Let's talk about BALLADS

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

The giveaway CD for Thursday's Poptimism will be an ALL-BALLAD special. I'm taking here about the modern usage of the word to mean 'slow song', rather than the older 'story song'.

Ballads seem to get short shrift from Poptimists - criticisms of pop or R&B albums, for instance, often turn on a "too many ballads" claim. The list of NOW poll winners here is short on them too (Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time", Portishead's "Glory Box", maybe a couple of others).

What are some of your favourite ballads? Do you have trouble enjoying slow pop songs? Why do you think that is, if so? Do some genres suit 'ballads' better than others? (Some of the people who complain about R&B ballads might be Low or Will Oldham fans, for instance!) When does a song stop being a ballad? And so on - plenty to talk about, I'm sure.

I do want ballad recommendations, however the giveaway CD has already been made and is GREBT, a chronological journey through balladry from the 50s to last week.

Comments

is "time after time" a ballad?

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

i would say NO but i'm not sure why -- i think it may be a rhythmic thing (tiny element of syncopation = no longer a ballad)

(i'm not saying everyone should adopt this freak of taxonomy, just saying that i appear to use it) (based on "time after time")

Re: is "time after time" a ballad?

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I haven't listened to it for ages so I may be misremembering it!

I think maybe some ballads are ALSO not-ballads though, dependent on context. "Irreplaceable", which the Lex mentions above, is quite an upbeat thing really except in the context of Beyonce's album in which it is clearly in place as 'a ballad'.

Re: is "time after time" a ballad?

[koganbot]

"Time After Time" is a ballad. It is slow and has the get-misty factor.

Re: is "time after time" a ballad?

[giddyoldgoat.livejournal.com]

Is the Miles Davis version of "Time After Time" a ballad? (Miles famously claimed to have stopped recording ballads in the Bitches Brew era because he loved playing them too much - expect of course "He Loved Him Madly" is a rare kind of ambient ballad, in the 'memorial to lost brother/lover' sense)

Re: is "time after time" a ballad?

[koganbot]

I think I've heard the Miles track only once, so I can't say. I suspect it is. Do people smooch to it?