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Are ALL lyrics poetry
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Are ALL lyrics poetry |
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bungalowbill357 New Member
since 2006-04-26
Posts 1 |
I am in quite the debate on whether or not all lyrics are considered poetry. i will not give my opinion on the subject until I have gotten ideas from each of you. |
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Debo Member
since 2006-04-18
Posts 321Texas U.S.A. |
Well this my opinion is that Not all lyrics are poetry Poetry Definition: The art or craft of rhythmic composition Debo |
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stargal Senior Member
since 2006-03-06
Posts 1352OR USA |
M'kay, well I dunno Debo, because there is poetry that is not "rhythmic", so I think i'm still in a toss up on this one  Sorry, I didn't really add anything to this post... @-->--- |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration |
it's my opinion that not all poetry is poetry... |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
It's my opinion, on the other hand, that everything is poetry.  |
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Mysteria 
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328British Columbia, Canada |
I have to tell you that several Canadian musicians I have known for years personally wrote poetry and recited it in little coffee houses long before their poetry ever became lyrics of their recorded songs. A few that came to mind are Neil Young, Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Joni Mitchell, and Lorenna McKenna. One I don't know but I consider one of the best lyric poets is Bob Dylan, and if that isn't poetry I sure don't know what is. When you find the answer I would be curious to know myself, as I always figured anything written other than a parking ticket was poetry. |
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Walter Poe Senior Member
since 1999-10-13
Posts 787 |
I would say yes all lyrics are poetry if the lyrics are to a song most rave/house/dance one sentence repetitions aren't songs so therefore are not poetry. Possibly i would consider 'manufactured' pop music low quality poetry. This is my reasoning poems are designed like music to evoke emotions. So songs are poetry but not all poetry can be songs but anyone who has heard sunscreen by Baz Luhrman (and if you haven't do) may disagree. I went to the desert on a horse with no name, it felt good to get out of the rain. |
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Marge Tindal
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384Florida's Foreverly Shores |
I LOVE Ron's answer !  I agree 133% !  ~*The sound of a kiss is not as strong as that of a cannon, but it's echo endures much longer*~ |
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Enchantress Member Empyrean
since 2001-08-14
Posts 35113Canada eh. |
YES!!! It's all poetry! And Mysteria!! I remember the days of coffee houses and beatniks! |
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Ringo
since 2003-02-20
Posts 3684Saluting with misty eyes |
Totally agree with Ron's answer. I only wish I could have said it first. Lyrics are poetry. I had more than one music instructor as I was growing up inform me that songs were nothing more than poetry set to music. (I know that eliminates the instrumentals; however, let's just stick this one out second.) I also had chance to discuss my songwriting with a musician whom most of you would more than likely know the name of his band, (more like my lack of ability to get decent lyrics together) and he said almost the exact same thing. He had learned through a mutual friend that I was a poet, and he asked for a sample. I showed him one that I was working on, and he turned it into a song on the spot. AS for the argument that one line reepetition isn't poetry... the shortest poem on record is barely one line. Would repeating is ad nauseum make it any less so? "... the rest is silence" |
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Essorant Member Elite
since 2002-08-10
Posts 4769Regina, Saskatchewan; Canada |
About 10% of the universe (including lyrics) is poetry. The rest is a heap of chaos! |
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
Ron's right. sigh I sure wish he would express it more, but there is poetry in piles of maggots, aching to be flies, squirming wing. grin see what we mean? Y'just gotta see it.  |
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Ringo
since 2003-02-20
Posts 3684Saluting with misty eyes |
Karen- Even though we agree that there is poetry in all things, I think you alone could have made a pile of maggots actually sound like poetry.  "... the rest is silence" |
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ESP Member Elite
since 2000-01-25
Posts 2556Floating gently on a cloud.... |
In reply to: Mysteria Joni Mitchell....*sigh*....that has to be poetry... ...Both sides now... |
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bigboy New Member
since 2006-05-16
Posts 7 |
i believe that poetry should have harmony. i believe that the poetry should blend together in words or lyrics |
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Brian James Member
since 2005-06-26
Posts 147Winnipeg |
Well, calling something "poetry" doesn't necessarily mean that it's good poetry. Ironically, what we would usually consider to be a "poem" nowadays would once have been more precisely described as a "lyric." Strictly speaking, "lyric" has pretty consistently been used to describe a category of poetry throughout history. Kinda like asking, "are all basset hounds dogs?" "To me, the thing that art does for life is to clean it, to strip it to form." ~Robert Frost |
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LeeJ Member Patricius
since 2003-06-19
Posts 13296 |
when I see a man/woman standing in a stream fishing with a fly rod...now that, to me is poetry or the ocean/sea rhythematically lapping the shore, or a horse, at a full gallop, reading Poe, listening to music/songs....living life...etc...etc...reading these blue pages...watching Grey's Anatomy  a tree whispering in a summer breeze....whoever came up with "poetry in motion" says it all...My answer is yes, poetry is all things...rhyme or no rhyme, lyrics or complete silence...to me is poetry... |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration |
next question then, Ron - how much of it is GOOD poetry? |
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aliway Member
since 2006-03-05
Posts 185With in your eyes |
This is an endless debate, it goes in both ways. The right answer is in the eyes of the beholder. I say its both. |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
Read any Theodore Sturgeon lately, Chris. Of course, like all else, any answer is going to depend on first agreeing on a definition of "good." I personally don't think "Mary Had a Little Lamb" is good poetry, for example, but I do think it's poetry and I do think it serves a vital purpose for a very specific audience. From a Darwinian perspective, "bad" poetry won't survive beyond its first telling, and will never reach a wider audience. |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration |
No, haven't, though I do remember upon following your link the "revelation." Something I not only agree with, but also notice refutes your statement if accepted... (besides the fact that it's one of those "I always tell the truth / you always lie" kind of statements.) quote:Perhaps a bit off the subject, but do you believe this still holds true, with the propogation of the Internet? Haven't you built a home in which bad poetry can, in fact, survive past the first "telling" and be around for future browsers to happen upon again and again and again? (and PLEASE don't tell me there's no bad poetry here... I know you've read at least one of my posts! ) |
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kif kif Member
since 2006-06-01
Posts 439BCN |
Interesting discussion, people. I'm laughing Sturgeon's Law-90% of everything is crud. I'd like to easily agree, but that would mean admitting that rubbish song lyrics were something. I've got a phrase that a friend cut out and posted, a'la ransom note style to me..."Nothing Is Impossible, Everything Is Free" You're all going to think I'm a total misanthropist here, but I've always pondered on ancient times. The Seers, poets, musicians and artists, along with the philosphers, were revered in society, because there were so few in the community. Nowadays, there's much more people in the world, and the communities are scattered. Where does that leave The Seers? I think, that because society has changed so much, the expressions of beyond this finite world are no longer just the domain of those picked out by the community as worthy-now, Global Industry decides, on the whole, which artists get the exposure to enlighten us. I think the internet is a good thing for reconnecting us all to the more natural selections of art. We decide, not some multi-international company. Of course , because the population is so huge, there is more dross to sift through, but there is also more jewels to be found as a result. Are ALL lyrics poetry? No. Is some poetry lyric? Yes. There are bad lyrics, just as there is bad poetry, just as there is bad design, just as there is bad literature...yadda yadda. but, there's also good stuff, in the most unlikeliest of places. |
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Moon Dust
since 1999-06-11
Posts 2177Skelmersdale, UK |
I think that all lyrics are poetry, what I think is the distintion between good lyrics and and bad lyrics is the work you put in and how your idol culturally effects you. If your afraid of the dark, then why did you come? |
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Walter Poe Senior Member
since 1999-10-13
Posts 787 |
Ok im gonna get back in here poetry is about emotion that is what it is designed to do. I hate to disagree with ron but 'Mary had a little lamb' is a good poem read it from a fresh perspective as a child Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb, Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went, and everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go. It followed her to school one day school one day, school one day, It followed her to school one day, which was against the rules. It made the children laugh and play, laugh and play, laugh and play, it made the children laugh and play to see a lamb at school. And so the teacher turned it out, turned it out, turned it out, And so the teacher turned it out, but still it lingered near, And waited patiently about, patiently about, patiently about, And waited patiently about till Mary did appear. "Why does the lamb love Mary so?" Love Mary so? Love Mary so? "Why does the lamb love Mary so," the eager children cry. "Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know." The lamb, you know, the lamb, you know, "Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know," the teacher did reply. It is when viewed as a child would evoctive and descriptive its a bit hackneyed now but it has been over used 'its fleece was white as snow' is a phenomenal description. But i would still say cutting one line out of anothers work and repeating it over and over to a beat isn't poetry it does not evoke it does the opposite its dead words mutilated and fed back to a none beat. Do not go gentle into that good night. |
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