Just as there are songs about rebels and tattoos, or songs about wanting to gt a tattoo, there are songs about heartbreak and tattoo. The sad tattoo song might be about someone who regrets having a tattoo, or it might be about the tattoo that is the memento of a now-ruined love affair.

"Saddest of Tattoos" by Artie Tobia from the album "The Parade" gets right to the point.

I must confess that I noticed
Upon your chest there was the most saddest
the most saddest of tattoos

What's interesting is that this very sad tattoo is itself never fully explained. Throughout the song, this woman truly catches the attention of men around her, but they are all taken aback by this piece of mysterious but forlorn skin art. The listener is left to guess what the woman's chest tattoo must be, and what sort of imagery is so sad that it stops men in their tracks.

Sade uses the idea of a tattoo as a metaphor for a feeling she feels will never lose in the ballad "Like A Tattoo."

Like the scar of age written all over my face
The war is still raging inside of me
I still feel the chill as i reveal my shame to you
I wear it like a tattoo
I wear it like a tattoo
I wear it like a tattoo

In the John Lester vocal and bass piece "Your Tattoo" off of his album "Big Dreams and the Bottom Line," the song is a conversation between a man and a woman who are breaking up. As much as he knows things are coming apart, the man can't forget the tattoo.

Didn't i tell you not to scar your body so?
Hey what a misconception,
I decided sight unseen but how was I to know
That the imprint on your body would leave an image in my brain
A thousand days may stand between us now but each second will remain
Caught within the symbol that the midnight all is true
Baby i just can't forget your tattoo...