Song lyrics that can stand alone as poetry

[Koa]

I truly don't know why this came to my mind...

Sharp and open
Leave me alone
And sleeping less every night
As the days become heavier and weighted
Waiting
In the cold light
A noise
A scream tears my clothes as the figurines tighten
With spiders inside them
And dust on the lips of a vision of hell
I laughed in the mirror for the first time in a year

A hundred other words blind me with your purity
Like an old painted doll in the throes of dance
I think about tomorrow
Please let me sleep
As I slip down the window
Freshly squashed fly
You mean nothing
You mean nothing

I can lose myself in Chinese art and American girls
All the time
Lose me in the dark
Please do it right
Run into the night
I will lose myself tomorrow
Crimson pain
My heart explodes
My memory in a fire
And someone will listen
At least for a short while

I can never say no to anyone but you

Too many secrets
Too many lies
Writhing with hatred
Too many secrets
Please make it good tonight
But the same image haunts me
In sequence
In despair of time

I will never be clean again
I touched her eyes
Pressed my stained face
I will never be clean again

Touch her eyes
Press my stained face
I will never be clean again
I will never be clean again
I will never be clean again
I will never be clean again


(The Cure, The Figurehead)
I think I like all the visual images...the painted doll, the concreteness of Chinese art and American girls. And the genius of Robert Smith

I think all lyrics are poetry. (except mainstream pop...) Some maybe are bad poetry, like yeah the Linkin Park one posted above is not great, it's too easy.

[Heathcliff]

So, sometimes rap doesn't have the same melody, timing, etc. as the music. Are those 'words' considered lyrics or poetrey, or just a string of sounds?


The following are some lines from Ghetto Gospel, 2PAC and Elton John:
Tell me do you see that old lady ain't it sad
Living out a bag, but she's glad for the little things she has
And over there there's a lady, crack got her crazy
Guess she's given birth to a baby
I don't trip and let it fade me, from outta the frying pan
We jump into another form of slavery
Even now I get discouraged
Wonder if they take it all back while I still keep the courage
I refuse to be a role model
I set goals, take control, drink out my own bottles
I make mistakes, I learn from everyone
And when it's said and done
I bet this Brother be a better one
If I upset you, don't stress
Never forget, that God hasn't finished with me yet
I feel his hand on my brain
When I write rhymes, I go blind, and let the lord do his thang
But am I less holy
'cause I choose to puff a blunt and drink a beer with my homies
Before we find world peace
We gotta find peace and end the war on the streets
My ghetto gospel

_________________________

I don't think most of that goes with the beat, well, not very easily. Still, at school anyway, that became a very well known song.

So I suppose pumping our minds with somethong-like-poetry is a good thing.

[Paulclem]

It's an interesting question as to whether text is prose or poetry. It may just come down to the arrangement of the lines on the page, as so much of the features of poetry can appear in prose. The arrangement of the lines may just state the author's intention - poem not prose.

[Heathcliff]

True.

There are many ideas of what poetry is. It doesn't have to rhyme or be phrased in any way, or even go to a set of rules.

There are more restrictions in songs, I think.

[Riesa]

To cross the wide sea I deserted,
From the shore I did fly.
I thought it time that I travelled,
So I took to the roads of the sky.

It was late and the wind it did gently blow,
Oh the night it was calm.
I saw the flower of the ocean
And the universe did me no harm,
It said to fly on.

The sea captain he loved the ocean,
But his ship was on fire.
His hands they did stretch out before him,
For to take one of many desires,
But there was no time.

Across the wide sea he departed,
From the ship he did fly.
He thought it time that he travelled
And I saw him as he passed by,

[Paulclem]

True.

There are many ideas of what poetry is. It doesn't have to rhyme or be phrased in any way, or even go to a set of rules.

There are more restrictions in songs, I think.

I prefer it as it is now with free verse acceptable, and form, in the best poetry, chosen to fit the purpose. It seems more democratic in that it doesn't need follow such stringent forms. Thats not to say I don't like older poetry.

Anyway, to get back to the thread. I really like these two Pink Floyd songs. I think as poetry they are only ok, whereas the mournful tunes really add on the atmosphere.

Comfortably Numb lyrics
Songwriters: Gilmour, David Jon; Waters, Roger;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkJNyQfAprY


Hello?
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me
Is there anyone at home?

Come on, now
I hear you're feeling down
Well I can ease your pain
Get you on your feet again

Relax
I'll need some information first
Just the basic facts
Can you show me where it hurts?

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship's smoke on the horizon
You are the only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying

When I was a child I had a fever
My hands felt just like two balloons
Now I've got that feeling once again
I can't explain you would not understand
This is not how I am

I have become comfortably numb

I have become comfortably numb

Okay
Just a little pinprick
There'll be no more
But you may feel a little sick

Can you stand up?
I do believe it's working good
That'll keep you going through the show
Come on it's time to go

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship's smoke on the horizon
You are the only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying

When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown the dream is gone

I have become comfortably numb


Breathe lyrics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx6iIp-PvnY


Breathe, breathe in the air
Don't be afraid to care
Leave but don't leave me
Look around and chose your own ground
For long you live and high you fly
And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry
And all you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be
Run, run rabbit run
Dig that hole, forget the sun,
And when at last the work is done
Don't sit down it's time to dig another one
For long you live and high you fly
But only if you ride the tide
And balanced on the biggest wave
You race toward an early grave.

[Emil Miller]

I don't know if it can stand alone as poetry, but nobody can doubt the poignancy of the words in this recording:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eih67rlGNhU

[Desolation]

Teachers - Leonard Cohen

I met a woman long ago
her hair the black that black can go,
Are you a teacher of the heart?
Soft she answered no.
I met a girl across the sea,
her hair the gold that gold can be,
Are you a teacher of the heart?
Yes, but not for thee.

I met a man who lost his mind
in some lost place I had to find,
follow me the wise man said,
but he walked behind.

I walked into a hospital
where none was sick and none was well,
when at night the nurses left
I could not walk at all.

Morning came and then came noon,
dinner time a scalpel blade
lay beside my silver spoon.

Some girls wander by mistake
into the mess that scalpels make.
Are you the teachers of my heart?
We teach old hearts to break.

One morning I woke up alone,
the hospital and the nurses gone.
Have I carved enough my Lord?
Child, you are a bone.

I ate and ate and ate,
no I did not miss a plate, well
How much do these suppers cost?
We'll take it out in hate.

I spent my hatred everyplace,
on every work on every face,
someone gave me wishes
and I wished for an embrace.

Several girls embraced me, then
I was embraced by men,
Is my passion perfect?
No, do it once again.

I was handsome I was strong,
I knew the words of every song.
Did my singing please you?
No, the words you sang were wrong.

Who is it whom I address,
who takes down what I confess?
Are you the teachers of my heart?
We teach old hearts to rest.

Oh teachers are my lessons done?
I cannot do another one.
They laughed and laughed and said, Well child,
are your lessons done?
are your lessons done?
are your lessons done?

[Heathcliff]

I prefer it as it is now with free verse acceptable, and form, in the best poetry, chosen to fit the purpose. It seems more democratic in that it doesn't need follow such stringent forms. Thats not to say I don't like older poetry.

Anyway, to get back to the thread. I really like these two Pink Floyd songs. I think as poetry they are only ok, whereas the mournful tunes really add on the atmosphere.

Breathe lyrics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx6iIp-PvnY


Breathe, breathe in the air
Don't be afraid to care
Leave but don't leave me
Look around and chose your own ground
For long you live and high you fly
And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry
And all you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be
Run, run rabbit run
Dig that hole, forget the sun,
And when at last the work is done
Don't sit down it's time to dig another one
For long you live and high you fly
But only if you ride the tide
And balanced on the biggest wave
You race toward an early grave.

I like the Breathe ones, the type of poem that my English teacher would like, anyway.

Free verse bothers me in poems and songs, I think it is a lot harder to write.

I think it also depends on what comes first, the lyrics or the words.

[Paulclem]

I like the Breathe ones, the type of poem that my English teacher would like, anyway.

Free verse bothers me in poems and songs, I think it is a lot harder to write.

I think it also depends on what comes first, the lyrics or the words.

I wonder what others think. I think free verse is easier to write, as the discipline of using a poetic form effectively limits your options for word order, meaning etc.

[IWroteAPoem]

Kurt Cobain wrote really good lyrics

Underneath the bridge
The tarp has sprung a leak
The animals I've trapped
Have all become my pets
I'm living off of grass
And the drippings from the ceiling
It's okay to eat fish
'Cause they don't have any feelings

[Heathcliff]

I wonder what others think. I think free verse is easier to write, as the discipline of using a poetic form effectively limits your options for word order, meaning etc.

I suppose everyone is different. I don't like free verse because having to rhyme gives me boundaries and I have to stretch my vocabulary to meet them.

[Paulclem]

I suppose everyone is different. I don't like free verse because having to rhyme gives me boundaries and I have to stretch my vocabulary to meet them.

I know what you mean. I do like the discipline it imposes, and crafting something into a form is satisfying. Not much time though.

[Heathcliff]

I know what you mean. I do like the discipline it imposes, and crafting something into a form is satisfying. Not much time though.

Then again, if it is a poem and not a song, you can have these massive, long lines, then some short ones. Only hard part is that it has to flow somehow, so at least some of them must be to a corresponding length.

[wlz]

If this kind of repugnant twaddle is to be enjoyed as poetry then we're all immediately made redundant:

"Whoa-ohh-oh
Whoa-ohhh-oh-oh

Ooooh
Oh baby, I've been flyin'
Nooo-yeah
Oh mama there
Ain't no denyin'

Oh!
Ooooh-yes
I've been flyin'
Ma-ma-ma
Ain't no denyin'
No denyin'-uh

Oh!"

- extract from 'Kashmir'.

I think I hear coffin doors opening in Pere Lachaise!

Westminster Abbey is groaning!

The Greek Island of Ios is freezing over!

I'm sure you may all be thinking that there's some sort of poetic famine on, but come out of the dark and back into the light before it's too late!