![[Empathetic & Tear-Jerking] A love song about an unrequited romance](https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/h2D8jCewijo/maxresdefault.webp)
[Empathetic & Tear-Jerking] A love song about an unrequited romance
Even when you know it’s a hopeless love and your feelings won’t be returned, you still can’t stop your heart—it’s just impossible, isn’t it?
Your head says it might be no good, but your heart won’t follow so easily, and your feelings only grow stronger.
For you who feel this way, here are love songs that sing of the aching emotions of unrequited love—songs I want you to hear.
Some are from a woman’s perspective, some from a man’s, but whichever you listen to, your chest will surely tighten, and you may find yourself relating as if the song were about you.
Soothe the feelings you can’t tell anyone by listening to tracks from those in the same situation.
[Empathy & Tearjerker] Love Songs About Unrequited Love (1–10)
DropletNEW!Marushii
Even though I know it’s hopeless, I can’t help being drawn to you… This song, which sings of such a bittersweet love, is one of Marcy’s early signature love songs that garnered widespread empathy mainly on social media.
Released in November 2020, it was later included on the album “Memory.” The band’s sound, evoking the stillness of night, and vocalist Ukyo’s emotive, bleeding-through delivery squeeze the heart unbearably tight.
Portraying the pain of suddenly feeling the other person’s absence, this track gently stays close to anyone carrying unrequited feelings—desperate to see someone yet unable to do so.
HAPPY BIRTHDAYback number
Back number is a three-piece rock band beloved by younger generations for their sentimental, vividly evocative lyrics and a trademark falsetto that heightens the sense of longing.
Their 20th single, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY,” used as the theme song for the TV drama A Story to Read When You First Fall in Love, features a delicate ensemble highlighted by resonant acoustic guitar tones that feels wonderfully soothing.
The unadorned, down-to-earth words carry a persuasive power that many listeners can’t help but take personally.
It’s a love song anyone can relate to, with a superb title that likens the day you realize you’re in unrequited love to a birthday.
PretenderOfisharu Higedan Dism
Official HIGE DANDism is a four-piece piano pop band that draws listeners in with the depth and evolution of their sound every time they release a new song.
Their second single, “Pretender,” written as the theme song for the film The Confidence Man JP: The Romance, is known as the smash hit that cemented the band’s popularity.
Its story portrays the feeling of loving someone yet sensing that something is off even when you’re together—an experience that many who’ve felt the same will relate to.
With its wistful, lyrical melody that feels so pleasant, it’s a new-generation love ballad.
NAOHY
HY is a four-piece mixture band based in their local Okinawa, known for their expansive sound featuring male–female twin vocals.
NAO, included on their fourth album Confidence, is a ballad modeled after the best friend of Izumi Nakasone, who wrote the lyrics.
The story portrays a painful love in which feelings won’t fade even when you know they won’t be reciprocated—something that may leave many listeners feeling anger toward the indecisive man.
It’s a sentimental love song whose powerful vocals and gospel-like grandeur stir the heart.
one side; one of a pairNEW!eill
A quietly luminous, heart-wrenching ballad that captures the pain of an unattainable love.
It portrays fates that never intersect, missed connections, and warmth that lingers on only one side.
For those who carry love that won’t be returned in the same way, who feel lonely yet cannot stop their feelings, this song offers solace.
Included on eill’s November 2020 album LOVE/LIKE/HATE, the track was later chosen as the theme song for the drama The Night I Became a Beast: A Nameless Relationship.
Born at the piano on sleepless, anxious nights with tears overflowing, this piece carries that story within it.
It’s a song to hear on nights when the ambiguity of a relationship hurts and you just want to cry your heart out.
dramaNEW!wacci
A ballad that portrays the desperate effort to keep growing feelings of love hidden in order to remain “just friends.” It’s a song by the five-piece band wacci, known for delivering music that nestles into everyday scenes, released as a digital-only track in March 2021.
It expresses the familiar heartache of pretending not to like someone you love, using the metaphor of a theater stage.
Though you truly want to be the protagonist, you try to fulfill the supporting role you’ve been given…
It’s a song that gently stays close to those suffering from an unrequited love that won’t be rewarded.
I wonder if they have a boyfriend/girlfriend.NEW!PLUE
This piece portrays the struggle of being unable to give up your feelings even though you know the other person already has a partner.
While facing the reality that the one you love stands beside someone who suits them, a clumsy hope leaks through, quietly waiting for your own turn somewhere in your heart.
Knowing it won’t come true, yet being unable to suppress your love—this situation will likely resonate deeply with those experiencing unrequited love.
The gentle melodies of PLUE, a rock band from Nagoya, and the warm yet heartrending vocals of Masayuki Mizukawa embrace those timid emotions.
When you’re worn out from loving, why not surrender yourself to this song?