[stylist] songwriting vs. poetry

Barbara Hammel poetlori8 at msn.com
Tue Mar 6 04:05:48 UTC 2012


Oh my goodness, Jackie!  That is way to funny!  Though I'm sure the real 
experience was definitely not.
Barbara




Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance. -- Carl Sandburg
-----Original Message----- 
From: Jacqueline Williams
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 4:23 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] songwriting vs. poetry

Brad,
I said I was not a song writer. You are about to get the first of three.
Just call me a "song perverter."
Because of the condition described, I did not get the Christmas assignment
done until I had shed that terrible affliction. You will not have trouble
with the tune. And in truth I wrote a version earlier when I experienced the
same condition.
Enjoy,,
Jackie

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Brad Dunsé
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 1:38 PM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] songwriting vs. poetry

There are several differing aspects to poems than
lyrics.Off cuff here very quickly:

1. Songs shouldn't have stuff like red/read, blue/blew, etc.

2. Songs have about 3.5 minutes to get the point
across while leaving space for a repeated chorus,
not much time. Poems can take as long as they like.

3. Songs have to be written very conversational
and simple, while poems can get all esoteric,
complex and intellectual.  Why? See below.

4. Songs are on a force tempo. You can't stop and
rewind a song on the radio or while listening to
a live performer.  So if they don't "get it,"
from the first listen, likely they'll miss an
important part of the rest of the song. Reading
poems, you can stop and think. Though that is not
the case with a live reading of a poem, the reader can pause to allow for
it.

5. Lyrics have to be written to match the genre
or style of the music. That marriage is called
prosody. No dirges with lyrics like, "Hey babe ya wanna DANCE with me
tonight?"

6. Lyrics often are written to rhythmically fit
in the groove, beat, or rhythm of the music.

7. Lyrics have to phonetically match the line of
a song.  I'm sure someone else can remember the
word for it, wait, plosives, yeah that's it. You
don't want a long hanging note on certain words
in certain situations. You want open vowels and
not hard edged D's or even nasally N's.

These are just off cuff here but you get the idea.

Brad



6. lyric






On 2/28/2012  01:39 PM Barbara Hammel said...

So, what’s so different about writing songs from
writing poetry?  I get that there usually is a
chorus and two or three verses.  Sometimes there
might even be a bridge thrown in for good
measure. I’ve often though of trying my hand at
songwriting, in fact I have one I wanted to give
to someone to see if they could work up a tune
for it but I wasn’t on that friendly a terms with
her.  A friend and I wrote one, too, when she was
in high school and I was in college.  I saw the
email with Brad’s tip, so will look at that, too.
Barbara Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to
dance. -- Carl Sandburg
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Brad Dunsé

"When it comes to change, don't wind up like concrete...
all mixed up and permanently set!" --Unknown

http://www.braddunsemusic.com

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