NEW!Saucy Dog
A song by Saucy Dog included on their third mini-album “Blue Period,” released in October 2019.
As the title suggests, it’s a poignant number that portrays the frustration of feelings and words that don’t reach the other person.
Vocalist Shinya Ishihara’s soft yet aching voice pierces deep into the heart.
The lyrics gently scoop up clumsy emotions like a sense of loss and lingering attachment, evoking a pain that everyone has experienced.
It’s a song that quietly stays by your side on nights when you suddenly remember a past love and want to shed silent tears.
non-lie heartNEW!Tani Yuuki
A piece that conveys with painful clarity the confusion and anger after discovering the other person’s betrayal, and the feelings left with nowhere to go.
The helpless frustration and emptiness that surge in the moment when what you believed in crumbles come crashing in, and listening makes your chest tighten.
This song by Tani Yuuki is included on the album “Memories,” which was released in December 2021.
The expressions, which lay bare the sharp pain of heartbreak that can’t be glossed over, pierce the heart.
It’s recommended for those deeply hurt by a partner’s lies and struggling because they don’t know what to do with the honest feelings left inside them.
Listen to this work and try letting out all those pent-up, directionless emotions.
SAD SONGNEW!chanmina
Even though you’re supposed to be on top of the world, you find yourself imagining the day it all ends, and your chest tightens… This is a song by Chanmina that gently embraces that contradictory feeling.
Originally a hidden bonus track included only on the first-press limited edition of the 2019 album “Never Grow Up,” it became a major talking point after being performed during the final round of an audition in January 2025.
Its melody, packed with the bittersweet ache of happiness that can’t last forever, seeps deep into your heart over a smooth blend of hip-hop and R&B.
When the everyday moments you share with someone precious feel so dear they bring you to the verge of tears, this is the song to play.
Until we meet againNEW!Hirai Dai
A heart-wrenching, bittersweet ballad that captures parting and new beginnings in spring.
Sung by Dai Hirai, the song conveys deep gratitude for having met and the resolve to walk separate paths from here on.
The cherished days spent together and the casual wave of a hand come vividly to mind, filling you with an unbearable sadness.
Released in February 2015, it is also included on the classic album “Slow & Easy.” In February 2025, it was performed on a popular YouTube channel, drawing wide attention.
When you find yourself walking a different path from someone dear, his warm voice will gently stay by your sorrow.
dead endNEW!Hoshino Gen
How do we face those aching, homeless emotions and the memories of our past? This is a love ballad woven with nothing but piano and voice, one that pierces the heart with exquisite pain.
Written as the theme song for the film “Hiraba no Tsuki” and released in November 2025, it was created by Gen Hoshino not from his own experiences but in close dialogue with the film’s story, adopting a first-person narrator.
It’s a song I recommend for times when you’re tormented by regret over a past you can never return to, or for quiet nights when you want to shed tears thinking of someone.
In the pared-back spaces between the sounds, unplaceable feelings overflow, and the more you listen, the more it moves you to tears.
Even while carrying an unbearable sadness, it gently embraces the hearts of those who are trying to look forward.
LiarNEW!manaka
A song by singer-songwriter Manaka that portrays the tug-of-war between an unbreakable attachment and the knowledge that you have to let go.
It’s a heartbreak song that powerfully conveys the anguish just before accepting a breakup.
The emotions pierce your heart—not only blaming the other person, but also confronting your own weakness in trying to gloss things over.
Released as a single in May 2025, the track’s lyrics and composition were both done by Manaka herself.
Its ’80s-style rock sound, tinged with nostalgia, and its familiar, catchy melody further heighten the emotion.
For those who want to end a relationship where you hurt each other yet still can’t help thinking of the other person, this song stands beside you in a painful reality and lets you shed the tears you need to move forward.
Goodbye, my loverNEW!Koresawa
This is a love ballad that sings of heart-wrenching heartbreak triggered by everyday, ordinary moments.
It’s performed by Koresawa, known for her ability to convey raw emotions.
Released in November 2022, the song was later included on the April 2023 album “Kawaiku Shinagara Matteru ne.” It was also selected as the ending theme for Fuji TV’s music program “Lovemusic” for December 2022.
When you still love someone but have to choose to part ways, even the sight of the sunset on your way home can bring you to tears.
The sorrow of joyful memories and future promises fading away resonates alongside her gentle vocals.
I especially recommend it to those who had to break up without being able to stop loving, and are suffering because of it.