Ballad

A ballad is a story in a song, usually a narrative song or poem. Any form of story may be told as a

A ballad is a story in a song, usually a narrative song or poem. Any form of story may be told as a ballad, ranging from accounts of historical events to fairy tales in verse form. It is usually with foreshortened alternating four- and three-stress lines ('ballad meter') and simple repeating rhymes, and often with a refrain.

If it is based on political or religious themes, a ballad may then be a version of a hymn. Ballads should not be confused with the ballade, a 14th and 15th century French verse form.