I've wonder just what a torch song really is. I read the Wikipedia definition below, and then I tried to draw up a list of my top ten torch songs.

From Wikipedia:

A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affected the relationship. The term comes from the saying, "to carry a torch for someone", or to keep aflame the light of an unrequited love.

#1. "Crazy" by Patsy Cline

#2. "Since You Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson (hey, I had to include a contemporary artist)

#3. "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" by Willie Nelson

#4. "Stormy Weather" by Billie Holiday

#5. "Me and Bobby McGee" by Janis Joplin

#6. "Only the Lonely" by Roy Orbison

#7. "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" by Hank Williams

#9. "If You Leave Me Now" by Chicago

#10. "And So It Goes" by Billy Joel (with Karrin Allyson a close second)

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"Definitely recommend you take a fictional journey to Lake Charles."
Elizabeth A. White's Musings of an All Purpose Monkey