What is "torch song"

Torch song \Torch" song`\, n. a popular song with a sentimental theme of unrequited love or other form of unhappiness.

n. A song, often sentimental, lamenting an unrequited love; normally sung by a woman.

n. a popular song concerned with disappointment in love

Torch Song was a British electronic and ambient band of the early 1980s. Original members were William Orbit, Laurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert. By 1985 they had disbanded. Orbit and Mayer re-formed the project in 1995 and recorded their final album, Toward the Unknown Region, and were joined by Rico Conning, who had been their in house producer at Guerilla Studios and also a member of post punk band, The Lines.

Torch Song is a 1953 Technicolor romantic musical drama film by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Joan Crawford and Michael Wilding in a story about a Broadway star and her rehearsal pianist. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes and Jan Lustig was based upon the story "Why Should I Cry?" by I. A. R. Wylie in 1949 Saturday Evening Post. The film was directed by Charles Walters and produced by Sidney Franklin, Henry Berman, and Charles Schnee. Joan Crawford's singing voice was dubbed by India Adams.

Torch Song has gained note for the musical number "Two-Faced Woman" from The Band Wagon in which Crawford, in blackface, lip-syncs to the voice of India Adams while writhing with male dancers. The film marked Crawford's return to MGM after a ten-year absence. Her original recordings for the soundtrack, which were not used in the film, have survived and been included in home video releases.

Torch song is a sentimental love song, and may refer to:

• Torch Song (film), a 1953 film starring Joan Crawford
• Torch Song Trilogy, a 1982 play by Harvey Fierstein
• Torch Song Trilogy (film), a 1988 film adaptation of the Harvey Fierstein play

• Torch Song, a British 1980s synthpop band
• "Torch Song", a song by AFI from Crash Love
• "Torch Song", a single by the American band, Be Careful Little Hands
• "Torch Song", a song by the British rock group Marillion from the album Clutching at Straws
• "Torch Song", a song by Todd Rundgren on the album Something/Anything?
• "Torch song", a song by the experimental rock group, The Legendary Pink Dots
• "Torch Song", a song by the American indie band, The Walkmen

• Torch Song, an essay by Charles Bowden published in the book, The Best American Essays 1999

Judith Krantz's Torch Song is a 1993 Made-for-TV drama film directed by Michael Miller. It stars Raquel Welch, Jack Scalia and Alicia Silverstone.