The Ballad of the Sad Young Men

The Ballad of the Sad Young Men (1958)[1] is a popular song with music by Tommy Wolf and lyrics by Fran Landesman written for the 1959 Off-Broadway musical The Nervous Set. The song depicts young men, sitting alone in bars, "drinking up the night and trying not to drown."[2]

History

In the jazz musical The Nervous Set about the Beat Generation, the song is sung by the character Jan (originally portrayed by actress Toni Seitz) who sympathizes with the Beats and their culture.[1] Music reviewer Terrance Blacker likens the title to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s collection of short stories All the Sad Young Men.[2]

As a jazz standard (sometimes called Ballad of the Sad Young Men), the song has been performed and recorded by several artists, including Anita O’Day on her album All the Sad Young Men (1962), Shirley Bassey And I Love You So (1972) and Roberta Flack First Take (1969). Rolling Stone named the song in their list of 18 Essential Roberta Flack Songs as a tribute to the singer on February 24, 2025.[3]

Despite its solemn tone, the song became popular within the gay bar community.[4] When singer Roberta Flack was a music teacher in Washington D.C., she performed "five nights a week, three sets per night" at a local gay friendly bar and restaurant called Mr. Henry’s on Capitol Hill: a cultural "hot spot" for jazz musicians in the D.C. area.[5]

Atlantic Records VP Joel Dorn heard Flack perform one night and signed her based on the reaction from the audience to her performance of the song.[1] According to author Eric Weisbard in his book Listen Again: A Momentary History of Pop Music, [even though] "the lyric never openly refers to the term 'gay', in the context of the homosexual concept, its references are unmistakable... the song's last line confirms its sympathetic tone... ‘guide them home again'."[6]

In 1994, singer Renato Russo recorded the song in memory of the Stonewall riots in New York City for his album The Stonewall Celebration Concert (2004) EMI.

Notable recordings

References

  1. ^ a b c Who Are the Sad Young Men? The Mutability of Meaning and Context in "The Ballad of the Sad Young Men". Seacoast Jazz Society. Shilansky, Mark. January 1, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Blacker, Terrance (January 1, 2023). "The Friday Song: Davy Graham, 'The Ballad of the Sad Young Men'". Retrieved February 24, 2025.
  3. ^ 18 Essential Roberta Flack Songs. Rolling Stone. February 24, 2025.
  4. ^ Donaldson, Stephen (1990). "Music, Popular". The Encyclopedia of Homosexuality. Vol. 2. p. 859. ISBN 9781317368120. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  5. ^ Skolnik, JJ (January 20, 2023). "What Roberta Flack's music means to her LGBTQIA+ audiences". PBS. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
  6. ^ Weisbard, Eric (November 1, 2007). Listen Again: A Momentary History of Pop Music. ISBN 978-0822340225. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
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