The ballad originated as a poem to be sung. But also as a song you could dance to. You’ll notice the word “ball” inside the word, as in a social dance. I tell you this not for the English lesson, but ...

There’s something about a rock ballad that stirs feelings of nostalgia even when the lyrics aren’t particularly wistful. The music of the 1980s arrived with heightened earnestness as the decade became ...

J.S. Gornael has a BA in English with a Creative Writing Emphasis in Poetry and an MFA in Fiction. He has taken workshops in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction (though mostly the second). Half-cinephile ...

In 1979, Styx released a song that would become both a chart-topping success and a turning point in their sound. Written by keyboardist and singer Dennis DeYoung, "Babe" began as a personal song for ...