[Songs About Loving Yet Parting] Love songs for those who want to overcome heartbreak
“We loved each other, but we broke up…
We had no choice but to part.”
This is a collection of love songs for those who’ve gone through that kind of painful breakup.
If you split because you both fell out of love, you can simply move on to the next relationship.
But it’s different when only one person’s feelings faded, isn’t it?
You probably can’t bring yourself to hate them, and you’re still tormented by the feelings you have.
In this article, we introduce heartbreaking love songs that portray a variety of perspectives and complex emotions: the feelings of the one who initiated the breakup, the one who was broken up with, and even the bittersweet sentiment of mutually choosing to part while still having lingering attachment.
Please give them a listen when things feel tough.
- A Tearful Farewell Song: A Love Song About Parting with Someone You Love
- [Unattainable Love] A love song about two people who feel the same way but can’t be together
- Farewell Songs: Tracks that sing various kinds of “goodbyes”
- [Unrequited Love] Heart-wrenching Love Songs | A Roundup of Tear-Inducing Crush and Breakup Tracks
- “I Want to See You”: A love song that makes you cry when you listen to it while you can’t meet
- [Love Songs] Say Goodbye to Uncertain Feelings! Love Songs to Listen to When You’re Not Sure If You Like Someone
- Farewell Song: A goodbye song. A tearful parting song.
- My heart aches with bittersweet pain! Breakup songs I’d recommend to Gen Z
- [Adultery Song] A forbidden song about an affair that sings of an impossible love
- A song that feels refreshing after a breakup. A love song to listen to when you want to move on.
- [Jealousy & Possessiveness Songs] A curated selection of popular tracks to listen to when possessiveness feels overwhelming!
- [Once More…] A lingering-attachment song: a song about a love you can’t forget
- A tear-jerking love song that gently stays by your heart
[Songs About Loving But Breaking Up] Love Songs for You Who Want to Overcome Heartbreak (71–80)
The strong and fleeting onesCocco
This song portrays a poignant love that sets out on a difficult journey to build something precious for a beloved, only to be confronted with the reality of betrayal.
It depicts, with striking clarity, both the strength to fight for love and the fragility and weakness inherent in being human, while Cocco’s translucent voice resonates deeply.
Released in November 1997, it was featured as the theme song for JAL’s Hawaii campaign commercial.
It’s a piece that offers solace to those who resonate with the turmoil between wanting to protect someone dear and facing an unyielding reality, as well as to those struggling with unrequited love.
Loving you isn’t enough.DREAMS COME TRUE
In love, the feeling of “liking” someone is essential.
However, that alone doesn’t always make things work.
DREAMS COME TRUE’s 2001 release “Suki Dake ja Dame Nanda” (“Liking You Isn’t Enough”) is a song about a woman who, being so absorbed in someone, becomes worn out by a painful romance.
Even if your heart flutters for a wonderful person and you’re certain, “This must be love,” if you can’t trust them or feel safe when you’re together, you’re the one who ends up hurting.
Sometimes things fail precisely because you like them too much.
It’s a song that captures the difficulty of love.
Romance and LoveSandaime Jē Sōru Burazāzu fromu Eguzairu Toraibu
A gem of a ballad by Sandaime J SOUL Brothers from EXILE TRIBE, told from a male perspective about the resolve to part ways.
Included on the album “FUTURE,” released in June 2018, the song was also used as the theme for Nippon TV’s “Sukkiri” and in commercials for the job site Baitoru NEXT.
It portrays the adult, heartrending choice of parting ways because of the difficulty in moving from infatuation to true love, and the feeling that one cannot make the other person happy.
Even though his feelings haven’t faded—in fact, precisely because he cares—he chooses to leave, and his emotions resonate deeply.
A beautiful piano- and strings-driven melody is layered with the heartfelt vocals of Ryuji Imaichi and Hiroomi Tosaka, moving listeners to tears.
It’s a piece that offers comfort to anyone who has experienced parting from someone dear.
[Songs About Loving But Parting] Love songs for you who want to overcome heartbreak (81–90)
wedgeOku Hanako
Some of you may still find it hard to forget your ex even though some time has passed since your heartbreak.
If that’s you, I recommend listening to “Kusabi.” This song was released by Hanako Oku to mark her 10th anniversary.
Told from the perspective of a woman looking back on happy days with a partner she loved, it portrays a couple who parted ways despite still loving each other.
It’s a great listen when you feel like reminiscing a little.
Both the streaming version and the stripped-down solo performance are highly recommended!
Even love songs have their eras.This is LAST
This song portrays a bittersweet heart that can’t stop thinking about the other person, even as a sense of an impending breakup sets in.
The lyrics, emblematic of modern views on love, pierce the heart.
Hiding phone screens, seeing each other less—these subtle details delicately depict a relationship growing cold.
The pure plea of “Please stay by my side” is painfully earnest.
It’s a track for those who chose to part ways yet still suffer because they’re in love.
You’ll surely find something to relate to.
just a littleIgarashi Haru
A song whose heartrending, soul-stirring vocals move every listener.
With delicate wording, it weaves a poignant love swayed by the whims of fate—encounters that come at the wrong time.
Haru Igarashi is a singer-songwriter with the unusual background of being a former police officer.
Released in March 2024, this work has drawn major attention, topping the Billboard JAPAN Heatseekers Songs chart for two consecutive weeks.
The line about pretending to like what the other person likes just to stay by their side is so earnest it tightens the chest.
The Last KissOku Hanako
Sometimes couples break up because of a minor argument or a small misunderstanding.
Even though they still care about each other deep down, they end up putting on a stubborn front or getting scared, and choose to part ways.
The song “Last Kiss” expresses the lingering feelings for someone you’ve said goodbye to in that way.
It’s a track released in 2017 by singer-songwriter Hanako Oku.
The protagonist realizes, “There’s no one for me but that person,” and is filled with the desire to say, “I want to see you once more.”