Poetry was born intimately close to music, therefore that the term song was applied to compositions in verse sang by poets. This is from the fact that the first’s poems were transmitted in the companionship of a musical instrument, frequently a lire (therefore the term lyrics). This way, the intonation used while reading a poem was very close to the musical bars that served as background to the recital.
Taking a look to some modern songs, it can be observe that they are subject of a rigorous and studied metric that fits perfectly the lyric with musical notes. In addition, songwriters and composers of our days introduce a great amount of literary resources in their musical compositions, thus, with any fear of being wrong, it can be said that now in days poetry, or at least part of it, continues transmitting with the inestimable musical companionship.
Until the XVII century practically all the poetry was showed as songs. This has been the way to get poetry closer to people and make it more popular. The force of the oral message, communication media, and the enormous diffusion of music, is without doubt what has taken poetry out of the books, and has made that the compositor dear to musicalize verses, even of poets from four or five centuries ago.
With the previous said, it shouldn’t be understood that all songs are meant to be poems or related in a way, it is all the way around what is being implied, most poems are presented as songs, and is from this statement that the rest of this paper will be based on. Two different songs will be consider and from different musical genders, with lot of background differences among them, one from Afro-American culture starts and musical arrangements based in drums, Rhythm & Blues which is a gender that must people at first won’t notice the poetry, many of them given the beat and the stereotypes that are involved. The other gender song comes from the Caucasian type ballad, classic and with a vast instrumental arrangement.
The intention of consider this to ethnics and also songs that are years apart one from another is a way to establish that trough out the years the fact established has not changed.
Lest take a look at a song by Grammy award winner, John Legend – “All of me”
“What would I do without your smart mouth?
Drawing me in, and you kicking me out
You've got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't pin you down
What's going on in that beautiful mind?
I'm on your magical mystery ride
And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright
'Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I'll give my all to you
You're my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I'm winning
'Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you, oh”
Lest enhance some important characteristics that reflect the poesy with in it, first able, like is common during all the history of poetry, this is related to love which is the felling that most poems have inspire among the years.
As a poet that search to express love and those different feelings that come from a relationship, and also looking to make it easy to people to understand, the language used is tender and common, there are simple rhymes that are mixed up with metaphors express in a clever way the artist thoughts, is this word play what makes it interesting and makes it art.
Having just read part off the song one may get the feeling that was intended to express, once you hear it with the musical arrangement and it is sing by the interpreter a mellow feeling is caught right away and every emotion seen before now is deeper. This song if a good example of how simple words properly arrange can compose a poem, for some poems bring to their mind high fashion words and deep not explicit ideas, this in many cases is the reason why people rather songs to just written classic poems.
Let us now consider another song, in this case as was presented before a ballad interpreted more recently by multiple Grammy awarded Michael Buble.
There's a light
A certain kind of light
That never shone on me
I want my life to be lived with you
Lived with you
There's a way everybody say
But what does it bring
If I aint got you, aint got?
You don't know what it's like, baby
You don't know what it's like
The way I love you
Once again it is a love song composed for very short verses that rhyme softly from one to another looking for that smooth path that brings sensuality to a poem, characteristic that the music comes to enhance and in this particular song the arrangement tales the story and the felling without the words, a mellow jazz and blues fusion that works perfectly. This time the song has not those metaphors, it is a clearer and simpler that the first but it´s simplicity shall not reflect the lack of poetry that it poses, it is still made in verses and with development proper of a classic poem.
With the two songs previously presented is being stated that prime idea that now on days must poems are present to the public as songs for the power of diffusion, popularity and that particularity that is brought by music that makes feelings expressed by lyrics stronger and aloud more room to the artist – poet to express. Also is important that we consider that music itself can chance the perception of the same lyrics, a Blues rhythm will make a song acknowledge just at it is with serious point of view, there is no sarcasm involved it could be said, change the beat for a Rap or a Pop song and a different situation might present at the time a person listens to the song.
Reference works
Buble, Michael. "love somebody." By Michael buble. 2011.
Goethals, Lucien y Gust Gils. «The Relationship between Poetry and Music. A Conversation between Lucien Goethals, Composer and Gust Gils, Poet.» Societe Belge de Musicologie (2000): 73-86.
Legend, John. "All of me." By John Legend. 2013.
Ríos, Leenelda Gutiérrez. "http://www.slideshare.net/." 16 October 2011. 6 February 2014. <http://www.slideshare.net/Leenelda/la-poesa-y-la-msica>.
