ballad

The word ballad has two distinct meanings in music. In popular music, a ballad is a slow, emotional song — typically a love song or song of loss. In folk music, a ballad is a narrative song that tells a story, often of love, tragedy, or heroism, passed down through oral tradition. Folk ballads are among the oldest forms of English-language song. The traditional ballads of England, Scotland, and Ireland — collected by Francis James Child in the 19th century — tell stories of knights, outlaws, supernatural events, and doomed lovers. In pop and rock, the power ballad emerged in the 1970s and 80s as a vehicle for big vocal performances and emotional guitar solos.