Songs vs. Poetry

Woo, gettin my extra credit

This is kind of similar to Ben's post but oh well. In class yesterday we talked (technically not "we," since I didn't say anything) about the relationship between songs and poetry and how, in someone in the class's words (don't remember who), people expect songs to be less "intellectually challenging" or whatever. I don't always think that's true. I think both poets and songwriters have ideas they want to express but choose to do so in different ways. Poetry is more "old fashioned"--much more people now listen to music than read poetry, so if you want to get your ideas across, it's probably going to gain more widespread acceptance if you do it through a song than through a poem (like Rage Against the Machine for example). The main difference is that if you're a poet and your poem sucks, you're screwed. But if you're a songwriter and your lyrics suck, you can still save the song by making it appealing to listen to. Because of this, with a poem people tend to focus more on the meaning because that's all that's there, while I think in a song, people tend to focus more on the music because it's what jumps out at you. That doesn't mean that songwriters don't also have messages to get across, or that theirs are any less important or relevant, just that they may sometimes take back stage to the more apparent music.

Comments

[Theresa Y.]

I think that, like you said, songs can be treated as both a song and as a poem when you look at the lyrics. The only problem is, lots of times when you listen to the song, you really don't have a clear idea of what you're singing along too. Yeah, it can be pretty easy to figure out sometimes, but the beauty of poetry is looking for that extra meaning that you won't understand just mindlessly listening to it in the car without really focusing in on the lyrics.

I think some lyrics, when you actually do look at them, are too cryptic. My friends and I have actually had to look up on the band site what some lyrics are really trying to say. Like Bernie said, maybe it's a problem that you can't fully understand a song's cryptic meaning if you don't have a foreknowledge of some personal history or culture that is present in the song.

[Aaron B.]

Wow...I really agree with everything that you just said.

[Annie S.]

When I was analyzing my song, I realized just how poetic it was. It had a lot of literary devices that I would of otherwise wouldn't notice. Once I understood the central meaning of the work it was a lot easier to find metaphors and similes within the song.

Poems and songs are very much alike, but I would personally rather listen to a song. Songs are a good way to get poetry across because it is more enjoyable because they entertain people. Would you rather just read a 20 line poem, or listen to someone sing it with background music? So yes, songs are poetry, just more engaging.

[Dan T.]

The lyrics are only one component of a song, whereas the "lyrics" of a poem are the words of the poem, or the poem itself. So in songs, there's a tendency to undervalue lyrics because the music counts for a lot and usually more than the words. Usually, lyrics are tailored to fit the music and not the other way around. The lyrics are almost considered to be an accompaniment to the music. For this reason, I think that lyrics almost universally have less aesthetic value than real poems. Although I agree that songs have wider circulation, I think that if your goal was to spread a particular idea, and you knew that an equal number of people would either hear your song or read your poem, you would write a poem.

[abbyp]

That reminds me of those commercials when they show the guys singing to the song "rock the casbah" and they have the lyrics wrong, or the elton john song "hold me closer tiny dancer"- not "hold me closer tony danza." Anyway- that just shows how much lyrics can be misunderstood and misinterpreted.

[Jake R]

I completely agree on your explanation of how the lyrics can or can't have meaning, and if they suck, can be made up for by the musical talent. I was thinking the same thing, but I couldn't get the idea out as clearly as you did.

[Shannon M]

I agree

And I don't think it's fair to poets that a song about working out to get with rich men and take their money is a hit, when a poem without metaphors or deep meanings is referred to as a bad poem. I think that sometimes, artists hide their terrible lyrics behind music.

If lyrics and poetry are generally the same thing (which they are) they should be judged on the same basis.