Learn English – Is a piece of electronic music a song or a track

music

I've seen a song defined as:

A short poem or other set of words set to music or meant to be sung.

And a track as

A recording of one song or piece of music

A song clearly has connotations of singing and a track in my mind has connotations of a stored, recorded piece of music, not the abstract entity itself. In the context of an electronic piece of music with no singing, what is the appropriate term to use to refer to said piece of music?

Best Answer

Since a song contains lyrics to be sung it is not a song. Considered on its own, it's an instrumental, a "musical composition or recording without lyrics, or singing." For example the (electronic) instrumental "Chariots of Fire" composed by Vangelis for the film score of the same name. It's the first track on the album. A track is a section of an album, usually compromising a single song or instrumental. So as part of an album it's a track, indeed an instrumental track.

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