Lovely love song

A song of forbidden love. A heartrending, sorrowful love song.

Deputy Editor of RAG MUSICSasashina
Deputy Editor of RAG MUSIC. JFC-certified fact-checker. I’m Sasashina, a mom currently raising an elementary schooler and a preschooler. During my student years at Kyoto College of Science and Technology, I studied a wide range of fields including sound, lighting, and video technology, building a foundation in comprehensive stage production and creative expression. After graduation, I joined a music production company, where I still work, consistently building experience in production and engaging in a variety of music-centered tasks. Currently, I mainly handle articles for children, drawing on what I’ve learned about parenting and what I feel and discover through daily interactions with my kids. I hope my work can be of help to you, even in a small way!

A forbidden love you can’t tell anyone about.

If you’re reading this article, perhaps you’re experiencing a similar kind of love.

If so, there are probably many painful moments.

I’ve gathered some songs I want you to hear.

They capture the pain of falling for someone who already has a lover or partner and feeling lost, or knowing it won’t come true yet being unable to give up.

When things are tough, try finding one song that stays close to your feelings.

Like when someone listens to you, it might make your heart feel just a little lighter.

A song of forbidden love. A heartrending, sorrowful love song (81–90)

Fall in LoveAkiko Kobayashi

Fall in Love - Koibito ni Ochite by Akiko Kobayashi

Fall in Love - Akiko Kobayashi

A song by Akiko Kobayashi that has been covered by many artists, including Hideaki Tokunaga.

It conveys the frustration of a forbidden love, torn between the impulse to rush out and meet someone right now and the guilty hesitation that holds you back.

It’s a track that resonates with the sorrow of not seeing what lies ahead and yet being unable to move forward on your own.

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Nevertheless, I want to do it.Ken Hirai

Ken Hirai 'Soredemo Shitai MUSIC VIDEO (YouTube ver.)'

Ken Hirai - Soredemo Shitai

“Soredemoshitai” is a song by Ken Hirai that humorously portrays a forbidden relationship between a man and a woman.

In real life, even if you have a crush or someone you like, relationships aren’t something you can just forcefully seize.

But this song is different.

It sings of a very greedy woman who tries to steal a man away, yet refuses to stop loving him—depicting a strong woman with a tenacious, never-give-up spirit.

In the chorus, she practically screams out her frustration, which, interestingly, comes across as almost masculine—making it a fascinating song.

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I wish I were the one you liked.My hands look like cream buns.

I wish I were the one you love / Hands Like Cream Bread (Wishing I’m her / tegacreampan) [Official Music Video]

I wish I were the one you liked—your hands are like cream bread buns.

Getting the person you like to like you back is really difficult, isn’t it? But wanting them to fall for you is something anyone in love feels.

That bittersweet, painful feeling in the chest is captured in Tegakuri-mupan’s “I Wish I Were the One You Like.” With its simple instrumentation and understated vocal delivery, the song overflows with the sorrow of unrequited love.

You truly want to confess your feelings and become mutual lovers, but the fear of it not going well makes you hesitate to take that first step…

Many people can probably relate to the dread of a future where love doesn’t come true, and to this situation where, despite that, you just can’t suppress your feelings.

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distress (at sea/in the mountains); being lost; stranded; a disaster situationTokyo Incidents

Tokyo Incidents – Distress

Distress — Tokyo Incidents

When it comes to Tokyo Jihen songs that depict forbidden love, “Sounan” (Distress) comes to mind.

It’s also popular for the unique world Shinji Ringo creates, but if you look at the lyrics, they convey feelings of utter helplessness—as if the lovers had committed double suicide.

Even so, you can’t stop how you feel, and in the sense of staying true to love, perhaps that really is what it means.

It’s hard to treat meeting the one you love as a true love story without sugarcoating it or lamenting it too much, but when you listen to this song, don’t you feel, “I don’t want to regret meeting my destined person”?

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LOVE (I want to hold you)Kenji Sawada

Sawada Kenji Love Dakishimetai

LOVE (I Want to Hold You) - Kenji Sawada

Julie’s bittersweet, grown-up love song.

From the very beginning, you can tell he’s dying to hold his lover tight.

A cheating song told from a man’s perspective is unusual.

It seems the woman has a family, while the man is single.

Even though she loves him, there’s someone who loves her even more, and that makes him incredibly lonely.

Since it would be bad if her affair were exposed, the man ultimately decides to step back.

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Dear…Kana Nishino

Kana Nishino 'Dear...(short ver.)'

Dear… Kana Nishino

This is a song by Kana Nishino that conveys the pain of bittersweet affection and unrequited love.

The melancholic piano sound evokes the feeling of softly murmuring one’s sorrow, and the expansive development of the music strikingly expresses emotions overflowing.

The lyrics, which capture the inner movements of the heart when burdened with feelings that won’t reach their destination or love that cannot be fulfilled, further emphasize the poignancy.

By also depicting the ideal of “what if these feelings had reached you,” the song renders the suffering even more vividly.

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Songs of forbidden love. A heartrending, sorrowful love song (91–100)

DearKana Nishino

Kana Nishino 'Dear...(short ver.)'

Dear Kana Nishino

Kana Nishino, who enjoys immense support from young women, seems to be winning over a slightly older audience with this song as well.

In the lyrics, you can vividly imagine the bittersweet scene of two people spending time in a love that cannot come true, within the limits of the time they have.

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