US "sorry songs" and "apology songs" searches are small (~2,100 and ~746/mo), but the songs themselves are huge. Justin Bieber's "Sorry" (~18,442), Bruno Mars's "When I Was Your Man" (~16,342) and OneRepublic's "Apologize" (~5,550) lead the artist-qualified searches. "Songs to win her back" (~75) outnumbers "songs to win him back" (~20) 4 to 1.
Apology songs (US, title or title+artist searches)
| # | Search term | Avg/mo (last 12 mo) | 3-yr change | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | say something | 28,692 | +16% | Oct |
| 2 | sorry justin bieber | 18,442 | +76% | Feb |
| 3 | when i was your man | 16,342 | -64% | Jan |
| 4 | please forgive me | 8,392 | -22% | Oct |
| 5 | apologize onerepublic | 5,550 | +2% | Nov |
| 6 | sorry buckcherry | 2,950 | -2% | Oct |
| 7 | back at one | 2,567 | -39% | Oct |
| 8 | sorry seems to be the hardest word | 2,442 | -57% | Nov |
| 9 | sorry beyonce | 2,317 | -23% | Jan |
| 10 | hard to say im sorry | 640 | +5% | Apr |
| 11 | im sorry john denver | 302 | +53% | Mar |
| 12 | im sorry brenda lee | 257 | +52% | Jul |
Generic apology-song searches
| # | Search term | Avg/mo (last 12 mo) | 3-yr change | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | sorry lyrics | 6,308 | +45% | Feb |
| 2 | apologize lyrics | 4,658 | +25% | Mar |
| 3 | forgive me | 3,800 | -8% | Oct |
| 4 | sorry song | 2,100 | +5% | May |
| 5 | the apology song | 1,136 | +43% | Oct |
| 6 | apology song | 746 | -19% | Mar |
| 7 | im sorry lyrics | 484 | +7% | Mar |
| 8 | im sorry songs | 282 | -37% | Oct |
| 9 | songs to say sorry | 218 | -34% | May |
| 10 | songs to win her back | 75 | -46% | Oct |
| 11 | songs to win him back | 20 | -29% | Nov |
| 12 | sorry songs for her | 12 | +71% | Mar |
| 13 | songs to apologize to girlfriend | 11 | +10% | Nov |
| 14 | sorry songs for him | 10 | -17% | Oct |
| 15 | songs to apologize to boyfriend | 10 | -17% | Oct |
What it means
Most music searches are about a moment in someone's day. The most-searched pick is rarely the most personal one, and a personalized song built around one person's name and story is the version nobody else has. If you have a hook of your own, an AI song generator can turn it into a full track with vocals in a few minutes.
Method
- US Google search volume (English), monthly, Oct 2022–Sep 2026. 'Avg/mo' = mean of the latest 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026); '3-yr change' = latest 12 months vs Oct 2022–Sep 2023.
- "Say Something" (~28,692) and "Please Forgive Me" are bare titles and are reported but not used in the headline.
Cite and download
Free to use and cite with a link back to this page.
aisong.lol Research. (2026). Songs people search when they need to apologise. aisong.lol. https://aisong.lol/research/songs-people-search-when-they-need-to-apologise
Use this data. Every table in this study as one spreadsheet-ready file.
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