Best Examples of Creating a Modern Ballad: 3 Modern Examples

Let’s skip theory for a moment and go straight to real, modern material. When people ask for examples of creating a modern ballad: 3 examples that actually show how storytelling and music work together today, these three come up again and again:

• A chart-topping pop narrative
• A stripped‑down indie story song
• A modern ballad in poem form (no music required)

Rather than listing them like museum pieces, we’ll walk through how each one works, so you can borrow the techniques.

Example of a modern pop ballad: heartbreak with a plot

Think about a song like “drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo (2021). It’s not marketed as a “ballad” in the old-school poetry sense, but structurally it behaves exactly like one.

Here’s why it’s a strong example of creating a modern ballad:

• Clear narrator: One speaker, one perspective, talking directly to an absent “you.”
• Story arc:
  • She gets her driver’s license.
  • She remembers the promise they made.
  • She drives through the suburbs alone.
  • She confronts the reality that the relationship is over.
• Repetition as anchor: The phrase “’cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street” functions like a modern refrain, echoing the emotional core.
• Concrete details: Suburbs, stop signs, front yards—small, vivid images that make the story feel real.

If you’re looking for examples of creating a modern ballad: 3 examples, this one shows how a ballad can live inside a pop structure: verses that move the story forward, a repeating chorus that sums up the emotional punch, and a bridge that heightens the conflict.

How to steal this technique for your own ballad:

Write a scene that happens in one night—driving home, walking through a city, sitting in a hospital waiting room. Give your narrator one repeated line that keeps coming back each stanza, like a personal chorus. Build each stanza around a new detail that makes that repeated line hit harder.

Example of an indie storytelling ballad: small moment, big feeling

Now shift gears to an indie track like “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron (2015, popularized again by 13 Reasons Why in 2017).

This song is one of the best examples of a modern ballad that feels almost like a ghost story of a relationship:

• Minimal plot, maximum mood: The story is simple—someone haunted by the memory of a specific night.
• Strong refrain: “I had all and then most of you / some and now none of you” works like a classic ballad refrain, slightly varied but constantly returning.
• Implied narrative: We don’t see every event. We just feel the before/after of a relationship gone wrong.
• Steady rhythm: The song’s pacing is almost like a heartbeat—another nod to traditional ballad meter, even though it doesn’t follow old rules perfectly.

This is a perfect example of creating a modern ballad when you don’t want to write a detailed, scene-by-scene story. Instead, you create a frame—“the night we met”—and then let memory, regret, and repetition do the work.

Try this in your own writing:

Choose one night or one place: the last day of high school, a kitchen at 2 a.m., the hallway outside an ICU. Don’t explain everything. Let the images and repeated lines hint at the larger story.

Example of a modern written ballad: story poem without music

Modern ballads don’t have to be songs at all. Plenty of contemporary poets write narrative poems that function as ballads on the page.

A good example of creating a modern ballad in print form is something like a narrative poem you might see in a contemporary literary magazine: a first-person speaker recounting a breakup, a family secret, or a crime, stanza by stanza, with a repeating line or image.

If you want a published, real-world reference point, take a look at the way narrative poems are discussed in resources like the Poetry Foundation’s page on ballads and narrative poetry (poetryfoundation.org). You’ll see how modern poets keep the storytelling tradition but play with meter and rhyme more freely than older ballads.

A modern written ballad might:

• Use free verse instead of strict rhyme.
• Keep short, punchy stanzas that move the story.
• Repeat a key image instead of an exact refrain (for example, a red coat, a flickering TV, or an empty chair at the table).

If your focus is poetry rather than songwriting, this type of piece is one of the best examples of creating a modern ballad: 3 examples because it proves you don’t need a melody—just story, voice, and recurring images.

Beyond the big three: more modern ballad examples (2000–2025)

To really understand how flexible the form is, it helps to see more examples of modern ballads across genres. Here are several that writers and teachers often point to as some of the best examples of narrative-driven songs and poems in the 21st century:

• “Stan” by Eminem (2000) – A dark narrative told through letters from a fan to a rapper. It’s practically a mini short story with a tragic twist ending.
• “Someone Like You” by Adele (2011) – A straightforward breakup story, told in past tense, with a chorus that feels like a ballad refrain.
• “Fast Car” (Tracy Chapman, 1988; revived on charts in 2023–2024 via Luke Combs’ cover) – A classic story-song about poverty, hope, and disappointment. Its renewed popularity shows that ballad-style storytelling still hits hard in 2024.
• “Story of My Life” by One Direction (2013) – A pop ballad that weaves in family photos and memories, turning nostalgia into a narrative.
• Narrative poems in high school and college curricula, like those discussed in educational resources from places such as Harvard’s Poetry in America (harvard.edu) and other university writing programs, which often use classic ballads as a bridge to modern narrative poetry.

When you look at these side by side, a pattern appears: modern ballads keep the storytelling core but loosen the rules around rhyme, meter, and even stanza length.

The modern ballad formula: what these examples include

If we zoom out and look at all these examples of creating a modern ballad: 3 examples plus the extra songs and poems we’ve mentioned, they share a handful of traits.

You can think of them as ingredients you can mix rather than rules you must obey:

1. A clear narrator
There’s always a voice—someone telling the story. It might be:

• First person: “I remember…”
• Second person: “You left your coat on the chair…”
• Third person: “She walked down to the water’s edge…”

2. A story with movement
Something changes. Even if the plot is small, there’s a before and after:

• Before: hopeful, in love, safe.
• After: heartbroken, wiser, in danger, or simply older.

3. Repetition that matters
In older ballads, this was a repeated line or chorus. In modern ballads, repetition might be:

• A recurring phrase.
• A repeated image (like a car, a house, a river).
• A musical hook that brings us back to the main feeling.

4. Concrete, sensory details
Modern audiences respond to specifics: a buzzing streetlight, the smell of gasoline, the color of hospital scrubs. These details make the emotional stakes feel real.

5. Emotional focus
Every example of a modern ballad we’ve looked at centers on one emotional through-line: grief, regret, longing, nostalgia, fear, or hope.

When you’re studying examples of creating a modern ballad: 3 examples, notice how each one leans on these elements in different proportions. Some are heavy on plot (like “Stan”), others are heavy on mood (like “The Night We Met”), but they all mix these same ingredients.

Step-by-step: how to create your own modern ballad

Let’s turn all those examples of modern ballads into a practical process you can follow.

Step 1: Choose your moment of change

Every modern ballad needs a turning point. Pick one:

• The day someone left.
• The night someone didn’t come home.
• The moment you realized something was over.
• The exact time a secret came out.

Write a one-sentence summary: “This is the story of the night I realized my brother wasn’t coming back.” That sentence is your compass.

Step 2: Pick your narrator and tense

Look back at the examples of creating a modern ballad: 3 examples we started with. You’ll notice they mostly use first person (“I”) and past tense. That combination feels intimate and reflective.

Ask yourself:

• Do I want this to feel like a confession? (Use first person.)
• Do I want it to feel like a legend or rumor? (Try third person.)

Step 3: Map out 3–4 key scenes

Instead of thinking in lines, think in scenes:

• Scene 1: Before the change (set the baseline).
• Scene 2: The moment of change (the argument, the crash, the goodbye).
• Scene 3: The immediate aftermath (what you did next).
• Optional Scene 4: Looking back from the future.

Each stanza or verse can focus on one of these scenes, just like our three main examples of creating a modern ballad do.

Step 4: Find your refrain or repeating image

Now, choose something that can echo through the whole piece:

• A line, like: “and the porch light flickered on.”
• An object, like a ring, a car key, a phone that never rings.
• A place, like a bridge, a bus stop, or a hospital hallway.

Use this element in each stanza, the way “drivers license” uses the act of driving and “The Night We Met” uses that single, unforgettable night.

Step 5: Draft in short, story-focused stanzas

Keep your stanzas tight. Focus on what happens and what it feels like rather than abstract statements.

Bad ballad line: “I was very sad and heartbroken.”
Better ballad line: “I watched your coffee go cold in the cup you left behind.”

You can rhyme if it comes naturally, but modern ballads don’t depend on perfect rhyme. They depend on clear storytelling and emotional truth.

Step 6: Read it out loud and adjust the rhythm

Even if you’re not setting it to music, modern ballads are meant to be heard.

Read your draft out loud and notice:

• Where you stumble.
• Where the lines feel too long-winded.
• Where the emotion drops.

Trim or rearrange until the piece flows like someone sitting across from you, telling a story they’ve never shared before.

For more guidance on reading and revising poetry out loud, resources from organizations like the Poetry Foundation and university writing centers (for example, those linked through Harvard or other .edu sites) can offer practical tips on meter, pacing, and sound.

How modern trends (2024–2025) shape today’s ballads

Modern ballads don’t exist in a vacuum. They’re shaped by how people share stories in 2024 and 2025:

• Short-form platforms, long-form feelings: Even though TikTok and Instagram favor short clips, many viral songs are actually slow, emotional ballads cut into 15-second hooks. Writers can learn from this by making sure their ballad has at least one instantly memorable line or image.
• True-crime and memoir culture: Podcasts, documentaries, and personal essays have made people hungry for real, specific stories. That’s great news if you want to write a modern ballad—audiences are ready for narrative.
• Mental health awareness: Songs and poems about grief, anxiety, and trauma are widely discussed. Reputable sources like the National Institutes of Health (nih.gov) and Mayo Clinic (mayoclinic.org) have helped normalize conversations about emotional struggle, which means modern ballads can be more honest and direct about mental health than older ones.

The takeaway: today’s best examples of creating a modern ballad: 3 examples and beyond are emotionally transparent, specific, and unafraid to sound like real life.

FAQ: Modern ballads, answered

Q: What are some of the best examples of modern ballads I can study?
A: Strong modern examples include “drivers license” (Olivia Rodrigo), “The Night We Met” (Lord Huron), “Someone Like You” (Adele), “Stan” (Eminem), and “Fast Car” (Tracy Chapman, especially in light of its 2023–2024 chart resurgence). For written poetry, check narrative poems labeled as ballads in resources like the Poetry Foundation.

Q: Can you give a short example of a modern ballad stanza?
A: Here’s a quick example of a modern ballad-style stanza:

I passed your house at 3 a.m., the porch light blinking twice,
Your jacket still on my back seat, your name still in my device,
I told the road I’d let you go, but every traffic light
Turned red the way your face once did the night you left my sight.

Notice the storytelling, the concrete objects, and the loose but present rhyme.

Q: Do modern ballads have to rhyme?
A: No. Many modern examples of ballads use near-rhyme or no rhyme at all. What matters more is a steady rhythm and a clear sense that a story is unfolding.

Q: How long should a modern ballad be?
A: Most modern song ballads are 3–5 minutes long, which translates to a handful of verses and choruses. On the page, a modern ballad poem might run anywhere from 24 lines to several pages. Focus less on length and more on whether the story feels complete.

Q: Where can I learn more about ballads and narrative poetry?
A: Check out:

• The Poetry Foundation’s glossary on ballads and narrative poetry.
• University writing resources, such as those linked through Harvard and other .edu sites, for guidance on poetic form.
• General reading and mental health resources from NIH or Mayo Clinic if your ballad touches on grief, trauma, or emotional recovery, so you can write about those topics with care.

When you combine these resources with the examples of creating a modern ballad: 3 examples in this guide, you’ll have both models to imitate and tools to develop your own voice.