Song lyrics that can stand alone as poetry

[Muses]

Anyone else quite fancy a bit of MUSE?

Falling Away With You..

I can't remember when it was good
moments of happiness elude
maybe I just misunderstood

all of the love we left behind
watching the flash backs intertwine
memories I will never find

so I'll love whatever you become
and forget the reckless things we've done
I think our lives have just begun
I think our lives have just begun

and I'll feel my world crumbling
I'll feel my life crumbling
I'll feel my soul crumbling away
and falling away
falling away with you

staying awake to chase a dream
tasting the air you're breathing in
I know I won't forget a thing

promise to hold you close and pray
watching the fantasies decay
nothing will ever stay the same

all of the love we threw away
all of the hopes we cherished fade
making the same mistakes again
making the same mistakes again

I can feel my world crumbling
I can feel my life crumbling
I can feel my soul crumbling away
and falling away
falling away with you

all of the love we've left behind
watching the flash backs intertwine
memories I will never find
memories I will never find

Others might disagree but i find it quite good, and i agree that there are a few Arctic Monkeys songs that are nice, Alex Turner is quite poetrical in his lyrics.

[wlz]

I have quite a broad taste in music. But I find most of it, if not all, hard to accept as poetry.
Most rock & pop lyrics just don't make it. Just imagine the tedium of reading 'Satisfaction' by the Rolling Stones, or lyrics as repetitive as 'Where have all the flowers gone? To be honest I find the overall effect completely different. All in all, I can't think of any songs I would regard as poetry unless it is actually poetry: Owen's 'Futility' was set to music, although for me, the poem immediately lost its gravitas - it just did not have the same impact anymore. I can say my favourite lyricist is probably Paul Simon. These songs by Simon & Garfunkle are the only tunes I can listen to without wishing they had better lyrics.

[Heathcliff]

In class last year we had to recite a poem. I did 'In the Ghetto' by Elvis Presley. The teacher liked it. The words didn't have much meaning behind them. I knew what they were saying, however there wasn't very much to interpret.

Half of the class chose 'I'm Yours' by Jason Mraz. Most of it was almost sung, however there was nothing be hind it.

I agree, wlz, Simon and Garfunkle are probably the best for poetry, as far as I'm concerned.

[neilgee]

When I was at school and The Beatles' influence was still quite strong Penny Lane turned up in a poetry anthology that was handed out to the class.

This appearance was due - the teacher explained - to one particular line that Lennon threw in there:

Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout
The pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And though she feels as though she's in a play
She is anyway

Can one line transform a pop star into a poet? I have my doubts...

[Heathcliff]

Well, I don't suppose John Lennon was known for his poetry. That would be something for the whole word to decide.

It is pretty good though.

Doesn't take a genious to write one line of value.

[JuniperWoolf]

So byyyye bye miss American pie! PUT THE CHEVY TO THE LEVY BUT THE LEVY WAS DRYYY!!!!
(you'll call it poetry too when you're wasted and stumbling down an icy road at five in the morning)

But really, Jim Morrison wasn't a bad poet.

Lions in the street and roaming,
Dogs in heat, rabid, foaming.
A beast caged in the heart of a city.
The body of his mother
Rotting in the summer ground,
He fled the town.
He went down South and crossed the border,
Left the chaos and disorder,
Back there over his shoulder.

[Heathcliff]

Yes. Jim Morrison is pretty good by the sounds of that.

On the other hand of all of this, how many poems can be considered songs.
All of them are, almost. If somebody adds a melody to it.
In that case, what is a lymric if it is both? Or a catchy radio jingle?

[Dinkleberry2010]

originally, poetry was always accompanied by music

[OrphanPip]

originally, poetry was always accompanied by music

This is still true of some poetic traditions. People trying to reestablish Inuit culture are exploring the traditional "chants" as poetry

Edit: I'd like to say though that greatest lyrics are not necessarily going to be great poetry. Song lyrics are written with the music in mind, and how the lyrics play off the music is a huge part of them. When we remove the music from the lyrics we cut ourselves off from their quality as lyrics within and of themselves.

Leonard Cohen is considered a great lyricist, but he's in general considered only a mediocre poet. Although, he was published as a poet prior to having any success in music.

[Scheherazade]

I'm Sticking with You - Velvet Underground

I'm sticking with you
'cos I'm made out of glue
Anything that you might do
I'm gonna do too

You held up a stage coach in the rain
And I'm doing the same
So you're hanging from a tree
And I made believe it was me

I'm sticking with you
'cos I'm made out of glue
Anything that you might do
I'm gonna do too

People going to the stratosphere
Soldiers fighting with the cong?

But with you by my side I can do anything
When we swing
We hang past right or wrong

I'll do anything for you
Anything you want me too
I'll do anything for you
Oohoh I'm sticking with you
Oohoh I'm sticking with you
Oohoh I'm sticking with you

[stlukesguild]

The Doors produced some truly great stuff, but Jim Morrison was far from being a good poet.

I'd like to say though that greatest lyrics are not necessarily going to be great poetry. Song lyrics are written with the music in mind, and how the lyrics play off the music is a huge part of them. When we remove the music from the lyrics we cut ourselves off from their quality as lyrics within and of themselves.

Exactly... and this point was made already on the earlier thread on this same topic. Poetry has its own internal rhythm and "music" if you will. Most song lyrics do not, rather the music provides this framework for them. Reading a great many of these song lyrics is almost painful without this framework. In an earlier discussion we brought up the fact that even a vast majority of opera librettos, texts for cantatas or oratorios, lieder, chanson, etc... do not hold up well as literature divorced from the music.

[Heathcliff]

I'm Sticking with You - Velvet Underground

I'm sticking with you
'cos I'm made out of glue
Anything that you might do
I'm gonna do too

You held up a stage coach in the rain
And I'm doing the same
So you're hanging from a tree
And I made believe it was me

I'm sticking with you
'cos I'm made out of glue
Anything that you might do
I'm gonna do too

People going to the stratosphere
Soldiers fighting with the cong?

But with you by my side I can do anything
When we swing
We hang past right or wrong

I'll do anything for you
Anything you want me too
I'll do anything for you
Oohoh I'm sticking with you
Oohoh I'm sticking with you
Oohoh I'm sticking with you

I've never heard this song.
Is it a boppy, girly tune?
I hope it is, would sound alright.
Only I'm not going to check it out, so I'm not disappointed.

[OrphanPip]

I've never heard this song.
Is it a boppy, girly tune?
I hope it is, would sound alright.
Only I'm not going to check it out, so I'm not disappointed.

Velvet Underground can be described as many things, but boppy, girly probably isn't one of them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwzaifhSw2c
(It's a different song of theirs so as not to disappoint too much)

[Heathcliff]

Velvet Underground can be described as many things, but boppy, girly probably isn't one of them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwzaifhSw2c
(It's a different song of theirs so as not to disappoint too much)

Aw. Not girly.

That particular song totally made it NOT girly. It's pretty good though.
Would also serve a good orchestral piece...

[JBI]

The Doors produced some truly great stuff, but Jim Morrison was far from being a good poet.

I'd like to say though that greatest lyrics are not necessarily going to be great poetry. Song lyrics are written with the music in mind, and how the lyrics play off the music is a huge part of them. When we remove the music from the lyrics we cut ourselves off from their quality as lyrics within and of themselves.

Exactly... and this point was made already on the earlier thread on this same topic. Poetry has its own internal rhythm and "music" if you will. Most song lyrics do not, rather the music provides this framework for them. Reading a great many of these song lyrics is almost painful without this framework. In an earlier discussion we brought up the fact that even a vast majority of opera librettos, texts for cantatas or oratorios, lieder, chanson, etc... do not hold up well as literature divorced from the music.

Hmm, I like to think that, but then I recall poetry started off as a sort of song-based art - Orpheus, Homer, and the rest, all accompanied by music - not to mention the Classical Chinese poets, the Vedic Indian poets, and others. I think Japanese poetry started off as textual, but I am not sure.

The point is, is that the separation is really unnatural, so I have a bit of trouble understanding it. I think really it is that music can work without good lyrics, but that music in itself is not poetry, but I don't think lyrics themselves work if they are bad with good music. The song itself works, but I don't think the lyrics do. So if we maintain distinction, it is easy to suggest one work is mediocre in one regard, but the compensation of the whole manages to keep the thing afloat.

So, we can have the opposite, where Dylan isn't the best singer in an objective sense, but when he uses his lyrics, they become a sort of performance art work that is legitimized under the standards of good music, for the sake that their lyrics are top notch. The same thing goes the other way, and it just ends up that we evaluate one element.