50 Best Rock Songs About Old Love

Timeless Rock Tracks That Stir Up Old Flames

There’s a certain heaviness that lingers when you think of someone you used to love. Not the big cinematic kind, but the small aftershocks that stay in the quiet hours. You’re fine until a song slips through the speakers, and suddenly you’re somewhere else. Maybe a cheap diner at midnight, maybe their driveway, headlights off. Rock tracks have a way of dragging those ghosts back up, guitars cracking open a memory you swore had faded. These songs sit in that hazy place where something’s over but never really gone.

The best ones don’t spell it out. They circle around the ache, lean on a riff, let a line hang unfinished. Some weren’t even written for old lovers, but they fit that feeling anyway. The push and pull, the mix of regret and soft remembering. There’s a strange comfort in realizing the story didn’t end neatly, that the hurt can still hum underneath a chorus. A few cuts from pop, rock, country, and R&B songs wander into the same mood, trading in nostalgia for something rawer, a kind of messy truth that can’t be staged.

Old love sounds different depending on the day. Some mornings it hits like static on an empty highway. Other times it’s warm, like flipping through worn-out photos you never threw away. The tracks here live in that uneven space where old feelings get loud again, where you can’t tell if you’re missing the person or the time. Some may not literally tackle the theme, but they still hum with the same pulse. Here are the best rock songs that carry the weight of old love.

1. 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing' by Aerosmith

2. 'Faithfully' by Journey

3. 'Wonderful World' by James Morrison

4. 'You're the First, the Last, My Everything' by Barry White

5. 'In My Life' by The Beatles

6. 'I'll Be There For You' by Bon Jovi

7. 'When I'm Sixty-Four' by The Beatles

8. 'Can't Help Falling in Love' by Elvis Presley

9. 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' by Queen

10. 'Love of My Life' by Queen

11. 'Just the Way You Are' by Billy Joel

12. 'Forever Young' by Rod Stewart

13. 'Something' by The Beatles

14. 'Always' by Bon Jovi

15. 'The Reason' by Hoobastank

16. 'The Best of My Love' by Eagles

17. 'You Are So Beautiful' by Joe Cocker

18. 'Wonderful Tonight' by Eric Clapton

19. 'A Thousand Years' by Christina Perry

20. 'Have I Told You Lately' by Van Morrison

21. 'She's Got a Way' by Billy Joel

22. 'Thank You' by Led Zeppelin

23. 'Still the One' by Orleans

24. 'You're My Best Friend' by Queen

25. 'With or Without You' by U2

26. 'Open Arms' by Journey

27. 'Home' by Daughtry

28. 'Crazy For You' by Madonna

29. 'Stand by Me' by Ben E King

30. 'The Power of Love' by Huey Lewis and the News

31. 'Here Without You' by 3 Doors Down

32. 'Let It Be' by The Beatles

33. 'Heaven' by Bryan Adams

34. 'The Way You Make Me Feel' by Michael Jackson

35. 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' by Bonnie Tyler

36. 'Love Is All Around' by The Troggs

37. 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police

38. 'I Want to Know What Love Is' by Foreigner

39. 'More Than a Feeling' by Boston

40. 'Keep on Loving You' by REO Speedwagon

41. 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'' by The Righteous Brothers

42. 'Forever' by Kiss

43. 'Take My Breath Away' by Berlin

44. 'To Be With You' by Mr. Big

45. 'Iris' by Goo Goo Dolls

46. 'Hey Jude' by The Beatles

47. 'Always on My Mind' by Elvis Presley

48. 'The Flame' by Cheap Trick

49. 'Sweet Child o' Mine' by Guns N' Roses

50. 'Don't Stop Believin'' by Journey