What is "ballad"

Ballad \Bal"lad\, n. [OE. balade, OF. balade, F. ballade, fr. Pr. ballada a dancing song, fr. ballare to dance; cf. It. ballata. See 2d Ball, n., and Ballet.] A popular kind of narrative poem, adapted for recitation or singing; as, the ballad of Chevy Chase; esp., a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas.

Ballad \Bal"lad\, v. i. To make or sing ballads. [Obs.]

Ballad \Bal"lad\, v. t. To make mention of in ballads. [Obs.]

late 15c., from French ballade "dancing song" (13c.), from Old Provençal ballada "(poem for a) dance," from balar "to dance," from Late Latin ballare "to dance" (see ball (n.2)).

n. 1 A kind of narrative poem, adapted for recitation or singing; especially, a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas. 2 A slow romantic song. vb. 1 (context obsolete English) To make mention of in ballads. 2 (context intransitive English) To compose or sing ballads.

1. n. a narrative song with a recurrent refrain [syn: lay]

2. a narrative poem of popular origin [syn: lay]

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French chanson balladée or ballade, which were originally "dancing songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of the British Isles from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa.

Many ballads were written and sold as single sheet broadsides. The form was often used by poets and composers from the 18th century onwards to produce lyrical ballads. In the later 19th century the term took on the meaning of a slow form of popular love song and is now often used for any love song, particularly the pop or rock sentimental ballad.

Ballad is a form of narrative poetry, often put to music, or a type of sentimental love song in modern popular music.

Ballad or Ballade may also refer to:

"Ballad (Namonaki Koi no Uta)" is the 10th Japanese single released by alan. The song is the theme song of the same-titled movie starring Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Yui Aragaki.

The single also contains the previously released digital single Shiawase no Kane.

The single debuted at #11 the first week selling 5,988 copies, the second week it fell to #22 selling 2,948 copies, total to date it's sold 10,696 copies.

Ballad (sometimes called Ballade) is a piece for piano solo composed in 1929 by John Ireland.

A performance takes about 10 minutes.

"Ballad" is the tenth episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on November 18, 2009, and was written and directed by series creator Brad Falchuk. "Ballad" sees the glee club split into pairs to sing ballads to one another. Rachel ( Lea Michele) is paired with club director Will ( Matthew Morrison) and develops a crush on him. Quinn's ( Dianna Agron) parents learn that Quinn is pregnant, and she moves in with Finn ( Cory Monteith) and his mother when her own parents evict her. Gregg Henry and Charlotte Ross guest-star as Quinn's parents Russell and Judy Fabray, and Sarah Drew appears as Suzy Pepper, a student with a former crush on Will. Romy Rosemont returns as Finn's mother, Carole Hudson.

The episode features covers of seven songs, including a mash-up of " Don't Stand So Close to Me" by The Police and " Young Girl" by Gary Puckett and The Union Gap. Studio recordings of all songs performed in the episode were released as singles, available for digital download. "Ballad" was watched by 7.29 million US viewers and received mixed reviews from critics. Elizabeth Holmes of The Wall Street Journal and Liz Pardue of Zap2it were disappointed that Jane Lynch did not appear as Sue Sylvester, though Mike Hale of the New York Times did not miss her presence. Bobby Hankinson of the Houston Chronicle deemed "Ballad" one of the best episodes of Glee to date. Dan Snierson of Entertainment Weekly did not enjoy it as much as the preceding episode " Wheels" but reviewed the episode positively overall, while Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune deemed it "deliriously, deliciously bad".

"Ballad" was the episode submission of Dianna Agron for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, but her nomination failed to make the final cut.

"You Were.../Ballad" is Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki's forty-seventh (forty-eighth overall) single, released on December 29, 2009. The single was intended to be released on December 16, but Avex Trax pushed the release date two weeks back. The first song on the single "You were..." is the theme song for the Japanese version of the Disney movie Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, while the second song "Ballad" is tied up with The Firmament of the Pleiades, a NHK's historical and political drama based on Jiro Asada's book of the same name. The single became Hamasaki's 22nd consecutive single to debut at number-one position since her 2002 single "Free & Easy" on the Oricon weekly charts, making her the first solo artist and the female artist to have 22 consecutive singles to debut at number-one position. It is also her 34th number-one single on the Oricon weekly charts.