Take it from an English teacher. A ballad is a poem, usually sung, which tells a story. In the past, there have been very rigid rules for ballad writing. Now, writer's have played with the rules a bit. The key element in ballads is the telling of a story. Other elements include a consistent rhythm, the use of stanzas, and the use of a refrain. Gord has written many ballads, for example CRT, WofEF, Don Quiote. However, a few of the songs mentioned above would not qualify since they do not really tell a story, for example Shadows. Hope this helps.
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