Torn (Ednaswap song)


"Torn" is a song written by Scott Cutler, Anne Preven and Phil Thornalley in 1993. It was first recorded that year in Danish by singer Lis Sørensen, then two years later by Cutler and Preven's American alternative rock band Ednaswap, and in 1996 by American-Norwegian singer Trine Rein.
"Torn" is best known as Australian pop singer Natalie Imbruglia's 1997 debut single. Her version peaked at number one on the singles charts of Flanders, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Spain and Sweden, as well as on three US Billboard charts.

Original version

"Torn" was written in 1993 by Scott Cutler and Anne Preven with producer Phil Thornalley as a solo song for Preven. Cutler and Preven's band Ednaswap performed it live, but did not release a recording.
Ednaswap released a recorded version in 1995. The song followed the single "Glow" from their eponymous debut album. Thornalley and Cutler produced the session. The band later released several variations and remixes of the song as B-sides and on their album Wacko Magneto.

Lis Sørensen version in Danish

The first release recording of the song was in 1993 by the Danish singer Lis Sørensen as "Brændt". It was featured on her album Under stjernerne et sted, and was also a radio single. It became a hit in Denmark. Sørensen had received the song through music producer, as a suggestion for inclusion on her new album. The Danish text were written by.

Trine Rein version

In 1996, American-Norwegian singer Trine Rein released the third version of the song and second version in English from her album Beneath My Skin.

Natalie Imbruglia version

In 1997, Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia, working with Thornalley, covered the song for her debut studio album Left of the Middle. Imbruglia's version was recorded in Kilburn, London with David Munday, Phil Thornalley, Chuck Sabo, Henry Binns, Sam Hardaker and Katrina Leskanich. It was mixed by Nigel Godrich. Released as a single, Imbruglia's version became a worldwide hit.
For the track, Imbruglia received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, losing to Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On". The music video for "Torn" features British actor Jeremy Sheffield.
Imbruglia also recorded an acoustic version of the song in 2001 for MTV Unplugged.

Music video

The music video to Natalie Imbruglia's cover version, directed by Alison Maclean, features a shot of an apartment that never changes its angle of vision. Shots of Imbruglia singing along with the song are interspersed with footage of her and British actor Jeremy Sheffield engaging in a romantically inclined conversation. These couple of scenes turn out to be B-roll footage, as the two actors are seen fumbling their lines and positions; and the director constantly steps into frame to redirect the two. During the last chorus, the apartment walls start wobbling and the crew comes to dismantle it, revealing the location to be a set inside a soundstage. Imbruglia begins to dance during the finishing guitar solo as her "world" crumbles around her.
The song was pantomimed by David Armand for a 2005 HBO broadcast which spread on the internet. This popularity of the "Karaoke for the Deaf" performance by Armand as Johan Lippowitz resulted in the 2006 live performance with Imbruglia where she sings "Torn" and then joins into the "interpretive dance" pantomime featuring both Armand and Imbruglia acting out the words of the song.

Track listing

BMG international single / UK CD single 1
UK CD single 2
UK cassette single
Europe CD single

Chart performance

The physical single of Imbruglia's version of the song has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide, including more than 1 million copies in the UK alone. In the UK, it is the 85th biggest selling single of all time. The track peaked at number two for three weeks, being held off the top spot by Aqua's "Barbie Girl" and then dropped to number four. On 24 September 2007, Natalie Imbruglia's version of the song re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number 70, on the strength of digital sales after her greatest hits album was released. In the Flanders region of Belgium, the single peaked at a number one for 7 consecutive weeks and charted for 22 weeks. On the all-time Ultratop charts, it maintains a position of number 107.
As of 2011, "Torn" holds the record for most played song on Australian radio since 1990, played more than 300,500 times since its 1997 release, an average of 75 times a day, based on data compiled by the Australian Performing Rights Association.
In the United States, the song peaked at number one on the Hot 100 Airplay chart for 11 consecutive weeks. However, as a result of rules preventing tracks which had not been released as physical singles from charting on the Billboard Hot 100, the song did not chart there during its peak of popularity in the United States. When the song was declining in popularity, the rules changed to allow airplay-only songs onto the chart, and the song charted for 2 weeks, peaking at number 42.
In 2013, "Torn" was declared the No. 1 Best Pop Song on a top 10 list, part of a larger collection of songs by Q magazine in their special edition 1001 Best Songs Ever issue. Billboard ranked "Torn" the No. 26 Biggest Pop Song based only on pop radio charts compiled between 1992 and 2012. "Torn" remained the 19th most played song in the UK from 2001 to 2010. In 2005, "Torn" was listed at No. 383 on Blender magazine's list of "500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".
"Torn" is the 6th most streamed pre-2000 solo female song on Spotify at 265 million streams, behind Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You", Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody ", Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car", and Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You".

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart Peak
position
Slovenia 28

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Australia 37
Austria 26
Belgium 6
Belgium 23
Canada Top Singles 1
Canada Adult Contemporary 3
Europe 6
France 18
Germany 24
Iceland 12
Netherlands 15
Netherlands 9
Sweden 15
Switzerland 7
UK Singles 117

All-time charts

Certifications

Rouge version

In 2005, Brazilian girl group Rouge recorded a Portuguese version of the song, titled "O Amor é Ilusão", included in the group's 2005 fourth studio album Mil e Uma Noites. It was the album's second and last single, and their last overall until "Bailando" in 2018.
The lyrics were written by Milton Guedes, who co-wrote their hits "Não Dá pra Resistir", "Beijo Molhado", and others, with production by Rick Bonadio.

Background

After three studio albums, their record label Sony BMG demanded a compilation album, against the band members' wishes. At the time, rumors of their breakup circulated in the press, and they felt a new release would help dispel those allegations. Mil e Uma Noites was eventually released as a compromise, with most tracks being previously released hits, plus six all-new tracks.
As always, the album featured songs originally in English rewritten for Portuguese, including "Torn". After the success of the album's first single "Vem Habib ", "O Amor é Ilusão" was announced as the follow-up and released in late September.
This version keeps most of the original's lyrical themes, about a lost love who gradually drifts away from the narrator.

Charts

Other recordings

The song appeared in the television series Charmed, in the episode "I've Got You Under My Skin".
In Chile, Imbruglia's version of the song appeared in the TVN soap opera Separados.
Imbruglia's version has also appeared in the Turkish Netflix teen drama Love 101.