50 Best Country Songs About Forbidden Love
Country Songs on Love That Should Never Happen
There’s a certain kind of tension that hangs in the air when two people want each other but know the whole thing could blow up their world. It’s the kind of pull that keeps you awake at night, thinking about something you shouldn’t be thinking about. These tracks hit that nerve. They catch the heat, the guilt, the quick glances nobody else is supposed to notice. The kind of love that never settles into comfort because it lives in the space between risk and consequence. Country music has always had a knack for pulling that feeling out into the open, leaving it raw enough to sting a little.
It’s not all whispered confessions and slow ballads either. Sometimes it’s loud and reckless, made for a night that burns too fast to last. Other times it’s heavy and unshakable, the kind of thing that lingers even after the door closes. These songs aren’t playing coy, they’re sitting in the mess and letting it run its course. The same way pop, rock, country, and R&B songs have found ways to dress heartbreak in different clothes, country artists strip it down to the bones and let the ache speak for itself.
Some of these stories unfold in quiet kitchens, some in dusty bars, some in parking lots where no one’s watching. They carry that push-and-pull energy that keeps the listener caught between rooting for it and hoping it stops before it goes too far. Here are the best country songs that capture the tangled reality of love that was never supposed to happen.
Top 10 Forbidden Love Songs
1. 'Jolene'—Dolly Parton
2. 'He Stopped Loving Her Today'—George Jones
3. 'Whiskey Lullaby'—Brad Paisley featuring Alison Krauss
4. 'Before He Cheats'—Carrie Underwood
5. 'Strawberry Wine'—Deana Carter
6. 'The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia'—Reba McEntire
7. 'Does He Love You'—Reba McEntire and Linda Davis
8. 'I Can't Make You Love Me'—Bonnie Raitt
9. 'Stay'—Sugarland
10. 'That Summer'—Garth Brooks
Country Songs About Secret Relationships #11—20
11. 'I'd Be Home By Now'—The Wreckers
12. 'White Liar'—Miranda Lambert
13. 'You Lie'—The Band Perry
14. 'Who's Cheatin' Who'—Alan Jackson
15. 'Give Me the Light'—Sam Hunt
16. 'Whoever's in New England'—Reba McEntire
17. 'You Ain't Woman Enough'—Loretta Lynn
18. 'Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger'—Charley Pride
19. 'Whispering Waltz'—Sierra Ferrell
20. 'I'm Gonna Sleep with One Eye Open'—Dolly Parton
Country Songs About Hidden Romances #21—30
21. 'You've Never Been This Far Before'—Conway Twitty
22. 'The Dark End of the Street'—James Carr
23. 'Amarillo By Morning'—George Strait
24. 'Crazy'—Patsy Cline
25. 'Reasons I Cheat'—Randy Travis
26. 'I'll Go Stepping Too'—Emmylou Harris
27. 'The Window Up Above'—George Jones
28. 'Let Me Be There'—Olivia Newton-John
29. 'I Cheated on a Cheater'—Loretta Lynn
30. 'Behind Closed Doors'—Charlie Rich
Songs About Forbidden Love Stories #31—40
31. 'Whiskey and You'—Chris Stapleton
32. 'It's Only Make Believe'—Conway Twitty
33. 'You Don't Know Me'—Ray Charles
34. 'I Was Checkin' Out She Was Checkin' In'—Don Covay
35. 'Give My Love to Rose'—Johnny Cash
36. 'Lost in the Fifties Tonight'—Ronnie Milsap
37. 'Rosemary'—The Chicks
38. 'Walk On By'—Leroy Van Dyke
39. 'When I Was His Wife'—Pistol Annies
40. 'I'm Not the Boy I Used to Be'—Charley Pride
Country Songs About Secret Love Affairs #41—50
41. 'You Are My Sunshine'—Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan
42. 'The Last Cheater's Waltz'—Tanya Tucker
43. 'Tryin' to Love Two'—William Bell
44. 'I Still Miss Someone'—Johnny Cash
45. 'Slip Away'—Clarence Carter
46. 'Whispering Waltz'—Jamey Johnson
47. 'Two Black Cadillacs'—Carrie Underwood
48. 'The Pill'—Loretta Lynn
49. 'I'd Rather Die Young'—Johnny Cash
50. 'Blow Our Cover'—Josh Setterfield
© 2025 Carson McQueen
