[Unattainable Love] A love song about two people who feel the same way but can’t be together

usmilet

milet 'us' MUSIC VIDEO (Theme song for the Nippon TV Wednesday drama 'Gisou Furin' [Fake Affair])

This song, “us,” sung by milet, was the theme song for the drama “Deception of Romance” starring Anne (An).

I’m sure many people first discovered milet through this track.

The song feels like it speaks for a woman who’s endlessly torn by a romance that’s “so close yet just out of reach—though maybe, just maybe, it could come true…?” It portrays an uncertain relationship—one not defined by spoken promises—yet that person means everything to her.

If you’ve ever been in love, those feelings are surely ones you can relate to.

I could never say I like you.fayray

Fayray – I Can’t Say I Love You

The feeling of falling for someone is very important, but a forbidden love is something that hurts many people.

This is a song by Fayray that sings of such bittersweet emotions.

When the honest desire to see the person you love ends up hurting someone, that’s a forbidden love.

Even if you were meant to meet by fate, the real pain of not being able to be together may be something only those who have experienced it can truly understand.

Released in February 2003, this song was used as the theme for the Yomiuri TV/Nippon TV drama “Message: Words Turn Against Us.” Written and composed by Fayray herself, it’s a track that fully showcases her delicate sensibility.

When Someone's Wish Comes TrueHikaru Utada

Hikaru Utada – When Someone's Wish Comes True

Beloved by a wide audience and a singer whose songs have touched countless hearts, Hikaru Utada.

The track “Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro” is a single released in 2004 that also served as the theme song for the film CASSHERN.

When it comes to unrequited love, this song is often mentioned; it has captured—and no doubt comforted—the hearts of many as a love song.

Even the title alone tightens the chest, and the lyrics and strings together heighten the sense of wistful melancholy in this piece.

MELROSE ~A Promise Not to Love~ATSUSHI

EXILE ATSUSHI / MELROSE ~A Promise Not to Love~

Songs about unrequited love and aching feelings are often written from a woman’s perspective, so there must be people who want to hear them from a man’s point of view.

This song, “MELROSE ~Aisanai Yakusoku~,” is a single released in 2012 by EXILE’s ATSUSHI that expresses a man’s feelings—unfulfilled wishes and emotions.

Even though their feelings reach each other, they can’t put them into words; it’s filled with that frustrating, helpless emotion.

It will surely resonate with men who are going through a similar kind of love.

Hello, Again ~A Place That’s Been Around Since Long Ago~My Little Lover

My Little Lover "Hello, Again ~A Place That’s Been There Since Long Ago~

Hello, Again ~A Place That’s Always Been~ is a signature song by My Little Lover, which now functions as vocalist akko’s solo project.

The track was released in 1995, back when the unit was still called “MY LITTLE LOVER,” as a single.

For those who remember its heyday or spent their youth with it, it’s also a popular karaoke staple.

The song portrays a love that never came to fruition—two people who were never bound together—and a romance that has become a past-tense memory.

without being noticedaiko

aiko - Cover so as not to be noticed

For anyone nursing an unrequited crush, this song, “Kizukarenai You ni,” is sure to stir up a poignant ache.

A champion of women in love, aiko included this track on her 2006 album Kanojo.

Told from a woman’s perspective, it’s a heart-wrenching number about a love that won’t come true and the brave face she puts on.

The way the two avoid looking each other in the eye as they talk—hiding their inner turmoil “so it won’t be noticed”—is a moment that makes you go, “Ah, I know that feeling.” It’s quintessential aiko, packing an overwhelming amount of bittersweet emotion into one song.

First LoveMasaharu Fukuyama

Masaharu Fukuyama – First Love (Full ver.)

Masaharu Fukuyama, who is active as both an actor and a singer, released the single “Hatsukoi” in 2009, and it was also used in a commercial.

Both the lyrics and melody are steeped in aching melancholy, evoking a mature kind of love.

The song portrays complex feelings toward someone you once loved or dated—now that both people have families or loved ones to protect, it doesn’t cross into an affair, yet the feelings remain.

That’s precisely why the title “First Love” feels so fitting.