Torn (Ednaswap song)
Encyclopedia
"Torn" is a song by the band Ednaswap
Ednaswap
Ednaswap was an alternative rock band from Los Angeles, United States, that existed between 1993 and 1998.Over a span of five years, the band released four major label records on East West, Elektra Records and Island Records...

 from their debut album Ednaswap
Ednaswap (album)
Ednaswap is the first album by Los Angeles band Ednaswap, released in 1995 . It was the band's only record for the Eastwest record label. The album was never put into wide release and the band has said that it was a disappointing experience. They were released from their contract after the album...

(1995). It was their second single from that album, after "Glow". "Torn" was written by Scott Cutler
Scott Cutler
Scott M. Cutler is an American musician and music producer.-Personal life:He recently had his 1st son "Lane" and his 2nd son "Duke" with his wife Meredith Morton.-Career:...

, Anne Preven
Anne Preven
Anne Preven is an American songwriter and musician, originally from New York. She has co-written songs for Beyoncé , Katy Perry, Madonna, Natalie Imbruglia, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Sinéad O'Connor, Charice, The Hush Sound, Jordin Sparks, Miranda Cosgrove, Black Veil Brides, Pnau, Pixie Lott,...

, and Phil Thornalley
Phil Thornalley
Phil Thornalley is a songwriter-producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He is perhaps best known for co-writing the song "Torn" which Natalie Imbruglia later covered to great success for her 1997 debut album, Left of the Middle...

 during a demo session in 1993 before Ednaswap was formed. The lyrics were written by Preven. Thornalley and Cutler produced the session. In 1997, it was covered famously by Natalie Imbruglia
Natalie Imbruglia
Natalie Jane Imbruglia is an Australian singer-songwriter, model and actress. In the early 1990s, Imbruglia was known to audiences as Beth Brennan in the popular Australian soap Neighbours. Three years after leaving the programme, Imbruglia launched a singing career with the international hit,...

 after having been recorded by Scandinavian singers Lis Sørensen
Lis Sørensen
Lis Sørensen, born 28 May 1955, is a Danish singer. In the 1970s she worked with Anne Linnet in Shit & Chanel and Anne Linnet Band. In 1983 she released her first solo album.-Albums:*Himlen ned på jorden *Lis Sørensen...

 in 1993, and Trine Rein
Trine Rein
Trine Rein is a Norwegian-American singer, who belongs to the exclusive group of Norwegian artists who have sold more than a million records. Trine was born in San Francisco in 1970, and therefore has both US and Norwegian citizenship.-Successful debut:...

 in 1996.

Covers and versions

This song has been covered a surprising number of times, considering that it was written by a nearly unknown alternative rock band; this is due to Thornalley's involvement, as he worked with all of the artists who covered it. The first recorded version of the song was a translation by Danish singer Lis Sørensen
Lis Sørensen
Lis Sørensen, born 28 May 1955, is a Danish singer. In the 1970s she worked with Anne Linnet in Shit & Chanel and Anne Linnet Band. In 1983 she released her first solo album.-Albums:*Himlen ned på jorden *Lis Sørensen...

, "Brændt", (which translates to "Burnt" in English) in 1993. Sørensen's version has a classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...

 acoustic feel, and at 5:01 is considerably longer than any of the other versions. Stylistically it is very close to Imbruglia's version, most likely because (as Anne has said in an interview) their early demo was almost exactly like Imbruglia's version. There are also some similarities to the Ednaswap version, including a longer bridge
Bridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...

 and a very long outro. The outro does not include the guitar solo at the end.

The second version of the song can be found on Ednaswap's self-titled first album. The sound is much darker than Imbruglia's version, but has an almost identical structure. It is characterized by haunting and somewhat harsh electric guitars, a longer bridge that does not include a breakdown (which the Imbruglia version, Trine Rein version and Lis Sørenson version all do), and a very long outro that fades
Fade (audio engineering)
In audio engineering, a fade is a gradual increase or decrease in the level of an audio signal. The term can also be used for film cinematography or theater lighting, in much the same way ....

 out before it is finished. The bridge is the only part of the song where the acoustic guitar chords that are prominent in every other version can be easily heard.

After Ednaswap released their original album, it was covered by Norwegian singer Trine Rein
Trine Rein
Trine Rein is a Norwegian-American singer, who belongs to the exclusive group of Norwegian artists who have sold more than a million records. Trine was born in San Francisco in 1970, and therefore has both US and Norwegian citizenship.-Successful debut:...

 on her 1996 album Beneath My Skin. Trine Rein's version is almost exactly like Imbruglia's version (and is even in English), but has a much more melodramatic feel, with piano chord hits throughout and harder electric guitar accents. The Trine Rein version has a similar bridge to Lis Sørenson's version, as long as the original Ednaswap version, but with a breakdown like the Imbruglia version.

In 1996, Ednaswap released a completely retooled version on Chicken
Chicken EP
Chicken is L.A. rock band Ednaswap's first and only EP. It was recorded after the band left Eastwest Records and was signed to Island Records, and came out a year before their full-length Island debut, Wacko Magneto.-Track listing:...

. The song is much slower and very spare, with lots of guitar shredding
Shred guitar
Shred guitar or shredding is lead electric guitar playing that relies heavily on fast guitar solos. While some critics argue that shred guitar is associated with "... sweep-picked arpeggios, diminished and harmonic minor scales, finger-tapping and ... whammy-bar abuse", several guitar...

. The first verse is very subtle, and kicks into high gear after the first chorus. There is no bridge, and a very short outro without the guitar solo that is in almost every version. In all, it is presented as a power ballad and sounds much "rawer" and harder than the other versions.

In 1997, Ednaswap released Wacko Magneto
Wacko Magneto
Wacko Magneto was the second album of Los Angeles band Ednaswap. It was their first full-length album to be put into wide release and was apparently very popular in Los Angeles and New York....

which has a remixed version of the song from the "Chicken" EP. The only difference between the two are the imperceptible background vocal effects and screeching guitars at some points of the song.

Later in 1997, it was covered by Natalie Imbruglia
Natalie Imbruglia
Natalie Jane Imbruglia is an Australian singer-songwriter, model and actress. In the early 1990s, Imbruglia was known to audiences as Beth Brennan in the popular Australian soap Neighbours. Three years after leaving the programme, Imbruglia launched a singing career with the international hit,...

, gaining its widest recognition. Imbruglia's version is very soft, with a dance beat throughout. Of all the versions of the song, it is the most pop-oriented. The main difference between this version and Trine Rein's version is that Natalie repeats the word "Torn" several times before the end of verses. Natalie Imbruglia also did an MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged is a TV series showcasing many popular musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show has received the George Foster Peabody Award and 3 Primetime Emmy nominations among many accolades.-Unplugged:...

version of the song, which removed the outro.

In 1998, Ednaswap released a "Radio Mix" of the song on their single "Back on the Sun". There are many electronic accents throughout the song. There is no bridge, and the outro is sung by Ednaswaps's lead singer Anne Preven rather than played on an electric guitar.

Other covers include those done by dance cover artist Natalie Browne
Natalie Browne
-External links:**...

, punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 band Off by One, and many Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

n artists.

There are also quite a few live versions of the song, including the Live on Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...

 version performed by Anne Preven as part of Annetenna
Annetenna
Annetenna was a short-lived band that emerged from the ashes of Ednaswap. On formation, the band were immediately signed by Columbia Records and recorded a self-titled album, which was then shelved by the record label...

 and was given kudos by Stern himself.

The boy band One Direction covered Torn at Judges Houses on The X Factor
The X Factor (UK series 7)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent; the winner of which receives a £1 million recording contract with the Syco Music record label. The seventh series started on ITV on 21 August 2010 and ended on 12 December 2010. The winner was Matt Cardle and...

, and again in the final.

The song was also covered by the Slovenian band Tabu under the title On ("He").

Bolalar
Bolalar
Bolalar is an Uzbek pop-rock band formed in 1989 by Tohir Sodiqov. Bolalar is among the few Central Asian bands to have given concerts in the US and to have released albums on iTunes. Tohir Sodiqov, the long-time lead singer, guitarist, songwriter and composer of Bolalar, is a Meritorious Artist of...

 have covered the song in Uzbek language
Uzbek language
Uzbek is a Turkic language and the official language of Uzbekistan. It has about 25.5 million native speakers, and it is spoken by the Uzbeks in Uzbekistan and elsewhere in Central Asia...

 under the name Sogʻindim ishon ("Believe me, I miss you").

Natalie Imbruglia version

In 1997, Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia
Natalie Imbruglia
Natalie Jane Imbruglia is an Australian singer-songwriter, model and actress. In the early 1990s, Imbruglia was known to audiences as Beth Brennan in the popular Australian soap Neighbours. Three years after leaving the programme, Imbruglia launched a singing career with the international hit,...

 covered the song for her debut album Left of the Middle
Left of the Middle
Left of the Middle is the first album by Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia. Released in 1997, the album was a worldwide hit. Spurred by the success of lead single "Torn", the album reached number 1 in her home country and the top 10 in both the UK and US...

. Released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

, Imbruglia's version became a worldwide hit. At the time of its release, U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart rules did not allow airplay-only songs to chart, so the song was prevented from achieving a high position on that chart despite remaining atop the Hot 100 Airplay
Hot 100 Airplay
The Hot 100 Airplay chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures radio airplay, and is one of the three component charts, along with the Hot Singles Sales and the Hot Digital Songs charts, that determine the chart positions of singles on the Billboard...

 chart for eleven weeks.

For the track, Natalie Imbruglia
Natalie Imbruglia
Natalie Jane Imbruglia is an Australian singer-songwriter, model and actress. In the early 1990s, Imbruglia was known to audiences as Beth Brennan in the popular Australian soap Neighbours. Three years after leaving the programme, Imbruglia launched a singing career with the international hit,...

 received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, losing to Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...

's "My Heart Will Go On
My Heart Will Go On
"My Heart Will Go On" is the theme song/love theme of the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic. With music by James Horner, lyrics by Will Jennings, and production by Simon Franglen, James Horner and Walter Afanasieff ,, it was recorded by Céline Dion...

". The music video for "Torn" features British actor Jeremy Sheffield.

The Natalie Imbruglia version was recorded in Kilburn, London with David Munday (Lead Guitar), Phil Thornalley
Phil Thornalley
Phil Thornalley is a songwriter-producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He is perhaps best known for co-writing the song "Torn" which Natalie Imbruglia later covered to great success for her 1997 debut album, Left of the Middle...

 (Bass, Rhythm Guitars), Chuck Sabo (Drums), Henry Binns, Sam Hardaker (Zero Seven) (Drum Programming) and Katrina Leskanich
Katrina Leskanich
Katrina Leskanich is an American singer and musician, long time resident of the United Kingdom. She is best known for being the lead singer and namesake of the pop band Katrina and the Waves.-Early life:...

 (Background vocals). It was mixed by Nigel Godrich
Nigel Godrich
Nigel Godrich, , is a recording engineer, record producer and musician. He is best known for his work with the English rock band Radiohead and is sometimes referred to as the "sixth member" of the band...

.

In 2005, Brazilian girl-band Rouge
Rouge (pop group)
Rouge was a commercially successful girl group, formed in the first season of the Brazilian reality show Popstars, broadcast by SBT in 2002...

 released a version of Imbruglia's cover called O Amor É Ilusão ("Love Is Illusion"), for their fourth and last album, Mil E Uma Noites.

Comedian David Armand
David Armand
David Armand is an English comedian, actor and writer who has performed on stage, film, radio and most notably, television, where the shows he has appeared in include Fast and Loose , How Not To Live Your Life, Pulling, The Armstrong and Miller Show, Swinging, and Peep Show.He is one of the...

 performed a comedy mime
Mime
The word mime is used to refer to a mime artist who uses a theatrical medium or performance art involving the acting out of a story through body motions without use of speech.Mime may also refer to:* Mime, an alternative word for lip sync...

 interpretation of the song, in character as "Johann Lippowitz, Vienna's foremost interpretive mime artist", which was circulated widely on the internet. At Amnesty International's
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

 Secret Policeman's Ball 2006, Imbruglia and Armand performed a live duet of the song.

Reggae fusion
Reggae fusion
Reggae fusion is a fusion genre of reggae that mixes reggae or dancehall with other genres, such as pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, house, jazz & drum and bass....

 artist Terro 3000 sampled the song in 2008 on his song "This Is How I Feel".

Torn appeared in the famous TV programme Charmed
Charmed
Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...

episode "I've Got You Under My Skin".

Music video

The music video features a continuous shot that never changes its angle of vision. Taking place in a residential space that later is revealed to be a filming studio, it has many shots where the crew is "fixing" the scene, as in a making of.

The video of the song was rated the second best video of all time by MTV Italy
MTV Italy
MTV Italy is the Italian speaking version of the popular 24 hour music and youth entertainment channel. Unlike its counterparts elsewhere in Europe, MTV Italia is a national channel available free-to-air on terrestrial television since September 1, 1997 and available on digital terrestrial...

.

Track listing

BMG international single / UK CD single #1
  1. "Torn" (4:06)
  2. "Sometimes" (3:52)
  3. "Frightened Child" (1:37)


UK CD single #2
  1. "Torn" (4:06)
  2. "Contradictions" (4:07)
  3. "Diving in the Deep End" (3:30)


UK cassette single
  1. "Torn" (4:06)
  2. "Sometimes" (3:52) (incorrectly listed on reverse sleeve as lasting 5:51)


French CD single
  1. "Torn" (4:06)
  2. "Diving in the Deep End" (3:54)

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 80th biggest selling single of all time. The track peaked at #2 for three weeks, being held off the top spot by Aqua
Aqua (band)
Aqua is a Danish dance-pop group, best known for their 1997 breakthrough single "Barbie Girl". The group formed in 1989 and achieved huge success across the globe in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The group managed to top the UK Singles Chart with their first three singles. The group released two...

's "Barbie Girl
Barbie Girl
"Barbie Girl" is a song by the Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua, who released the song in 1997 as their third single overall, and the first United Kingdom release...

" and then dropped to #4. As a result, the song is the second biggest-selling single in history not to have topped the U.K. singles chart. On September 24, 2007, Natalie Imbruglia's version of the song re-entered the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 at #70, on the strength of digital sales after her greatest hits album was released. In Flanders (Belgium) the single peaked at a number one for 7 consecutive weeks and was on charts for 22 weeks. On the ultratop of all years it is still on a position of 107.

As a result of rules preventing tracks which had not been released as physical singles from charting on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, the song did not chart there during its peak of popularity in the United States. In late 1998, when the song was declining in popularity, the rules changed to allow airplay-only songs onto the chart, and the song charted for 20 weeks, peaking at number 42.

Charts

> > > > > > > > > > > > >
Chart (1998) Peak
position
Canadian Singles Chart 1
Danish Singles Chart 1
Eurochart Hot 100 2
Italian Singles Chart 2
Irish Singles Chart 4
U.S. Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Top 40 Mainstream
1
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks
Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks
Adult Top 40 is a variation on the United States Billboard charts...

1
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...

4
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...

12
U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

42


Certifications

Country Certifications
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...


(sales thresholds)
Australia
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...

Platinum
Germany
Bundesverband Musikindustrie
The Bundesverband Musikindustrie or simply BVMI represents the music industry in Germany. The association represents the interests of nearly 350 labels and music industry related enterprises....

Gold
Switzerland Gold
United Kingdom
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...

Platinum
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