Given the types of other songs on this list, a casual onlooker could probably be forgiven for imagining that the appearance of “Torn” must be attributable to some kind of strong and unshakeable association of the usual kind between it and some significant event from my past — a first breakup, perhaps, if the lyrics are any guide, or maybe even just a first affaire de coeur more generally. But that’s really not the thing at all — there’s no such association, either specific or general, except in the most abstract way possible (in the sense that I’m sure it made me feel wistful at the time, but without any kind of localised or even more universal object). There’s just something about the song itself; I still don’t know what it is, and it’s still there.
