ballad

Narrative folk song

A ballad is a narrative song or poem, typically telling a dramatic story in short stanzas.

Traditional ballads recount tales of love, tragedy, or adventure: the ballad of John Henry.

In popular music, ballad has come to mean any slow, emotional song, especially about love: power ballad, The album closes with a ballad.

songform

melody

Pleasing sequence of notes

tune · lyrics · stanza · rhyme · meter · serenade · lullaby · anthem · hymn · duet

poetic

verse

Metered poetic passage

refrain · rhyme · meter · lyric · iamb · pentameter · recitation

narrative

story

Account of events

  • taleSpoken or written narrative
  • sagaExtended heroic narrative
  • epicImpressively grand in scope

chronicle · yarn · legend · adventure · account · recital · tragedy · romance · broadside · dramatic

melancholy

lament

Mournful expression of grief

yearning · mournful · elegy · heartache · forlorn · pensive · doleful · tragic · weeping · loss

folk

minstrel

Traveling performer of songs

broadside · heritage · Appalachian · Celtic · Scottish · English · Irish · American · griot · jongleur

romantic

love

Intense fond attachment

courtship · tender · sentimental · affection · devotion · longing · heartbreak · amorous · pining · beloved

classical

lied

Told a falsehood

aubade · Schubert · Chopin · Brahms · nocturne

Categories
Opposites
literary form

balladprose

Unversified language

essay · novel · treatise · short story · legal brief

musical texture

balladinstrumental

Serving as means

symphony · concerto · étude · sonata · fugue

tempo and energy

balladuptempo

Musically brisk

dance number · banger · club banger · dance track · club anthem

Phrases
Family

ball, ballet, ballroom, balled, ballads, balladeer, balladry, balletic, ballade

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Positive · Everyday, not technical · Rated G