10 Rock Songs About Wanting Someone You Can't Have

Feature Photo by Noah Silliman

Countless songs deal with wanting someone you can’t have. Sometimes the problem is distance, sometimes the feeling isn’t returned, and sometimes the relationship is impossible from the start. These ten songs approach that frustration from very different directions.

# 10 – I Want the One I Can’t Have – The Smiths

“I Want the One I Can’t Have” appears on The Smiths’ 1985 album Meat Is Murder. Written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr, the song puts the frustration of wanting someone unattainable right in the title and chorus. The Smiths produced the track, with Stephen Street engineering, while Marr’s bright guitar keeps the music moving against Morrissey’s obsessive lyric.

Read More: Our 10 Favorite Smiths Songs

# 9 – I Want You Around – The Ramones

“I Want You Around” became part of the 1979 Rock ‘n’ Roll High School soundtrack and fits perfectly with the Ramones’ simple, direct approach to romantic frustration. The song was written by Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, and Dee Dee Ramone and produced by Phil Spector. Its repeated plea for someone to stay close makes it one of the band’s clearest songs about wanting a relationship that may not be there.

# 8 – To Be with You – Mr. Big

“To Be with You” was released from Mr. Big’s 1991 album Lean into It and became the band’s biggest hit, spending three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Written by Eric Martin and David Grahame and produced by Kevin Elson, the acoustic ballad came from Martin’s experience of caring for someone who saw him only as a friend. That makes the song’s longing especially direct.

# 7 – Fade Away – Bruce Springsteen

“Fade Away” appeared on Bruce Springsteen’s 1980 double album The River and reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981. The song finds a man trying to hold on to a relationship after the woman he loves has already decided it is over. Springsteen, Jon Landau, and Steven Van Zandt produced the track, which turns the fear of becoming just another memory into its central emotion.

# 6 – Heartbeat – The Runaways

“Heartbeat” comes from The Runaways’ 1977 album Queens of Noise. The song was originally conceived by Lita Ford and Jackie Fox as a mock love song to Joey Ramone, which makes its story of a young musician longing for an older rock star a natural fit here. Cherie Currie ultimately handled the lead vocal, with the finished recording turning backstage infatuation into one of the album’s more melodic moments.

# 5 – I May Not Be Your Kind – Garland Jeffreys

“I May Not Be Your Kind” appears on Garland Jeffreys’ 1977 album Ghost Writer. Jeffreys wrote and produced the reggae-leaning song with David Spinozza and Roy Cicala; it addresses interracial romance and the possibility that others keep two people apart because they decide they don’t belong together. Ghost Writer reached No. 140 on the Billboard 200 and remains one of Jeffreys’ defining albums.

# 4 – Wedding Bell Blues – Laura Nyro

Laura Nyro wrote and recorded “Wedding Bell Blues” in 1966 for her debut album, More Than a New Discovery. The song is sung from the perspective of a woman who loves her boyfriend but cannot get him to make the commitment she wants, making marriage itself the thing just out of reach. Nyro’s original reached No. 103 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under chart, while The 5th Dimension took their 1969 cover to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Read More: Top 10 Laura Nyro Songs

# 3 – Love on the Phone – Suzanne Fellini

“Love on the Phone” was released in 1980 from Suzanne Fellini’s only studio album. Written by Fellini, David Sonenberg, and Jeff Waxman and produced by Steve Burgh, the song uses the telephone as the connection between two people who cannot be together physically. It reached No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Fellini her only charting single.

# 2 – Love the One You’re With – Stephen Stills

Stephen Stills released “Love the One You’re With” in 1970 as the lead single from his self-titled debut solo album, and it reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song turns the problem of being separated from the person you really want into a blunt piece of advice: stop waiting and appreciate whoever is actually there. Its title came from a phrase Stills heard from Billy Preston.

# 1 – Layla – Derek & the Dominos

“Layla” is the ultimate song about wanting someone you cannot have. Eric Clapton wrote it out of his unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, who at the time was married to his friend George Harrison, and recorded it with Derek & the Dominos for 1970’s Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Duane Allman’s slide guitar helped define the recording, while Jim Gordon co-wrote the song and composed its famous piano coda. The original version finally became a major U.S. hit in 1972, reaching No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.