# By popular demand...the showtunes/torch songs thread **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 18, 2001, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-popular-demand-the-showtunes-torch-songs-thread/62401 "2001-04-18T05:50:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2001, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-popular-demand-the-showtunes-torch-songs-thread/62401/21 "2001-04-19T20:08:23Z")
**Smokey Robinson and the Miracles!** Whew ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2001, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-popular-demand-the-showtunes-torch-songs-thread/62401/22 "2001-04-20T00:22:06Z")
Oops, I forgot **Someone Else’s Story** and **I Know Him So Well** from Chess, one of my favorite musicals. If you happened to hear the Whitney & Cissy Houston version of “I Know Him So Well,” wash your ears out with lye and buy the original cast recording. They’re both incredible songs. For a torch song…how about **Kissing You** by Des’ree and **Whiter Shade of Pale** by Annie Lennox? I’m not exactly what a torch song is, but going by the other nominees, I’d say that these two fit. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2001, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-popular-demand-the-showtunes-torch-songs-thread/62401/23 "2001-04-20T00:51:52Z")
🙂 [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=66362](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=66362) ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2001, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-popular-demand-the-showtunes-torch-songs-thread/62401/24 "2001-04-20T03:54:49Z")
By my definition of a torch song, the singer has to be in love and the object of his/her affection needs to not love the singer as much as (or how) he/she wants to be loved. In other words, the singer is in pain. So “Losing My Mind” “Not a Day Goes By” “With Every Breath I Take” “Good Morning Heartache” “I Don’t Want to Cry Anymore” “This Nearly was Mine” ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2001, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-popular-demand-the-showtunes-torch-songs-thread/62401/25 "2001-04-20T04:12:31Z")
& “The Party’s Over” ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-popular-demand-the-showtunes-torch-songs-thread/62401/26 "2001-04-21T01:48:02Z")
You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me – Dusty Springfield If I Were Your Woman – Gladys Knight The Way Of Love – Cher Superstar – Karen Carpenter I’ll Never Love This Way Again – Dione Warwick ---
**Author:** ![JosephFinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JosephFinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JosephFinn)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-popular-demand-the-showtunes-torch-songs-thread/62401/27 "2001-04-21T16:29:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Billy Baroo \* > \*\*I am enjoying the new _Jesus Christ Superstar_ DVD. It’s a slick, updated production with no hippies in the desert to be seen. Gloomy, sparse set pieces, and the Roman costumes give a nod to Kurosawa. Judas’s penultimate “Superstar” is god-pounding good rock ‘n’ roll complete with vinyl costumes. But you just can’t top Yvonne Elliman as Magdalene in the original movie. > > I can’t nominate a best song; there are just too many. I will mention that have a special place in my heart for “By My Side” from _Godspell_, and lately I can’t get enough of Jesse Martin’s performance of “I’ll Cover You” from the _Rent_ CD. \*\* Yvonne Elliman? C’mon. Ever one of the later performances as Magdalene has topped her off-key performance. The actress playing Magdalene in the new version (which was shown recently on “Great Performances”) now owns that role. Great acting job. Personally, though I loved the take on the Romans, and Annas/Caiphas were spectacular (love the video monitors), I just thought there Jesus was a little too…weak looking. But, he made up for it in his acting in the Trial before Pilate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-popular-demand-the-showtunes-torch-songs-thread/62401.md?page=1)