Love is complicated. Relationships seem to come and go. And even when you think you’re in a committed relationship, you could find yourself wanting someone else.
These common feelings of jealousy and love are all too common. So, it’s no surprise that there are 20 great songs about wanting someone else while in a relationship, in a variety of different genres! If you’ve found yourself in a similar predicament, this is the playlist for you!
1. “Baby” by Clean Bandit featuring MARINA and Luis Fonsi
“Baby” by Clean Bandit, which features MARINA and Luis Fonsi, is technically about the end of a marriage and all the conflicting emotions that come with this situation. However, it can also be interpreted as the feelings that arise when one begins to fall for someone, even though they’re in a relationship with another!
Let’s look at the lyrics for more analysis. The group sings, “Find me in another place and time / If only, if only you were mine / But I’m already someone else’s baby.”
2. “I Sleep Much Better (In Someone Else’s Bed)” by Billy Ocean
1989’s “I Sleep Much Better (In Someone Else’s Bed)” by Billy Ocean is an interesting song. Billy Ocean sings about how much he wants one person… even though he’s a bit of a Don Juan and can’t help but have relationships with many. Even though he enjoys his lifestyle, he also admits that he wants another.
So, technically this song is about how much Ocean truly loves the one he’s with, even though he gets around! But as songs can always be interpreted by every listener, we feel that this track has a nice home on this list.
Just listen to Ocean as he sings, “I sleep much better / In someone else’s bed / But I really want you.”
3. “In Love With Another Man” by Jazmine Sullivan
In “In Love With Another Man”, Jazmine Sullivan sings to her partner, who is about to become her ex. She apologizes and explains that she’s fallen in love with another man. She feels guilty and terrible about how this has happened, but she also assures her partner that he will find someone who truly deserves him!
4. “Kissin’ Time” by Marianne Faithfull featuring Blur
Marianne Faithfull’s song “Kissin’ Time”, which also features the band Blur, could be interpreted in a lot of different ways. However, there is a point in the song where Faithfull, after seemingly describing a difficult romantic relationship, admits that she loves another.
She sings, “You’ll never find out / I love someone else.”
5. “Should’ve Never” by Jennifer Lopez
1999’s “Should’ve Never” by Jennifer Lopez, which appears on her album On the 6, is about being in love with two guys at the same time. Lopez struggles throughout this song with her feelings, as she knows that she loves one person, though she also knows that her heart belongs to another.
Towards the end of the song, she sings the lyrics, “Oh my God, I love you both so much / And to have to choose between the two / Is hurting me so deep inside.”
6. “It’s Sad to Belong” by England Dan & John Ford Coley
“It’s Sad to Belong” by England Dan & John Ford Coley is about loving someone you can’t be with. The duo explains in this song that they saw a woman and immediately fell in love with her, realizing that she was the right one for them. However, they were with another — so their relationship could never be.
The singer explains that he would never hurt his current partner like that. Thus, he lives in a daydream instead and always dreams that he’s with this other woman instead.
The duo sings, “That it’s sad to belong to someone else when the right one comes along.”
7. “Shelf” by Jonas Brothers
“Shelf” by Jonas Brothers also deals with being in love with someone else. This song details a romantic relationship that seems to have its fair share of troubles. Even though the band wants to be with this woman, she seems to want to be with others. This results in the singers saying that they will also find someone else to fall in love with — even if they’re still together.
They sing, “Always someone else / The next guy who will make your cold heart melt / I’m gonna give my love to someone else.”
8. “Angel In Your Arms” by Reba McEntire
In 1977’s “Angel In Your Arms”, Reba McEntire sings about her relationship problems. When she finds out her partner is cheating on her with another, she’s at first heartbroken. Why couldn’t her partner just tell her he didn’t love her anymore?
But then she realized that she could also treat him like this — and ends up doing the same thing as her partner, falling for others. She sings the lyrics, “So don’t be surprised to find that / The angel in your arms this morning / Is going to be the devil in someone else’s arms tonight.”
9. “Cornflakes” by Belle & Sebastian
“Cornflakes” by Belle & Sebastian can be interpreted in a variety of different ways. However, the band does talk about meeting and falling for someone else at the beginning of the song. They sing, “There’s something else I have to say to you / There’s someone else.”
10. “Another Love” by Tom Odell
“Another Love” by Tom Odell is one of the best songs about thinking of someone else while you’re in a relationship. In this hit song, Odell sings about how much he wants to be with his current girlfriend. He wants to make things work. However, he can’t seem to get things right, as he continuously thinks about “Another Love”.
He sings the lyrics, “All my tears have been used up / On another love.”
11. “Bad Girl” by Madonna
1993’s “Bad Girl” by Madonna opens with Madonna singing about some troubles in her romantic relationship. Even though this relationship seems to be falling apart, she doesn’t want to hurt her partner. But she ends up seeing other men, which ultimately she knows will hurt him.
She sings, “Bad girl drunk by six / Kissing someone else’s lips / Smoked too many cigarettes today / I’m not happy when I act this way.”
12. “Another Man’s Woman” by Marcia Ball
“Another Man’s Woman” by Marcia Ball is all about falling in love with someone else while you’re in a relationship. Ball sings about how much she wants to be with this other person, even though she knows she can’t.
So, she ends up singing, “Oh darlin’, I know what we feel is wrong / Our desire to be together baby / Makes it hard to leave each other alone / ‘Cause I’m another, another man’s woman.”
13. “Preface” by FKA Twigs
In FKA Twigs’ “Preface” to her album LP1, Twigs repeatedly sings the phrase, “I love another, and thus I hate myself.” Now, this line can be interpreted in a variety of ways. While some interpret it as the difficulty that comes from loving one person, others feel that it could stem from falling for another when you’re still in a relationship with another!
14. “Heaven’s What I Feel” by Gloria Estefan
1998’s “Heaven’s What I Feel” by Gloria Estefan follows the singer as she explains her romantic situation. She’s with someone but she’s in love with another — who’s also with another person. Even though she knows that they shouldn’t be together, she can’t help but love him.
So, she ends up singing, “I was not supposed to fall in love with you / I have someone else and someone else is loving you.”
15. “Girls & Boys” by Prince and the Revolution
“Girls & Boys” by Prince and the Revolution, which appears on the 1986 album Parade, details different romantic relationships, ones that work out and ones that don’t. Therefore, Prince also sings about what happens when someone loves someone who is with another!
He sings the lyrics, “He gave her all the love that anyone can / But she was promised to another man / He tried so hard not to go insane.”
16. “Another Man Loved Me Last Night” by Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn’s 1971 song “Another Man Loved Me Last Night” details Lynn’s emotions over falling for another. Lynn sings about her relationship and how she wasn’t happy in it. Even though she was still with this man, she sought out another and remembered what it was to feel love.
She sings, “While he’s sleepin’ well, I’m crying here awake / Not being loved was more than I could take / Though it was wrong, there in his arms, it seemed so right / When another man loved me last night.”
17. “Another Girl” by The Beatles
“Another Girl” by The Beatles, which appears on the band’s 1965 album Help!, tells the story of what happens when someone leaves their partner for another. In this song, the band tells their girlfriend that they’ve fallen in love with another woman. So, their relationship will seemingly come to an end!
The band sings the lyrics, “You’re making me say that I’ve got nobody but you / But as from today, well, I’ve got somebody that’s new.”
18. “My Lord and Master” by Barbra Streisand
1964’s “My Lord and Master” by Barbra Streisand, a song which was first written and released for the musical The King and I, follows the singer as she admits that the one who loves her will never know how she really feels. He’ll never realize that she loves another, not him!
She sings, “He’ll never see / He’ll never know / I love another man.”
19. “It Hurts Me Too” by Ry Cooder
“It Hurts Me Too” by Ry Cooder — which also features Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Mick Jagger, and Nicky Hopkins — details a rather complicated relationship. The singer loves one woman, though this woman is with another man. That man loves another and ends up breaking the heart of the woman, though she ends up staying with him!
The group sings, “He loves another woman and I love you / But you love him and stick to him like glue.”
20. “Still a Fool” by The Rolling Stones
“Still a Fool” by The Rolling Stones, the last song on our list, also discusses wanting someone else while in a relationship! The singer explains that he’s fallen in love with someone who is already in a relationship with another man!
So, he ends up singing the lyrics, “I’ve been crazy all my life /Well I fell in love with another man’s wife.”