Torch song

A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affected the relationship.[1][2] The term comes from the saying, "to carry a torch for someone", or to keep aflame the light of an unrequited love. Tommy Lyman started the use in his praise of "My Melancholy Baby".[3]

For other uses, see Torch song (disambiguation).

The term is also explicitly cited in the song "Jim", popularized by versions by Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald: Someday, I know that Jim will up and leave me / But even if he does you can believe me / I'll go on carryin' the torch for Jim./ I'll go on lovin' my Jim.

Torch-singing is more of a niche than a genre and can stray from the traditional jazz-influenced style of singing; the American tradition of the torch song typically relies upon the melodic structure of the blues.[2] An example of a collection is Billie Holiday's 1955 album Music for Torching.

See also
  • Sentimental ballads

References
  1. Smith, L.: Elvis Costello, Joni Mitchell, and the Torch Song Tradition, p. 9. Praeger Publishers, 2004.
  2. Allan Forte, M. R.: Listening to Classic American Popular Songs, p. 203. Yale University Press, 2001.
  3. Shanaphy, Edward (ed.). "My Melancholy Baby". Piano Stylings of the Great Standards. p. xi. ISBN 978-1-929009-14-5.
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