Ballad

Ballad has acquired two related but somewhat different meanings over time. The original meaning of ballad was a popular poem that narrated a folk story; such a ballad usually did not have a known author, having emerged from deep within the traditions of a given culture or community. The more modern definition of the term is also a popular song (or poem, in a way), but it almost always speaks of love, and it also almost always has a known author. Romantic lyrics are essential when it comes to ballads, as most of them tell a sentimental story through short stanzas.  

The history of a ballad

Do songs like "Yesterday," "Walk On By," "The Girl from Ipane ma," "My Girl," "It's Too Late," "Behind Blue Eyes," "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me," "I'm Not In Love," and "Careless Whisper" float your boat? If so, you're a fan of the ballad, whether you like it or not.

A ballad is a simple song consisting of verses with stanzas and a common refrain. Typically dealing with romantic or sentimental topics, a ballad is essentially a poem set to music.

The word "ballad" derives from the French term chanson balladée ("dancing songs"). From the medieval period to the 18th century, the ballad style was characteristic of the popular folk songs that spread from the British Isles to Europe, Oceania, Northern Africa, and the New World. 

The 19th century was filled with reform both in political and social contexts, and the ballad evolved right along with those movements. The term came to be associated more exclusively with slow, romantic songs. Today, a ballad is generally considered anything resembling a slow to mid-tempo love song. In the popular music marketplace, the term is synonymous with genres such as soft rock, easy listening, and adult contemporary. 

Development 

In order to serve as accompaniment for dancing, early ballads consisted of couplets that alternated with unison-sung refrains. As the form developed in Northwestern Europe, quatrains (ballad stanzas) that rhymed on the second and fourth lines became the norm. In other regions, the ballad took on different forms, such as Spain's octosyllabic romanceros.

Lyrically, ballads consist of imagery-driven narratives that portray themes such as romance, sorrow, pain, death, and sometimes history. Songs concerning the plight of workers and the heroes of folklore are also common in the ballad form.

As a general rule, ballads cannot be fast, loud, or overly aggressive. Therefore, the ballad form has been hard to reconcile for purveyors of thrash metal, punk rock, and industrial music. As a predominately vocal-oriented form, ballads must also avoid anything too musical; such as lengthy, virtuosic instrumental passages.

The progression of a ballad

Ballad historians tend to fall into two groups: the communalists, who believe that ballads were pieced together through collective efforts; and the individualists, who maintain that most ballads originated from a sole writer.

Traditionally, ballads have been strongly influenced by local dialect, from the French chanson to the Italian canzonetta. In an attempt to sound non-English, the ballads of Scotland have long drawn on pre-Christian elements. Ballads dating from the Middle Ages were passed orally from generation to generation, but never formally authored. Therefore, it's impossible to determine just how accurate modern interpretations have been at conveying the originals. 

Music has progressed a great amount of the years, especially in the United States. In the American music of the 20th century, the ballad went through changes amidst the successive onslaughts of blues, jazz, and rock. By the 1950s, the term was being applied to the sentimental slow numbers of jazz vocalists like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Tony Bennett. 

The late 1950s witnessed a slew of young, white ballad singers—Frankie Avalon, Bobby Darin, Dion—who were incongruously marketed as rock n' rollers. A truer integration of rock and balladry occurred during the mid 1960s, spearheaded by the Beatles on their 1965 Rubber Soul LP, which displayed the moptop's softer, more lyrical side.

However, the most alarming variation of the ballad occurred at the end of the 60s, when an emerging wave of hard rockers began alternating their sets with soft numbers; Led Zeppelin's "Thank You" (1969) could be viewed as one of the pioneering works in this vein. By the late 1970s, the power ballad—a mix of hard rock and balladry—was all over AOR radio thanks to the likes of Journey, Styx, Foreigner, and REO Speedwagon.