A classic song about a forbidden love
Adultery dramas we often see in dramas, movies, and TV talk shows—the love that can never come true.
We’ve gathered songs about these “forbidden loves.” There are many beautifully portrayed dramas that make your heart race, but what if you yourself were to fall into a love that isn’t allowed…? Here, we’ll introduce plenty of songs that capture the bittersweet feelings of such forbidden love.
From songs told from a woman’s perspective to those from a man’s point of view, there are more tracks about forbidden love than you might think.
Perhaps that’s because many people are secretly suffering over a love that shouldn’t be….
- [Songs of Infidelity] A collection of forbidden love songs about unattainable romance
- [Cheating Song] A forbidden love that crossed the line — infidelity song
- A song of forbidden love. A love song about feelings that can't be stopped.
- [Unattainable Love] A love song about two people who feel the same way but can’t be together
- Unattainable Love: A Heartbreaking Love Song About Falling for a Married Person
- [Empathetic & Tear-Jerking] A love song about an unrequited romance
- [An Adulterous Love] A love song about a secret affair you can't tell anyone about
- A song of forbidden love. A heartrending, sorrowful love song.
- [Unrequited Love] Heart-wrenching Love Songs | A Roundup of Tear-Inducing Crush and Breakup Tracks
- Favorite Songs for Women in Their 50s: A Curated Selection of Sweet and Bittersweet Love Ballads!
- [Jealousy & Possessiveness Songs] A curated selection of popular tracks to listen to when possessiveness feels overwhelming!
- A roundup of love songs themed around homosexuality and LGBTQ+
- “I Want to See You”: A love song that makes you cry when you listen to it while you can’t meet
Masterpieces about forbidden love (11–20)
I like indigo.NEW!indigo la End
This song portrays the frustration of being stuck in an ambiguous relationship, unable to get closer or farther apart.
The nocturnal atmosphere that seems to conjure vivid scenes—crafted by Enon Kawatani—and the supple band ensemble beautifully color the aching feelings of love.
Released digitally in advance in May 2016 and included the following month as the opening track of indigo la End’s album “Aiiro Music,” it expresses not a dramatic confession or ending, but those inexplicable emotions that linger right beside everyday life.
It may resonate with those harboring a secret love they can’t tell anyone about, or those troubled by an unattainable romance.
That’s not fair.NEW!Ochiai Wataru
Even knowing it won’t be reciprocated, you’re drawn to those gentle hands and that soft voice, unable to walk away…
This song vividly portrays the emotional turmoil of being trapped in such an ambiguous relationship.
Sung by Wataru Ochiai, a singer-songwriter from Osaka, it’s a track overflowing with heartache.
Released in May 2021, it’s known as one of his signature works, alongside albums like “Nonfiction,” where he has expressed a down-to-earth view of love.
The weakness and jealousy of clinging to someone even while realizing you’re being treated as a convenient option come through raw and real over an acoustic sound.
A ballad for anyone who can’t break free from a painful, forbidden love they want to end but can’t.
A Kiss of Affected SplendorNEW!shallm
A song you’ll want to listen to on nights when you’re tormented by relationships that can’t be smoothed over with pretty words and emotions you can’t show anyone.
Set to a thrilling arrangement that fuses jazz and rock, it portrays the true feelings behind superficial words and the aching emotions you long to say but can’t.
This track was released in July 2025 by shallm, who had put out the album “charme” in October 2024.
It was written as the opening theme for the Thursday drama “Love Prohibited.” Give it a listen when you’re lost in the fate of an unattainable love and wishing someone would quietly stay by your side.
lingering scentNEW!indoor cats.
Though the romance should be over, even when I swear to forget, the memories left behind keep holding me back.
This song captures the aching feeling of a presence that should be gone and the heart-clenching emotions that linger in the room like a scent.
indoor cats., a band rooted in R&B, weave a jazzy sound centered on piano and organ that quietly seeps into unresolved memories and the aftertaste of a forbidden love.
The track appears on their first album, “Hodokenai Blue,” released in March 2024.
It’s sure to gently accompany those who are struggling with a love they just can’t cut off, and those who, late at night, hold feelings they can’t tell anyone.
From the season that feels like it will freezeNEW!Aimer
A winter song by Aimer that sings of a poignant heart trapped in an irreversible flow of time amid an icy cold.
Released in February 2017, it was chosen as the opening theme for the TV drama “Love Theft, Winter,” whose love-and-hate twists drew much attention.
An extended version was later included on her best album “BEST SELECTION ‘noir,’” and this work stands as a symbol of the darker side of her discography that carves deeply into the emotions.
Even knowing it won’t be rewarded, one cannot sever the obsession and lingering attachment that continue to burn deep inside.
It’s a quiet companion for those who bear the pain of a secret love they cannot tell anyone about.
In loveNEW!HY
A jewel-like ballad that gives you the courage to take one step forward from the depths of sorrow at the end of a secret love you can’t tell anyone about.
HY, a band from Okinawa, wrote it as the theme song for the film “366 Days,” released in January 2025.
The track was released in December 2024 and is also included on the album “TIME,” which came out in January 2025.
Created as an answer song 16 years after the masterpiece “366 Days,” which etched the pain of unrequited love, this work features beautiful male and female harmonies that resonate together, gently affirming that even deeply wounding experiences have meaning.
It’s a song that will likely resonate with those who, while carrying the memories of a love that brought no reward, are trying to face forward and start walking again.
Masterpieces about forbidden love (21–30)
C.O.S.M.O.S. ~Cosmos (Autumn Cherry Blossoms)~Sandaime Jē Sōru Burazāzu fromu Eguzairu Toraibu
A cool song that likens cosmos flowers, which bloom only briefly in autumn, to a forbidden love.
Sandaime J SOUL BROTHERS from EXILE TRIBE—commonly known as Sandaime—usually deliver upbeat dance numbers, but this track reveals a different side of them.
The lyrics about two people who were never meant to meet yet do are beautiful in a way that doesn’t sink into mere sadness.