THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

938-Natalie Imbruglia-Torn.

1997-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 3.28. As a DJ, until becoming more acquainted with her surname I did struggle. The same could be said of my pronunciation of ‘Aguilera.’ Then further back I also remember the problems that occurred when coming across the Punk Rock band ‘Splodgenessabounds,’ but nothing compares with the toughest one of them all, that top 10 song in 1976 by Quantum Jump. ‘The Lone Ranger,”Taumatawhakatangihangakuayuwotamateaturipukakupikimaungahoronukupokaiawhenuakatanatahumatakuatanganuakawamiki-tora.’

Natalie Jane Imbruglia was born on February 4th, 1975, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Her first major breakthrough occurred in 1992 when landing the role of ‘Beth Brennan’ in the Australian soap opera ‘Neighbours,’ a role she played until 1994, when leaving to further her career, with a move to London, England. It was her manager Anne Barret, whom Imbruglia had first met in England, who convinced her to record a demo of four songs, one of which was ‘Torn,’ which impressed ‘RCA Records.’

Natalie Imbruglia who has gone on to sell in excess of 10 million records worldwide, has to date released six studio Albums between 1997-2021, and 17 singles between 1997-2022, there is also a greatest hits package ‘Glorious: The Singles 97-07,’ which was released in 2007. In Australia, Imbruglia has achieved six top 40 ‘Aria’ hits, with ‘Torn’ charting the highest at Number 2, while in the UK, she has charted within the top 40 on 10 occasions, with both ‘Torn,’ (1997) and ‘Big Mistake,’ (1998) both peaking at Number 2. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, she has never charted within the top 40, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The record company wouldn’t release ‘Torn’ as a single in America, as they wanted to get people to buy the Album ‘Left of the Middle’ instead, ‘Torn’ was one of the most played songs on American radio in 1997, but at that time ‘Billboard’ didn’t include airplay tracks into the chart, but when the rules changed in December 1998, even so ‘Torn’ was at the end of it’s commercial run on radio playlists, it still managed to chart at Number 42. Away from music Natalie Imbruglia has also appeared in six films between 2003-2015, including co-starring alongside Rowan Atkinson in ‘Johnny English,’ in 2003. She has also appeared as a guest judge in both the UK and Australian versions of ‘The X Factor,’ and in 2022, she made an appearance in the very last episode of the Australian soap opera ‘Neighbours.’

‘Torn’ was the debut single release from Natalie Imbruglia, and was the first of four singles issued from her debut studio Album ‘Left of the Middle,’ from November 1997, the Album went on to sell in excess of seven million copies worldwide, making it the best selling debut ever by a female ‘Rock/Pop’ artist. ‘Torn’ was co-written by Scott Cutler, Anne Preven, and Phil Thornalley, with the production credited to Thornally. Cutler, and Preven had both been members of the American ‘Alternative Rock’ group ‘Ednasnap,’ and they had written ‘Torn’ back in 1993, but didn’t release their version until 1995. The actual first issued recording of the song was in 1993 by the Danish singer Lis Sorensen, with Danish lyrics written by Elisabeth Gjerluff Nielsen, and titled ‘Braendt’ (Burned.) Another earlier cover version of ‘Torn’ was in 1996 by the Norwegian singer Trine Rein, her recording was a hit in Norway, where it reached Number 10, and is very similar in style to the version by Natalie Imbruglia.

The songs co-writer and producer Phil Thornalley was born on January 5th, 1960, in Worlington, Mildenhall, Suffolk, England. As a writer and producer, his career highlights include writing and producing two UK Number 1 singles for Pixie Lott, ‘Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh’) (2009) and ‘Boys and Girls’ (2009.) Thornalley who has also worked closely with Bryan Adams for many years, was the producer of ‘The Cure’s’ 1982 Album ‘Pornography,’ and in 1983 co-produced their UK Number 7 hit single ‘The Love Cats,’ for which he was critically acclaimed for playing the distinctive double bass line on the track.

‘Torn’ tells of the realisation of the narrator, that the man she fell in love with has changed. He once loved and cared for her, but now he is distant, and not interested in her anymore.

‘I thought I saw a man brought to life, he was warm, he came around like he was dignified. He showed me what it was to cry, well, you couldn’t be that man I adored, you don’t seem to know, or seem to care what your heart is for, but I don’t know him anymore.’