Here is a lyric that works well as poetry and as song. Sorry. It is only slightly political. Though it expresses some commie hippie sentiments, it is poetry.
| Woodstock by Joni Mitchell | |
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| I came upon a child of God He was walking along the road And I asked him where are you going And this he told me I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm I'm going to join in a rock 'n' roll band I'm going to camp out on the land I'm going to try an' get my soul free We are stardust We are golden And we've got to get ourselves Back to the garden Then can I walk beside you I have come here to lose the smog And I feel to be a cog in something turning Well maybe it is just the time of year Or maybe it's the time of man I don't know who I am But you know life is for learning We are stardust We are golden And we've got to get ourselves Back to the garden By the time we got to Woodstock We were half a million strong And everywhere there was song and celebration And I dreamed I saw the bombers Riding shotgun in the sky And they were turning into butterflies Above our nation We are stardust Billion year old carbon We are golden Caught in the devil's bargain And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden | |
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| Copyright © Siquomb Publishing Company | |
11 comments:
Nadir: I don't think that these lyrics work as text poetry. Neither do the lyrics of these songs, which have lyrics which are marvelously seared into my brain:
Do Me Baby - Prince
Let It Be - Beatles
I Got Sunshine on a Cloudy Day - Temptations
Baby Love - Supremes
Cold Blooded - Rick James
Sanctified - Nadir
Slave - Nadir
Slide - Slave feat Steve Arrington
Ruby Tuesday - Rolling Stones
Sunday Morning Coming Down - Johny Cash
Do you think that you could make a successful song out of a Shakesphere sonnet? Or perhaps a Langston Hughes poem, Dream Deffered?
Langston Hughes has blues poems that are singable.
Poetry is also subjective. Your opinion that Joni Mitchell "doesn't work" proves it. I think it does work as poetry.
By the way, "Sanctified" was included on an MP3.com Poetry e-zine a couple of years ago. So someone thought the lyrics worked as poetry.
Rick James' classic "Cold Blooded" does not stand up as poetry, but it contains a line that only Slick Rick could get away with:
"There's no dictionary book that explains how you look."
"Slide" was pre-Arrington Slave. He didn't join the group until a couple of albums later.
This is poetry:
"The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" by Prince
Dorothy was a waitress on the promenade
She worked the night shift
Dishwater blonde, tall and fine
She got a lot of tips
Well, earlier I'd been talkin' stuff
In a violent room
Fighting with lovers past
I needed someone with a quicker wit than mine
Dorothy was fast
Well, I ordered -
"Yeah, let me get a fruit cocktail, I ain't 2 hungry"
Dorothy laughed
She said "Sounds like a real man 2 me.
Kinda cute, U wanna take a bath?"
(do you wanna, do you wanna, bath)
I said "Cool, but I'm leaving my pants on" (What you say?)
"Cuz I'm kind of going with someone"
She said "Sounds like a real man 2
me"
"Mind if I turn on... the radio?"
"Oh, my favorite song" she said
And it was Joni singing "Help me I think I'm falling"
(Ring)
The phone rang and she said
"Whoever's calling can't be as cute as U"
Right then I knew I was through
(Dorothy Parker was cool)
My pants where wet, they came off
But she didn't see the movie
Cuz she hadn't read the book first
Instead she pretended she was blind
An affliction brought on by a witch's curse
Dorothy made me laugh (ha ha)
I felt much better so I went back
2 the violent room (tell us what U did)
Let me tell U what I did...
I took another bubble bath with my pants on
All the fighting stopped
Next time I'll do it sooner
This is the ballad of Dorothy Parker
Nadir, you bastard. I wish that you wouldn't tell me if the text was a song lyric or not. I may agree with you here. But I don't know the song, so I don't know if this works as a great song, but it does seem to indeed work as a poem. If it also works as song that I consider to be wonderful, that would make this an exception to what seems to me to be a pretty tight rule.
The rule isn't tight at all. "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" is on Prince's Sign O' the Times album which includes other amazing pieces like "If I Was Your Girlfriend", "Adore", "Forever in my Life", "Hot Thing" and the title track. Download it from ITunes.
Starfish and Coffee
It was 7:45 we were all in line
2 greet the teacher miss cathleen
First was kevin, then came lucy, third in line was me
All of us where ordinary compared to cynthia rose
She always stood at the back of the line
A smile beneath her nose
Her favorite number was 20 and every single day
If u asked her what she had 4 breakfast
This is what she'd say
Starfish and coffee
Maple syrup and jam
Butterscotch clouds, a tangerine
And a side order of ham
If u set your mind free, baby
Maybe you'd understand
Starfish and coffee
Maple syrup and jam
Cynthia wore the prettiest dress
With different color socks
Sometimes i wondered if the mates where in her lunchbox
Me and lucy opened it when cynthia wasn't around
Lucy cried, i almost died, u know what we found?
Starfish and coffee
Maple syrup and jam
Butterscotch clouds, a tangerine
And a side order of ham
If u set your mind free, honey
Maybe you'd understand
Starfish and coffee
Maple syrup and jam
Starfish and coffee
Cynthia had a happy face, just like the one she'd draw
On every wall in every school
But it's all right, it's 4 a worthy cause
Go on, cynthia, keep singin'
Starfish and coffee
Maple syrup and jam
Butterscotch clouds, a tangerine
And a side order of ham
If u set your mind free, baby
Maybe you'd understand
Starfish and coffee
Maple syrup and jam
All Along the Watchtower
"There must be some way out of here," said the joker to the thief,
"There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth,
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth."
"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."
All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too.
Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.
Blowin' in the Wind
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Don't Give Up
in this proud land we grew up strong
we were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win
I never thought I could fail
no fight left or so it seems
I am a man whose dreams have all deserted
I've changed my face, I've changed my name
but no one wants you when you lose
don't give up
'cos you have friends
don't give up
you're not beaten yet
don't give up
I know you can make it good
though I saw it all around
never thought I could be affected
thought that we'd be the last to go
it is so strange the way things turn
drove the night toward my home
the place that I was born, on the lakeside
as daylight broke, I saw the earth
the trees had burned down to the ground
don't give up
you still have us
don't give up
we don't need much of anything
don't give up
'cause somewhere there's a place
where we belong
rest your head
you worry too much
it's going to be alright
when times get rough
you can fall back on us
don't give up
please don't give up
'got to walk out of here
I can't take anymore
going to stand on that bridge
keep my eyes down below
whatever may come
and whatever may go
that river's flowing
that river's flowing
moved on to another town
tried hard to settle down
for every job, so many men
so many men no-one needs
don't give up
'cause you have friends
don't give up
you're not the only one
don't give up
no reason to be ashamed
don't give up
you still have us
don't give up now
we're proud of who you are
don't give up
you know it's never been easy
don't give up
'cause I believe there's the a place
there's a place where we belong
Life is Fine
I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn't,
So I jumped in and sank.
I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn't a-been so cold
I might've sunk and died.
But it was
Cold in that water!
It was cold!
I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.
I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn't a-been so high
I might've jumped and died.
But it was
High up there!
It was high!
So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born
Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry--
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.
Life is fine!
Fine as wine!
Life is fine!
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