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.
- [An Adulterous Love] A love song about a secret affair you can't tell anyone about
- [Adultery Song] A forbidden song about an affair that sings of an impossible love
- A classic song about a forbidden love
- 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
- [Cheating Song] A forbidden love that crossed the line — infidelity song
- "A Love Song I Can't Tell Anyone" — a love song you can relate to when times are tough
- [Empathetic & Tear-Jerking] A love song about an unrequited romance
- A tear-jerking love song. A love song that stays close to a hurting heart.
- “I Want to See You”: A love song that makes you cry when you listen to it while you can’t meet
- [Unrequited Love] Heart-wrenching Love Songs | A Roundup of Tear-Inducing Crush and Breakup Tracks
- Masterpieces of bittersweet unrequited love songs. Recommended popular tracks.
- [2026] Japanese love ballads of tragic romance: classic masterpieces of sad love songs
Songs of forbidden love. A heartrending, sad love song (1–10)
sunflowerSEKAI NO OWARI
The protagonist, who had been living in a dark world, ends up meeting “you,” someone dazzling like the sun—the beginning of a forbidden love as sung by SEKAI NO OWARI.
Listening to this song, you can feel that bittersweet thrill of knowing the person is off-limits, yet realizing thanks to them your world is starting to gain color.
Maybe it’s precisely because the melody is light and pop that it tightens your chest even more.
This track is included on the acclaimed album “Lip,” which topped the Oricon charts in February 2019.
It’s a song that gently stays with you in that helpless rush of feelings at the moment you fall in love, even when you know it won’t be returned.
pink bloodnarumiya
Released in September 2025, this song uses the folktale Momotaro as its motif to depict a “forbidden love” that can never be fulfilled.
The band ensemble carries a gently nostalgic feel that’s truly lovely and draws you in.
It’s an emotional rock tune marked by a poignant story of two people drawn to each other despite being destined to be enemies.
I think it will especially resonate with younger listeners!
passing by each otherSoala
Overwhelming love can, without us noticing, turn into invisible chains that bind the other person.
Soala conveys this painful mismatch with a heartrending voice.
It leaves you with a helpless feeling—the ironic reality that actions and affection meant for the best can end up closing the curtain on a relationship.
Released in July 2023, the song resonated with many, surpassing 20 million views on TikTok within six months.
It pierces deeply into the hearts of those who worry that their love might be a burden to the other.
The regret of not finding an answer to what you should have done—it’s truly heartbreaking.
I can’t sayiri
This song poignantly expresses feelings that have been quietly harbored in the heart.
The lyrics, woven in a calm, narrative tone, let the frustration of emotions that cannot be conveyed seep through.
The protagonist’s inability to accept reality is further highlighted by the softly tinted sound.
Released by iri in November 2020, the track is included on the album “Sparkle.” When you’re troubled by a love you can’t tell anyone about, this song will stay close to those feelings and gently resonate with the “words” hidden deep in your heart.
Above the setting sunKawasaki Takaya
A poignant love song by Takaya Kawasaki that strikingly portrays a person who appears calm and quiet yet harbors passionate feelings deep inside.
Released in July 2024 as the ending theme for the TV Tokyo drama “Hidamari ga Kikoeru,” the song delicately weaves in imagery of wind, scents, and scenery to express unspoken feelings and the ache of missed connections.
It’s a recommended track for anyone who carries a faint crush yet struggles to put it into words, or for those who wish to look back on the dramatic, bittersweet trajectory of a romance.
I can’t bring myself to hate (you/it).ren
A singer-songwriter representing Gen Z, Ren, sings a song about an unattainable love.
Released in September 2021 as their first original work, it portrays a painful level of fixation—unable to sever the heart even after being betrayed.
Even knowing it’s a lie, clinging to the slightest kindness conveys a desperate feeling that makes you lose yourself.
You know you’ll never be together, yet you can’t walk away on your own.
Haven’t you ever put on a brave face to cover up those feelings that have nowhere to go?
ElegyHirai Ken
This is a masterpiece whose poignant love story, told from a woman’s perspective, resonates in the rich vocals of Ken Hirai.
It delicately portrays the feelings of a woman consumed by love, expressing the intense emotions of fixation on her partner and a fierce willingness to embrace even the pain of love.
Released in January 2007 as the theme song for Toho’s film Love’s Crucible, it was also included on the album FAKIN’ POP and performed at the 58th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen.
In 2021, it was covered by Fuyumi Sakamoto on her album Love Emotion, continuing to influence many artists.
It’s a song to listen to on nights after heartbreak or when you’re suffering from thoughts of someone you love.