43 Songs About Missing Someone You Love & Want Back

We’ve all been there, missing someone isn’t easy. It could be a friend, a family member or even a significant other.

Whatever the case, here are the best songs about missing someone, many of which you'll likely be able to relate to.

“Wish You Were Here” by Avril Lavigne

Song year: 2011

Sometimes, you find someone you truly feel like you can be yourself around.

And, the things they say can leave you ruminating on them endlessly.

Whether you’ve just broken up with someone, or things are a little uncertain right now, “Wish You Were Here” by Avril Lavigne is a good song to play.

These lyrics are particularly heartfelt:

“All those crazy things we did/Didn’t think about it, just went with it/You’re always there, you’re everywhere/But right now I wish you were here.”

“Tonight I Wanna Cry” by Keith Urban

Song year: 2004

When your significant other chooses to walk away from the relationship.

How do you feel?

What would you do?

Many would likely do as the narrator did in this song:

“Alone in this house again tonight/I got the TV on, the sound turned down and a bottle of wine/There’s pictures of you and I on the walls around me/The way that it was and could have been surrounds me/I’ll never get over you walkin’ away.”

A great song about lost love.

“Hurt” by Christina Aguilera

Song year: 2006

Aguilera’s last words to her father were reportedly harsh.

That gives us context for this slow piano ballad.

Knowing that you’ve hurt someone close to you can already be shocking.

To learn that they’ve passed away before you could express your true feelings and let them know that you love them – that’s devastating.

“I would hold you in my arms/I would take the pain away/Thank you for all you’ve done/Forgive all your mistakes/There’s nothing I wouldn’t do/To hear your voice again/Sometimes I wanna call you/But I know you won’t be there.”

“Better Together” by Jack Johnson

Song year: 2005

A lot of things can change when you break up with your significant other.

It can leave you feeling like things were better when you still had them by your side.

Life is meant to be shared, and when you don’t have someone to share it with, it reminds you of a time when you were together.

“Better Together” by Jack Johnson couldn’t have said it better:

“But there is not enough time/And there is no, no song I could sing/And there is no combination of words I could say/But I will still tell you one thing/We’re better together.”

“Miss You Like Crazy” by Natalie Cole

Song year: 1989

Sometimes you’re not sure whether you truly love someone.

But there can come a time when you can no longer deny it.

“Miss You Like Crazy” by Natalie Cole says it well:

“I miss you like crazy, I miss you like crazy/Ever since you went away, every hour of every day/I miss you like crazy, I miss you like crazy/No matter what I say or do, there’s just no getting over you.”

When you realize you’ve found a “keeper”, sometimes it’s too late.

You’re still allowed to miss them though.

“Here Without You” by 3 Doors Down

Song year: 2002

When you’re in a relationship, it can feel like a dream.

When that dream suddenly comes to an end, you can’t help but look back on what happened and wonder what could’ve been.

“Here Without You” by 3 Doors Down is about missing someone so badly that you long to see them again, even if it’s just in your dreams:

“I’m here without you baby/But you’re still on my lonely mind/I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time/I’m here without you baby/But you’re still with me in my dreams/And tonight girl, it’s only you and me.”

“Far Away” by Nickelback

Song year: 2005

Sometimes, we make people wait.

It could be for a variety of reasons.

Maybe we’re scared.

Maybe we don’t feel like we’re ready.

Maybe our work involves travel.

Unfortunately, if you keep someone waiting, there’s no guarantee they’ll keep waiting for you.

They might move on and find someone else.

“Far Away” is a song about loving someone so much that you can’t believe you kept them waiting.

“That I love you I have loved you all along and I miss you/Been far away for far too long/I keep dreaming you’ll be with me and you’ll never go/Stop breathing if I don’t see you anymore.”

“Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd

Song year: 1975

“Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd can be taken in a variety of ways.

That is the beauty of a song.

One thing we can say for sure is that it’s a song about the contrast of life.

There are highs and lows.

There is good and bad.

There is right and wrong.

And, there is being with someone you love and missing someone you love.

In a romantic relationship, there typically are ebbs and flows.

Couples must overcome challenges to stay together, enduring through the thick and the thin.

Still, at the end of the day, if you find yourself saying “wish you were here”, then you’ve gotten the essence of this song.

Some things are just better together.

“The Bed’s Too Big Without You” by The Police

Song year: 1979

“The Bed’s Too Big Without You” by The Police is a heartbreaking song about letting someone go and trying to stay strong while doing it.

You realize, perhaps a little too late, that you wish they didn’t have to go.

The opening lines say it well:

“Bed’s too big without you/Cold wind blows right through that open door/I can’t sleep with your memory/Dreaming dreams of what used to be.”

When you want someone back and can’t shake that feeling, this is the song to put on.

“I Miss You” by Incubus

Song year: 1999

This is a simple song about missing someone.

“I Miss You” by Incubus is about finding someone so special, you can hardly even believe they were with you.

It’s about breaking up and having that feeling that you’re going to run into them somewhere down the line.

If you’re missing someone and can’t wait for them to come back, you’ve always got this tune.

“So Far Away” by Carole King

Song year: 1971

Distance in a relationship doesn’t just pertain to physical location.

It can also represent the emotional distance that exists between two people.

Things may not be how they used to be.

People move on and change, and you can’t connect the way you used to.

“So Far Away” by Carole King embodies this idea.

These words say it well:

“Long ago I reached for you and there you stood/Holding you again could only do me good/Oh how I wish I could but you’re so far away.”

A must study for anyone learning how to write a song.