Question:
Poetry and Pop Music. Which popular song do you think can be called a poem in its own right?
www.shutup.com
2007-10-04 00:00:37 UTC
It's something like National Poetry Day/Week, so what popular song do you think would be able to stand as a poem in it's own right?

Suggestions I've heard today include Imagine - John Lennon.
25 answers:
anonymous
2007-10-04 10:02:06 UTC
Love will tear us apart, Mr Tambourine man, Hallelujah, Perfect day, Stairway to Heaven, these are all great songs but there are many lesser known songs like St Nicholas Hall by Judy Henske and Jerry Yester, Guardian Angel by Pearls before Swine and Sad Cinderella by Townes Van Zandt. These are superb examples of poetry and pop.
meep meep
2007-10-04 07:08:19 UTC
Pink Floyd- Echoes



Overhead the albatross

Hangs motionless upon the air

And deep beneath the rolling waves

In labyrinths of coral caves

An echo of a distant time

Comes willowing across the sand

And everything is green and submarine.



And no one called us to the land

And no one knows the where's or why's.

Something stirs and something tries

Starts to climb toward the light.



Strangers passing in the street

By chance two separate glances meet

And I am you and what I see is me.

And do I take you by the hand

And lead you through the land

And help me understand

The best I can.



And no one called us to the land

And no one crosses there alive.

No one speaks and no one tries

No one flies around the sun....



Almost everyday you fall

Upon my waking eyes,

Inviting and inciting me

To rise.

And through the window in the wall

Come streaming in on sunlight wings

A million bright ambassadors of morning.



And no one sings me lullabyes

And no one makes me close my eyes

So I throw the windows wide

And call to you across the sky....
andy muso
2007-10-04 11:53:34 UTC
Just about anything by Bob Dylan....for example Mr Tambourine Man or Just Like A Rolling Stone, Gates of Eden etc.
Tish P
2007-10-04 10:11:13 UTC
Stan by Eminem makes a great poem - obviously without the pathetic Dido bit . I've heard it read as poetry before and it sounds just as good as it does in it's original form.
anonymous
2007-10-04 12:12:53 UTC
30 seconds to mars- the mission



I open up my head

Inside I find another person's mind

I'm gonna take this chance I've got

I run denying as we speak

Hiding my face among the weak

Some say their day is all away

Into the wild

I'm with a mission

Over the hill

Come here with me



Into the wild

Into the wild



High above the serpentine

I cross below the well-worn lines

Entangled in a missing memory

I find an oversight

I formed this sword that will give rise

To something the world is here to seize
jo
2007-10-04 07:22:13 UTC
hallelujah by leonard cohen (jeff buckley <3)



heard there was a secret chord

that david played and it pleased the lord

but you don't really care for music, do you

well it goes like this the fourth, the fifth

the minor fall and the major lift

the baffled king composing hallelujah



hallelujah...



well your faith was strong but you needed proof

you saw her bathing on the roof

her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you

she tied you to her kitchen chair

she broke your throne and she cut your hair

and from your lips she drew the hallelujah



hallelujah...



baby i've been here before

i've seen this room and i've walked this floor

i used to live alone before i knew you

i've seen your flag on the marble arch

but love is not a victory march

it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah



hallelujah...



well there was a time when you let me know

what's really going on below

but now you never show that to me do you

but remember when i moved in you

and the holy dove was moving too

and every breath we drew was hallelujah



well, maybe there's a god above

but all i've ever learned from love

was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you

it's not a cry that you hear at night

it's not somebody who's seen the light

it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah



hallelujah...



and invalid litter dept. by at the drive-in
Stormy
2007-10-05 13:08:47 UTC
Bob Dylan, The Doors, The Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge,



Quite a lot if you read the lyrics sheets of some albums. (Do they do lyrics sheets anymore?)
friSbee
2007-10-04 07:16:31 UTC
Can't see why poetry has to be wordy ,profound or schematic so I'll say Reasons to be cheerful Part 3 by Ian Dury and count how many thumbs down I get!
doggie love
2007-10-04 07:57:21 UTC
Anything Bob Dylan did and early Neil Young.
anonymous
2007-10-04 07:20:19 UTC
well the red hot chilli peppers song under the bridge was originally written as a poem. but when the rest of the group heard it and put music to it they decided to release it as a single.
anonymous
2007-10-05 15:16:08 UTC
Neil Young's 'After The Goldrush.'
cdrotherham
2007-10-04 15:39:45 UTC
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin

If - Bread

If You Could Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot
thecitizeneraser
2007-10-04 12:01:24 UTC
Definitely agree with Hallelujah, Perfect Day, and Love Will Tear Us Apart...



Blackout by Muse is good as a poem



"Don't kid yourself

And don't fool yourself

This love's too good to last

And I'm too old to dream



Don't grow up too fast

And don't embrace the past

This life's too good to last

And I'm too young to care



Don't kid yourself

And don't fool yourself

This life could be the last

And we're too young to see"
anonymous
2007-10-04 15:13:35 UTC
Imagine.

The Times They Are a Changing.

Cathedral.

The Boxer.
Pete D
2007-10-04 12:39:15 UTC
across the universe - John Lennon
Drowning chemist
2007-10-04 07:04:30 UTC
Hey Jude Hey Jude Hey Jude Hey Jude Hey Jude



Some styx stuff.



Lotta pink flyod



"so you think you can tell"
Nedster
2007-10-04 07:47:04 UTC
Everlong - Foo Fighters
ChocLover
2007-10-04 07:02:52 UTC
Perfect Day - Lou Read
anonymous
2007-10-04 10:13:34 UTC
American Pie or Starry Night (don maclean)
Samantha
2007-10-04 16:25:35 UTC
How about: "I'm here for your love" by Agnetha Faltskog -



It's got a catchy tune too.
redhotsillypepper
2007-10-04 07:09:12 UTC
How about "Blackbird" by Lennon, McCartney?



Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise



Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these sunken eyes and learn to see

All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free



Black-bird fly

Black-bird fly, into the light of a dark black night



Black-bird fly

Black-bird fly, into the light of a dark black night



Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise

You were only waiting for this moment to arise

You were only waiting for this moment to arise
rntmedo
2007-10-04 09:40:39 UTC
Morrissey - Everyday is like sunday
Red5
2007-10-04 07:41:00 UTC
Love Will Tear Us Apart - JOY DIVISION !



.
anonymous
2007-10-04 07:04:35 UTC
Dylan.





(Not EVERYTHING by Dylan, obviously.)
anonymous
2007-10-04 07:07:13 UTC
not "imagine", that's dire. how about "knocking on heaven's door"?


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