# Looking for Torch Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 19, 2001, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697 "2001-09-19T23:23:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2001, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/21 "2001-09-21T03:59:10Z")
Carly Simon did a whole album of songs, appropriately titled “Torch.” With the cuts: “Blue of Blue,” “I’ll Be Around,” “I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good),” “Body and Soul,” “Not A Day Goes By,” and more. For a more modern version, try “Love Stinks.” By Adam Sandler. (From “The Wedding Singer” a pretty good movie, with Drew Barrymore, yet). ---
**Author:** ![dlb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@dlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlb)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2001, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/22 "2001-09-21T14:12:50Z")
I disagree with the OP, to an extent. A torch song is as much a style as it is content. Dramatic, long notes in there somewhere — “Every Day a Little Death” from _A Little Night Music_ meets the OP definition, but it is **not** a torch song. On the other hand, you should put “Send In the Clowns” on your list. Definitely. It doesn’t have to be lovers. “If He Walked Into My Life” from _Mame_ is on the list, sung by an aunt to her nephew. Others: “Sometimes Your Eyes Look Blue” and “Wanting Things”, from _Promises, Promises_. “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”. Classic. “You’re So Vain”, by Carly Simon. Bitter, a bit to much pop perhaps, but still in the range. “I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee.” ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2001, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/23 "2001-09-21T15:12:10Z")
**Bumbazine,** > [@](#): > > romansperson, I have that album (CD actually) great stuff! Heh! I guess you now know how old I am that I still call 'em “albums”! 😃 **Brynda,** I’m not familiar with Diane Schuur. I’ll have to take a listen to some of her stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2001, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/24 "2001-09-21T16:57:17Z")
Since **Eve’s** not around to do it, let me recommend **Ute Lemper,** the hottest thing to come out of Germany since the Luftwaffe. Her BERLIN CABARET SONGS (available in both English and German versions on London’s _Entartetmusik_ label, “Music Suppressed by the Third Reich”), are stunning versions of old Wiemar nightclub standards, hair-raising ballads of sexual deviance that’d have Marlene Dietrich blushing. She’s also done a SINGS KURT WEILL, plus another album with the SEVEN DEADLY SINS and the MAHAGONNY Songspiel. ---
**Author:** ![Skijumper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3e96dc/32.png) [@Skijumper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skijumper)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2001, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/25 "2001-09-21T16:57:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bumbazine \* > **Try K. D. Lang’s _Absolute Torch and Twang_ or _Shadowland._** Or for something less twangy - _Ingenue_ and _Drag_. Her latest release of ‘live’ tracks is also worth a listen, especially her rendition of Roy Orbison’s ‘Crying’. ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/26 "2001-09-24T04:41:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Since Eve’s not around to do it, let me recommend Ute Lemper, the hottest thing to come out of Germany since the Luftwaffe. > > Her BERLIN CABARET SONGS (available in both English and German versions on London’s Entartetmusik label, “Music Suppressed by the Third Reich”), are stunning versions of old Wiemar nightclub standards, hair-raising ballads of sexual deviance that’d have Marlene Dietrich blushing. > > She’s also done a SINGS KURT WEILL, plus another album with the SEVEN DEADLY SINS and the MAHAGONNY Songspiel. Not to mention a number of other beautiful albums, like Just an illusion and City of strangers, and more recently Punishing kiss. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/27 "2001-09-24T13:37:05Z")
Yeah, but I hate PUNISHING KISS. Couldn’t listen to it all the way through. I’m only recommending the ones I liked. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/28 "2002-06-28T01:57:54Z")
What’ll I do? - Written by Irving Berlin, but effective when sung by any woman with a deep throaty voice a la Bea Arthur Adia - Sarah McLachlan Total Eclpise of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler Unbreak My Heart - Tony Braxton Nothing Compares to You - Sinead O’Connor Always On My Mind - Willie Nelson Heavan Knows - The Coors And under the category of Big Hair Music: I’ll Never Love This Way Again - Written (but peferrably not sung) by Barry Manilow Ain’t No Mountain High Enough - Diana Ross Remember Me - Diana Ross Touch Me In The Morning - Diana Ross Blue Bayou - Linda Rondstat ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/29 "2002-06-28T03:06:04Z")
Whoa, this is old… Okay, I thought of another one, though. _Crazy_-Patsy Cline ---
**Author:** ![Heloise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@Heloise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heloise)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/30 "2002-06-28T06:17:05Z")
This isn’t a torch song, but it’s definitely about loss. I Grieve, by Peter Gabriel. If that doesn’t match a sad mood, nothing will. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/31 "2002-06-28T13:41:53Z")
_Company_, written and performed by Rickie Lee Jones on her self-titled debut album. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/32 "2002-06-28T14:53:02Z")
Two words: **Rosemary Clooney**. One of the great torch song artists. Try [_ **Blue Rose** _](http://www.cdnow.com/cgi-bin/mserver/SID=775006588/pagename=/RP/CDN/FIND/album.html/artistid=CLOONEY*ROSEMARY/itemid=766815) (1956), her great collaboration with Duke Ellington, or [_ **Love** _](http://www.cdnow.com/cgi-bin/mserver/SID=775006588/pagename=/RP/CDN/FIND/album.html/artistid=CLOONEY*ROSEMARY/itemid=324639) (1963), her collaboration with Nelson Riddle (who, incidentally, taught Linda Ronstadt a thing or two about torch songs, as **romansperson** has already acknowledged). ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/33 "2002-06-28T16:48:49Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by romansperson_ > Heh! I guess you now know how old I am that I still call 'em “albums”! [hijack] 😕 i don’t get this. isn’t cd the format, the album the collection of songs? why is a collection only an album if it appears on vinyl? i call all lp length collections albums. if i say, ‘have you heard the new prodigy album?’, i’m not asking whether you’ve heard it on vinyl - isn’t the term not format exclusive? or have i been using it wrong? [/hijack] and i guess i’d better add some songs after my nasty hijack, so… death cab for cutie - photo booth the white stripes - i can’t wait the smiths - there is a light that never goes out the ataris - the last song i will ever write about a girl the get up kids - out of reach new found glory - hit or miss ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/34 "2002-06-28T16:55:31Z")
Well, now that this has been revived: **Libby Holman** ’s _Moanin’ Low, Why Was I Born?_ and _There Ain’t No Sweet Man That’s Worth the Salt of My Tears_ **Alice Faye** ’s _You’ll Never Know_ **Ruth Etting** ’s _Mean to Me_ and _Love Me or Leave Me_ **Julie London** ’s _Cry Me a River_ ---
**Author:** ![Jerevan\_Somerville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@Jerevan\_Somerville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerevan_Somerville)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/35 "2002-06-28T17:27:14Z")
**Attrayant** and **pesch** , nice picks. More **Carly Simon** : “Film Noir”, “Better Not Tell Her”, “It Should Have Been Me” More **Sarah McLachlan** : “Possession”, “Terms (The Path of Thorns)”, “Vox” More from **the Corrs** : “Closer” _Opal’s Greatest Karaoke Hits: The Sing-Along Sessions_😉 **Abba** : “The Winner Takes It All” – the ultimate in torch: written by the singer’s ex-husband, who divorced her. **Styx** : “Love At First Sight” **Heart** : “What About Love”, “Alone”, “Stranded”, “The Will to Love”, “Desire Walks On” (_torch wailers_, we might call them) **Roxette** : “It Must Have Been Love”, “Spending My Time” **BBMak** : “The Ghost of You and Me” **Jann Arden** : “Cherry Popsicle” **Luba** : “Everytime I See Your Picture” **Gloria Estefan** : “Steal Your Heart” **38 Special** : “Second Chance” **Fleetwood Mac** : “In the Back of My Mind”, “Bleed to Love Her” ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/36 "2002-06-28T17:54:45Z")
[Since I Fell For You (Lyric)](http://www.geocities.com/merrystar3/allysongs/SinceIFellForYou.htm) [Performance by Babs Streisand](http://www.content.loudeye.com/scripts/hurlPNM.exe?/~ttt-600005/0407645_0113_00_0002.ra) They don’t get any torchier than this! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/37 "2002-06-28T17:56:50Z")
**Judy Henkse.** “'Til The Real Thing Comes Along.” That lady can grab your heart and stomp on it with her voice. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2002, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/38 "2002-06-29T00:20:53Z")
May I heartily recommend you check out the work of **Linda Eder** , who is moderately famous but not nearly as much as she deserves to be. The woman has the finest singing voice and technique I’ve ever heard. Plenty of torch songs to enjoy, with ‘I’ll Forget You’, ‘When I Look At You’ and ‘Someone Like You’ among her finest moments. Utterly heart-wrenching, poignant, stirring, dramatic and evocative of emotions we’ve all felt at some time or other, delivered to the very peak of perfection. ---
**Author:** ![benlormat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d26b3c/32.png) [@benlormat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benlormat)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2002, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/39 "2002-06-29T02:42:06Z")
Queen - **"My Melancholy Blues"** ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2002, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697/40 "2002-06-29T15:03:29Z")
_She’s Gone_ - Hall and Oates _Invitation To The Blues_ - Holly Cole. Actually, almost anything off of _Temptation_, Holly Cole’s 1995 album of all Tom Waits songs. She’s got a gorgeous voice and style. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-torch-songs/82697.md?page=3)