Adele sets fire to the rain.
I’ve been listening to Adele a lot recently (getting into character for a writing project), and her lyrical songwriting reminded me of school – but not because of any teenage heartbreak. I was sweet sixteen – into poetry, candles and boys – and my school had no writing club (shock, horror!). So I started one. Last time I checked, it was still going (if you know anyone connected to Bournemouth Grammar School for Girls, I’d love to know for sure). But why – do you ask – does Adele remind me of my teenage writing group? Well, one of the first questions I posed to my group was…
are all songwriters really poets?
To inspire the group, I borrowed a cassette player (oh yes!) from my history teacher and brought in a compilation tape I’d pre-recorded. Simon and Garfunkel’s The Sound of Silence was of course on the tape, but so too was Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen and Sweet Child o’ Mine by Guns’n’Roses, November Rain too. I don’t remember whom else we discussed (after all, sixteen is a long time ago now – probably REM, INXS, Madonna, who knows?!), but lyrics such as the ones below inspired us to agree that, yes, all songwriters whether their delivery be through jazz, rock, metal, country or punk, must be poets at heart for them to write what they do.
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
Simon and Garfunkel, The Sound of Silence
Now and then when I see her face,
She takes me away to that special place.
And if I stayed too long
I’d probably break down and cry.
Guns ‘n’ Roses, Sweet Child O’Mine
And when your fears subside
And shadows still remain
I know that you can love me
When there’s no one left to blame
So never mind the darkness
We still can find a way
‘Cause nothin’ lasts forever
Even cold November rain
Guns ‘n’ Roses, November Rain
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see
Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody
KLF’s hit 3am Eternal was popular back then, so too was Grove is in the Heart by Deee-Lite, but we considered these to be dance tracks, not ‘songs’ written by songwriters. For us, there was a difference between writing dance music and songwriting. I can’t remember how we came to that distinction, but we did.
However, listening – as I have been over the holidays – to dance tracks such as Jason Derülo’s Breathing, David Guetta’s When Love Takes Over (featuring Kelly Rowland), and Rihanna’s We Found Love, I’m struck by poetic lyrics such as:
I only miss you when I’m breathin’
I only need you when my heart is beatin’
You are the colour that I’m bleedin’
I only miss you when I’m breathin’
Jason Derülo, Breathing
Yellow diamonds in the light
Now we’re standing side by side
As your shadow crosses mine
What it takes to come alive
Rihanna (ft Calvin Harris), We Found Love
And such lyrics blur the distinctions I once made.
Jason Derülo writes from his heart, inspires others through his lyrics – so he’s a poet, right?
Perhaps dance music has become more complex since the single-line anthems of Felix’s Don’t You Want Me, Donna Summer’s 1995 remix of I Feel Love, Moby’s Go and (a personal favourite) Josh Wink’s Higher State of Consciousness? Even the lyrics of Luciana’s I’m Still Hot is saturated with such hyperbole as to reveal a truer feeling.
Yes, I enjoy being swept up by the kicking beat and uplift. But to me poetry is any selection of carefully chosen words strung together such that their collective order evokes more than their literal meaning. So the creator of any lyric that inspires in me poignancy, reflection or emotion, must be a poet at heart. Since I find inspiration in most types of music (I love music!), most songwriters must therefore be poets – at least to me.
What about you? Will the poets among us reject any comparison with songwriters? Perhaps songwriters will resist being grouped with composers of dance music, whereas dance music composers will reject that resistance? We all have different tastes in music, but I have a challenge for you…
Find a song released in the last twelve months that doesn’t have poetic merit.
Knowing how tenacious you are, I expect that you’ll find one. But I also reckon it’ll take you a while 😉
Chatting on Twitter about music… yes, you can add your favourite songwriter’s most poetic track(s) here too 🙂
So far we have: “every single Megadeth song”, especially “A Tout le Monde”. Thanks, Phil!
Initially I would have said that a songwriter is not a poet because a song lyric is determined by the form of the music it serves. Sometimes a songwriter will have a melody requiring words, whereas other times there will be words without a melody. The form dictates the style. In my mind I separate songwriter from poet as there is, for me, a distinction. A songwriter can write poetry and there are great lyrics that have deep emotional resonance.
I teach English and play drums and I often tell my English students not to use song lyrics as a text for deconstruction and analysis in an essay as it lacks technical depth in terms of language construction. There is poetry in the words of a song lyric, but I think a poem consciously chooses its imagery, symbolism, diction, line structure, metre, rhythm etc in a way that a song lyric doesn’t. Song lyrics are not poor man’s poetry, but I think the crafting of a poem is governed by the purpose of the poem, whereas a song lyric is supplementing the emotional state of the music.
However, on much thought about it, I don’t know. The more I think about it, the more I see the lines are blurred. A songwriter can be a poet, but a poet isn’t always a songwriter.
I’ll be sitting on the fence for this one, I’m afraid.
Adam B @revhappiness
And then I came across this gem from Kirsten Hersh of Throwing Muses, talking about her music and I now believe a songwriter can be a poet. A poet of a different kind.
I like “a poet of a different kind”. Yes, that’s it!
Great mini-documentary too, thanks Adam. Very artistic filming, aesthetically pleasing, yet raw and honest. A good find 🙂
“Paschendale” by Iron Maiden is another emotive poem set to metal. A 13 minute epic with a moving storyline. I use it in class with HSC modern history classes to get across the horror of the battle. Bruce Dickinson is a good song writer.
This one?
If so, I see what you mean!
this is the one. Live version is best!
Hi Zena
Congratulations! In JB’s Australia Day Honours you have received The Versatile Blogger Award for your blogging contribution to writing, including help and good advice for writers :
There is some small print attached to this award but it is all in the name of good fun and connecting with other bloggers.
Check it out here: http://jbthewriter.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/australia-day-blogging-awards/
Why, thank you JB! It’s so nice of you to think of me. I am thrilled to accept this award, and the responsibility that comes with it. Happy Australia Day!
Shane McGowan of the Pogues. A genius of a songwriter and certainly in possession of a poetic soul. From an Old Bournemouthian and eternal friend. David S.
Guppee! Good to see you here 🙂
I still remember the energy in that concert at the BIC when they sang Fairytale of New York…
And then they sang a song
The rare old mountain dew
I turned my face away and dreamed about you
x