Line #4 Main/TorchSong


1	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
2
3	->''"You said you loved me\
4	Or were you just being kind?\
5	Or am I losing my mind?"''
6	-->-- ''Theatre/{{Follies}}'', "Losing My Mind"
7
8	A torch song is a sad or sentimental ballad about lost or unrequited love: the singer is still "holding a torch" for someone [[UnrequitedLoveLastsForever who (they think) doesn't or can't love them back]].
9
10	The genre is most closely associated with the Great American Songbook era of the 1920s to 1950s, as well as modern country and pop music. It's a common variety of song in musicals.
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12	Scholar John Moore states that the first torch song was the 1921 pop song "Mon Homme", which became a hit in the US in its translated version, "My Man", which was used in the Ziegfield Follies. [[note]] 'The Hieroglyphics of Love': The Torch Singers and Interpretation' John Moore Popular Music Vol. 8, No. 1, Performance (Jan., 1989), pp. 31-58 (28 pages) Published By: Cambridge University Press[[/note]] Tin Pan Alley songwriters created a formula for torch songs, which became popular in underground speakeasy bars and cabaret or vaudeville shows. In Philip Furia's book about Tin Pan Alley, he states that torch songs are "white offshoots of the blues." [[note]] Philip Furia, The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: A History of America's Great Lyricists, New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.[[/note]]
13
14	TheChanteuse is often seen performing one of these. A performer who specializes in these songs is called a "torch singer". The prototypical female torch singer is in a slinky cocktail dress, singing heartbreaking ballads about romantic longing in a smoky nightclub. Of course, there are also other crooners who do torch songs, such as Fred Astaire.
15
16	Piers Ford, from The Art of The Torch Singer blog points out that “[Torch singers have] the ability to tell a story in song, with emotional conviction... [and] hold a room in the palm of their hands.”
17	----
18
19	!!Examples:
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21	[[foldercontrol]]
22
23	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
24	* The song Sharon Apple sings to try and seduce Isamu (who she's in love with, despite being an insane AI) at the climax of ''Anime/MacrossPlus'' is actually called "Torch Song" on the soundtrack. The lyrics are in a made-up language (a recurring element in Music/YokoKanno's music), but a translation has been provided and it's quite possible it's meant to be an actual (albeit metaphorical) torch song.
25	[[/folder]]
26
27	[[folder:Film]]
28	* ''Film/{{A Star Is Born\|1954}}'' Judy Garland's Esther shows off her musical chops on "The Man That Got Away".
29	* From the 5th ''Film/{{The Thin Man}}'' movie, ''Song of the Thin Man''. The song "You're Not So Easy to Forget" not only fulfills this trope and is sung by TheChanteuse but also serves as a plot point.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Film - Animated]]
33	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'': The credits song "I Never Even Told You" as sung by Creator/TiaCarrere.
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
37	* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': Lampshaded by Claudia in "[[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E5AVileHungerForYourHammeringHeart A Vile Hunger for Your Hammering Heart]]" when she lets Lestat know that she's aware of his dirty secret, which is he's bedding a singer (viewers and Louis himself can easily guess that it's Antoinette).
38	-->'''Claudia''': White girl, down in Algiers, sings torch songs with a flat, no-nothing ass.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Music]]
42	* In "Someone Like You" by Music/{{Adele}}, the singer wishes to find a new boyfriend with what she liked, and asks her last boyfriend not to forget her.
43	* Music/TheAmazingDevil has a song called "New York Torch Song" though the style may not fit as well as the title.
44	%% "Grenade" by Music/BrunoMars
45	%% "The Flame" by Music/CheapTrick
46	* The 'Love Series' by Music/ConfessionExecutiveCommittee has "Right Now, I'm in Love -triangle story-" and "Triangle Jealousy", in which the male singer Kotaro laments how his love interest and {{childhood friend\|Romance}} Hina doesn't notice his feelings while she's busy with her own crush on another boy.
47	* "White Flag" by Music/{{Dido}} is about how the narrator is still in love with their ex even though the relationship is over and there is no hope of reconciliation.
48	* "Mover Awayer" by Music/HoboJohnson is about how Hobo's girlfriend moved away and left him, but he still loves her and wishes he hadn't pushed her away.
49	* Much of Music/{{Lana Del Rey}}'s repertoire consists of these. Notable examples include "[[TheLostLenore Dark Paradise]]", "Blue Jeans", "[[DriventoSuicide Summertime Sadness]]", and "Young and Beautiful".
50	* "Walk Away Renee" by Music/{{The Left Banke}}, [[WordOfGod which was]] [[https://web.archive.org/web/20070427073215/http://larryhovis.net/leftbanke/walkawayrenee.php based on a woman dating one of the band's members]].
51	* Music/LewisCapaldi has a few of these, including "Headspace", "Bruises", and "Someone You Loved"
52	* Music/{{Lonestar}}'s "Everything's Changed," in which the singer's OldFlame returns to their hometown and he points out all the things that have changed: their old date spots have been replaced by new buildings or just closed completely, the street they grew up on is unrecognizable, and the train she took out of town no longer stops there anymore. He then tells her "everything's changed, except for the way I feel about you."
53	* "Drops In The Lake" by Music/LordHuron. The singer talks about doubting they'll ever fall in love again, after no longer being with the one they love.
54	* "Anna" by Music/TheMenzingers is about how the narrator's girlfriend is never around and he misses her but will wait for her.
55	* "So Sick" by Music/NeYo is about the narrator having trouble getting over feelings for a partner who walked out on them.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Stand Up Comedy]]
59	* Parodied when Creator/SamKinison sings a very loud and bawdy torch song for Creator/RodneyDangerfield. Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWlG7tdayBY here]] though it's NSFW.
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Theatre]]
63	%% "Maybe This Time" from ''Theatre/{{Cabaret}}''
64	%% "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from ''Theatre/{{Dreamgirls}}''
65	* "Perpetually Almost" from ''Theatre/{{Finale}}'' is a rare male example of this, when Alex sings about his love for Tyler, who is in a relationship with Dylan.
66	* "Losing My Mind" from ''Theatre/{{Follies}}'' is a song wherein during their reunion, the aging showgirl Sally describes her obsession with and unrequited love of her former paramour Ben, who has been married to someone else for decades. The song is a {{Pastiche}} of "The Man I Love" (which is a song about SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan but in torch song form), from the Music/GeorgeGershwin musical "Lady Be Good".
67	* "Hopelessly Devoted to You" from ''Theatre/{{Grease}}'' is Sandy's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove to Danny (who isn't there), and is followed shortly thereafter by her makeover to something HotterAndSexier to recapture his attention.
68	* "Satisfied" from ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'': Angelica sings about how she's in love with Alexander, who is in love with her sister Eliza. She ''could'' pursue him if she wanted to, but as the first born to a wealthy man with no sons[[note]]Angelica's real-life brothers were AdaptedOut by accident[[/note]], she is not allowed to marry below her station, plus she would hate to hurt her sister (who's more free to court a "commoner"), so she figures letting him be with Eliza is the next-best thing since Alexander would still be in her life that way.
69	* "On My Own" from ''Theatre/LesMiserables'' is Eponine singing about how she's in love with Marius, while he's in love with Cosette and only views her as a friend.
70	%% "The Boy Next Door" from ''Film/MeetMeInStLouis''
71	* "I'm Not That Girl" is sung twice in ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'', once when Elphaba has a LoveRealization with Fiyero, and then Glinda sings it when Fiyero leaves to be with Elphaba.
72	* "With Every Breath I Take" from ''Theatre/{{City of Angels}}'' is sung by an in-universe example of TheChanteuse.
73	* “I Get A Kick Out of You” is an unusually upbeat example from ''Theatre/AnythingGoes''.
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Western Animation]]
77	* "Paris Is A Lonely Town" in ''WesternAnimation/GayPurree'' is a disillusioned Mewsette pining for a lost lover ''and'' the Paris she thought she was getting when she moved there.
78	* “When She Loved Me” from ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'' Jessie reminisces about her time with her original owner, Emily explaining how she loved her until eventually she outgrew her and abandons her to charity, showing that Emily no longer loves her.
79	* "It's Over, Isn't It?" from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' contains Pearl singing about how she loved Rose Quartz, who was in love with Greg Universe, and how she should move on, but can't.
80	* In WesternAnimation/JackAndTheCuckooClockHeart, Acacia's song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2yWsBOCQ6M Malaguena]] is definetly one.
81	%% {{WesternAnimation/Coco}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr1Vw63B1MI La Llorona]].
82	%% "Tell Me Lies" from ''WesternAnimation/CatsDontDance''
83	* Taken literally: In a singalong host segment of ''WesternAnimation/TheBeatles.'' Paul asks Ringo to bring out something for a torch song. Ringo comes out dressed as the Statue of Liberty. He lights his paper mache torch and gets...well, [[AmusingInjuries torched.]]
84	* "Torch Song" from ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' tie-in comic series. Miss Martian sings about how much she regrets damaging her relationship with Superboy in the second season and confesses she is still in love with him.

Context Main / TorchSong