Secret crushes are notorious for being a highschool phenomenon, however the tormenting feeling of untold or unrequited love spans every generation and era of life.
From songs about opening up about your hidden emotions, to tracks illustrating the pain of being unable to even talk to your crush, our playlist of songs about having a secret crush collects the best and covers it all.
Songs About Having A Secret Crush
1. Finding Hope – Crush On You
This lo-fi, Instagram-aesthetic track by Finding Hope is crafted as a love letter to a friend you’re hopelessly falling for.
Padded by a hypnotic synth soundscape, Finding Hope’s mumbled lyrics mirror the bashful inability to confidently speak your truth to a secret crush; “Overjoyed when I see you, baby, but when you’re leaving, I lose a piece too, ’cause it goes with you.”
2. The Teenagers – Secret Crush
This post-punk piece by The Teenagers is grounded in a captivating atmosphere; a plushly romantic distraction from the unnerving story that unfolds throughout their lyrics.
Secret Crush illustrates a teen boy’s unfulfilled dreams of simply being noticed by the girl he likes, its lyrics woven with a myriad of high-school references and unpolished teen thoughts;
“At the bus stop, in the mall, you don’t f****** see me, you just don’t … And it sucks, and it hurts, I want to f*** you, but I’m too shy to even tell you and I don’t know why.”
The Teenagers backlight their track with the creepy descent of a broken adolescent mind, highlighting the most disastrous effects of keeping a secret crush to no avail;
“I pretend running into you is a stroke of luck, or just fate, but I know where you go and when you go there, that’s what I do, and I spy on you, and in spite of me and all my efforts, you don’t fucking see me.”
3. Cigarettes After Sex – Crush
Cigarettes After Sex’s 2018 dream-pop release, Crush, imagines perfect moments with your crush soon to be shared after making the leap into emotional honesty.
This ambient, shoegaze-style track was made for secret lovers putting their friendship over all else whilst struggling to resist the fantasy of melting into each other’s arms;
“I wanna line my walls with photographs you sent of you lying in your swimsuit on the bed … Catch my heart, go swim, feel your lips crush, hold you here my loveliest friend.”
4. Alicia Keys – Teenage Love Affair
Alicia Keys’ R&B single, Teenage Love Affair, looks at secret high school crushes from a contrasting angle, her narrator adopting the role of a side-piece exploring her crush on an already-taken boy.
Alicia moulds the concealed nature of young love into an example of hiding your affair from those around you, whilst being honest with each other about your true, immoral feelings;
“Another secret meeting on the fifth floor staircase, I’m gonna give you this letter of all the things I can’t say, want you to be my first, my last, my ending and beginning, I wrote your name in my book, your last name, my first, I’m your Mrs.”
5. Tessa Violet – Crush
Tessa Violet’s cute and quirky indie pop track, Crush, details the whirlwind effect of a new love interest on your mentality, stealing your thoughts through days of endless distraction.
Embellishing her lyrics with eccentric comparisons between having a crush and feeling like a stalker, Violet’s track tackles with staying sane whilst attempting to control your obsessions with another;
“I fill my calendar with stuff I can do, maybe if I’m busy it could keep me from you, and I’m pretending you ain’t been on my mind, but I took an interest in the things that you like.”
6. Trell Daray – Secret Crush
This synth-clad R&B / pop track by Trell Daray is about falling in love with a mesmerising woman and finding the natural strength to reveal your feelings to her.
Secret Crush is resonant with anyone who stops at nothing to get what they want, keeping awe-inspiring positivity at the heart of their romantic adventure;
“Make me feel the way that you do, ’cause the love that you make, everything seem so true … You’re the reason why I breathe almost every day, you’re my secret crush and I can’t let you go … And I want you, babe, I’m gonna have you, babe, and I’d do anything to get in your way.”
7. Jimmy Eat World – Secret Crush
Jimmy Eat World’s 1997 track, Secret Crush, uses its emo / punk harmony as a brutal reflection of the self-disappointment endured after being too scared to confess your feelings.
This stylistically imperfect piece douses its lyrics in vagueness, dancing around their topic like one might do with their crush; “Faintest snow keep falling, hands around your waist, nameless, standing cold … Take in restraint like a breath, my lungs are so numb from holding back.”
Secret Crush is a track for anyone who feels like they’re missing every romantic opportunity sent their way due to their own crippling insecurities when facing their crush.
8. Hunter Hayes – Secret Love
Hunter Hayes’ pop / rock release, Secret Love, anchors itself in clever comparisons of having a secret crush to living a double life.
Lining his lyrics with references to mystery and lust, Hayes summons an array of evocative, scene-setting imagery such as ‘masks,’ ‘dreams,’ and ‘lies,’ padding out his theme of exploring a secret crush with a friend;
“All the things we do for secret love, baby me and you got a secret love, undercover and out of sight, if nobody knows, then we’re doing it right.”
Secret Love is a track for any budding couple concealing their newfound connection from family and friends until the time feels right.
9. David Archulela – Crush
David Archuleta’s 2008 pop single, Crush, is about finally opening up to a secret crush, exposing your hidden feelings with the hope they feel the same way as you.
This clear-skied track encourages its audience to take a leap into the unknown, proposing an honest conversation as the only way towards healing your heart from the torture of unexplored, unrequited emotions;
“Do you ever think when you’re all alone, all that we could be? Where this thing could go? Am I crazy or falling in love? Is it real or just another crush?.. ‘Cause I’m trying to walk away, but I know this crush ain’t going away.”