VEGANGELICA

Hi SunshineAnn,
Your question is interesting: what is the difference between poetry and song lyrics? I will take the simple route in my answer: I feel the only difference is that when you sing a poem you control your tone of voice more carefully and with intention than when speaking the words with one's speaking voice. I'm thinking now of people doing religious chanting...it is singing, and there are words, but it may not have a rhythm necessarily. There are also songs that are the equivalent of poetry free verse. Conversely, rap music sounds like spoken words with a lot of rhythm. Songs have so much variety that it is hard for me to distinguish between a poem and song lyrics.

It is true, though, that people like different styles and structures for songs than they like for spoken prose or poetry. For example, there are traditions people follow (copy) when writing words for songs. Pop music often has a simple verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus format for the poem (or some variation thereof).

I have found that I enjoy writing lyrics (for performance out loud, like VeggieLover notes) much more than simply writing poems that stay fixed on a page and transmit via eyes (or fingers!) to a person's mind as that person reads them. I didn't think of writing lyrics for songs as a primary creative outlet until last year. I'd been writing poetry for years...many years...and other than two songs I made up for my child didn't think of combining poetry with music until last year: while I was making up a song for someone, it "came with a tune" when I imagined it. In other words, the words were linked with a tune from the very beginning when I imagined them.

Now when I write song lyrics, I know from the beginning that I want to sing them, and I will do so with the very first word that pops in my mind and as I write all the lines. Sometimes I'll think of a tune and record it on an old tape player then later "realize" what the feeling of the tune is and what the words are that I want for it, but mostly I start with a few words and a tune joined together. I prefer rhythmic songs and so try to take care that I write the lines with a certain meter or rhythm to match the tune. The words sometimes help the tune evolve, as well.

Here's something interesting I do sometimes that might be fun for you to try. Let's say you have a poem you have written that you like. Try simply reading it out loud with your speaking voice. As you read the poem, notice where your voice dips lower or rises up (with some sort of shorthand above the words). Then, try taking those pitch differences and accentuate them until they are notes. I've been experimenting with making songs like this for which the tune follows how one would say the words by speaking them.

I hope this helps you and that you will have lots of fun creating songs that you like.

--Erica

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