"Torn Between Two Lovers" is the title of a pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 song written by Peter Yarrow

Peter Yarrow

Peter Yarrow is an American singer who found fame with the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote one of the group's most famous songs, "Puff, the Magic Dragon"...

 (of the folk music

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 trio Peter, Paul & Mary) and Phillip Jarrell. It was inspired by Boris Pasternak

Boris Pasternak

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Russian language poet, novelist, and literary translator. In his native Russia, Pasternak's anthology My Sister Life, is one of the most influential collections ever published in the Russian language...

's 1957 novel, Dr. Zhivago, which featured a man in love with two women. Yarrow originally intended the song to be sung by a man. Recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio

The Muscle Shoals Sound Studio was formed in Muscle Shoals, Alabama,in 1969 when musicians Barry Beckett , Roger Hawkins , Jimmy Johnson and David Hood left FAME Studios to create their own studio...

 by Mary MacGregor

Mary MacGregor

Mary MacGregor is an American singer, best known for singing the 1976 song "Torn Between Two Lovers", which topped the Billboard charts for two weeks.-Career:...

 in 1976, "Torn Between Two Lovers" reached #1 on the U.S. pop chart

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...

 in February 1977 and the easy listening chart in the final week of 1976 and first week of 1977. The song inspired the title of a television movie aired in 1979, starring Lee Remick

Lee Remick

Lee Ann Remick was an American film and television actress. Among her best-known films are Anatomy of a Murder , Days of Wine and Roses , and The Omen .-Early life:...

, George Peppard

George Peppard

George Peppard, Jr. was an American film and television actor.Peppard secured a major role when he starred alongside Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's , portrayed a character based on Howard Hughes in The Carpetbaggers , and played the title role of the millionaire sleuth Thomas Banacek in...

, and Joseph Bologna

Joseph Bologna

Joseph Bologna is an American actor.-Life and career:Bologna was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Brown University, where he majored in art history. After a hitch with the marines, Bologna was hired to produce and direct Manhattan-based TV commercials.The actor has a long history in film...

, in which the song is played.

"Torn Between Two Lovers" has also been recorded by Johnny Rodriguez

Johnny Rodriguez

Johnny Rodriguez is an American country music singer. He was the first famous Latin American country music singer, infusing his music with Latin sounds, and even singing verses of songs in Spanish....

 for his 1977 album Practice Makes Perfect, Anna-Lena Löfgren

Anna-Lena Löfgren

Anna-Lena Löfgren was a Swedish singer from Stockholm. During the years 1962 and 1995, more than 40 of her songs made it onto Svensktoppen, the record chart of Sveriges Radio. Löfgren became one of the most best known schlager singers in Sweden during the 1960s.She made her first public...

 for her 1979 album Lev Som Du Lär and Anita Meyer

Anita Meyer

Anita Meyer , born in Rotterdam 29 October 1954, is a Dutch singer. One of her most notable songs is "Why Tell Me Why" that charted for 14 weeks and topped the Dutch singles list for six weeks in 1981.- Albums :...

 for her 1984 album Face to Face. Connie Francis

Connie Francis

Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...

 recorded "Torn Between Two Lovers" for her 1989 album release Where the Hits Are which was recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and contained a number of songs whose original versions were Muscle Shoals recordings.

"Torn Between Two Lovers" has been rendered in a number of languages including German: "Zwischen Zwei Gefühlen" by Penny McLean, Portuguese: "So, entre dois amors" by Celly Campello, Dutch: "Hulpeloos verloren" by Conny Vandenbos

Conny Vandenbos

Conny Vandenbos was a popular Dutch singer. She had her first radio hit in 1966 and continued to make hit recordings through the 1970s. Notably, in her later career she released an entire album of Janis Ian songs in 1980....

 and Swedish: "Ge Mig Dina Tankar" by Wizex

Wizex

Wizex is a Swedish "dansband", formed in Osby, Sweden in 1973, with Kikki Danielsson as singer. The band has since had several front singers.Wizex finished 2nd in the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1978....

.

Chart performance

Chart (1976/1977)	Peak position
Canadian RPM Top Singles	1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	3
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	3

See also

• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1976 (U.S.)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1977 (U.S.)
• List of RPM number-one singles of 1977