david’s post on lyrics reminded me of something i realized a little while ago: i think much of my love of music with good lyrics has fed my love of poetry and vice versa. i think there can be distinctions between what makes good song lyrics and what makes good poetry (koo and i had a convo about this recently) but there is a good bit of overlap.
some lyrics are weak and so need music to compensate, others are strong and are complemented by the music, and yet some are strong but are less appreciated because they are overshadowed by the music. the final situation i mentioned frustrates me.
i think sometimes song lyrics are oftentimes more explicit in stating things, which i imagine comes, in part, from the need to be catchy. while song lyric writers have the benefit of the added drama of music, i still think poets have more freedom. poets are not constrained to a verse – chorus – verse-chorus-refrain format as song writers are. the main challenge for poets is that there is a higher expectation that their work surprise the reader and/or offer wisdom than for song lyric writers. people seem to be more content with the familiar and expected in songs than in poetry.
