Ballads

[Hostile]

I tend to think of ballads as its own musical genre. Others may disagree and that's cool. To me there is not much in the world better than someone who writes their own music and then sings the soul into it.

Do you have a favorite ballad?

For me, this one is the ultimate.

[youtube]GYKJuDxYr3I[/youtube]

 

[Arch Stanton]

[youtube]SJmmaIGiGBg&ob[/youtube]

 

[daschoo]

My favourite ballad at the minute is in Gaelic
[youtube]5PjLOcp0RFY[/youtube]

 

[Yeagermeister]

Not sure if it counts

Ballad of Curtis Lowe - Lynyrd Skynyrd

 

[Wimbo]

Desperado - Eagles
Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
With of Without You - U2
Sounds of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
Dream On - Aerosmith

 

[phillycard]

Ribbon In The Sky by Stevie Wonder is as good as it gets.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Lots of good ones. I don't know, off the top of my head maybe Whiskey Lullaby. Hard to go wrong with He Stopped Loving Her Today if you consider that a Ballad, which I do.

 

[Signals]

Not sure if these qualify as ballads but I have always been pretty fond of these.

[youtube]SAcDh0m2BJw[/youtube]

[youtube]OMOGaugKpzs[/youtube]​

 

[The30YardSlant]

"Wasted Time" and "Desperado" are two of my favorites. Don Henley's voice was made for soft ballads.

 

[trickblue]

[youtube]A9A4HRzHz5Y[/youtube]

 

[YosemiteSam]

No one mentions Devil Went Down to Georgia?

Though to me personally, the lyrics themselves never really meant much to me. I mean if they are good and have a lot of meaning, that's great. Though to me, the voice is really just another instrument in the song. This is why I can listen to lyrics that are offending to a lot of people and I just shrug their meaning off.

The lyrics (and physical instrument music) can be awesome, but if the person sing sucks. The entire song sucks.

 

[Risen Star]

[youtube]A9A4HRzHz5Y[/youtube]

Great one, trick.

 

[arglebargle]

A ballad helped ingratiate me with a small town once. I was touring Scotland, and ended up in a tiny town, staying at the one pub, which had a few rooms. It was party night, a ceilidh, I think it's called, and everyone was drinking and taking turns singing songs. At one point someone called me out, 'Hey, you, the guy from Texas, sing us a Texas song!'

Now normally no one is interested in hearing me sing (rightfully so), but they were, ah, liquidly receptive. Not remembering songs particularly well anyway, I felt under the gun. BUT those days when I was a kid, listening to Marty Robbins, came to my rescue. While not as good as his classic Ballad of El Paso, I could at least remember the words to this one. It went over great with the audience, and a fine time was had the rest of the evening (what I could remember of it.)

[youtube]OntwwcBVe6o[/youtube]


In honor of that, I'll throw in my favorite Brit singer/songwriter, often associated with Scotland, who's got a host of great songs.

[youtube]Kg_Utj4Aljc[/youtube]

[youtube]lusPaLec9TE[/youtube]

 

[daschoo]

[youtube]A9A4HRzHz5Y[/youtube]

Good shout, have you heard this?
[youtube]C7UWm5nXXqQ[/youtube]

 

[Risen Star]

I tend to think of ballads as its own musical genre. Others may disagree and that's cool. To me there is not much in the world better than someone who writes their own music and then sings the soul into it.

Do you have a favorite ballad?

For me, this one is the ultimate.

[youtube]GYKJuDxYr3I[/youtube]

That is also a great choice. Elvis' version is epic as well.

 

[Risen Star]

Is this considered a ballad?

[youtube]xKweZEKPSqw[/youtube]

 

[daschoo]

not a traditional ballad in terms of subject matter but the emotion in this one is pretty powerful
[youtube]dt9Iqa79vfU[/youtube]

 

[YosemiteSam]

A ballad is a song that tells a story. If it is just singing about something, it's not a ballad. The song needs an aspect of time to it. (ie, telling the story in chronological order from start to finish.)

 

[Signals]

A ballad is a song that tells a story. If it is just singing about something, it's not a ballad. The song needs an aspect of time to it. (ie, telling the story in chronological order from start to finish.)

Good call. So Tricks selection is a great example of a true Ballad.

[youtube]A9A4HRzHz5Y[/youtube]

 

[trickblue]

Marty Robbins was one of the great balladeers of all time... perhaps his most famous...

[youtube]GgI5DMVegIk[/youtube]

Kenny Rogers also has some memorable ballads...

[youtube]BLKDFKRTdlo[/youtube]

[youtube]8tSo4IICBTY[/youtube]

[youtube]NEJniCCuqR4[/youtube]