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Can Song Lyrics Be Poems?

in Poetry Discussion

I don't have a specific answer to this and I'm not sure I'm looking for the answer to everything, I just thought it might be fun to discuss song lyrics and poetry.

I think about some of my favourite songs that seem to have really poetic lyrics. Some that come to mind are Right Where You Left Me - Taylor Swift, Ladylike - Ingrid Andress, Saw The Lights Go Out On Broadway - Billy Joel, Clementine - Halsey, I Know The End - Phoebe Bridgers. Some of these examples have the characteristics of songs (eg. rhythm/rhyme) but they also have really intricate imagery. If I handed these lyrics to someone without accompanying music, could they be classed as a poem?

I mean, there are other song that don't seem to be as complex. Paper Rings by Taylor Swift springs to mind. It's one of my favourite songs but could that be a poem? What about Bring It All Back by S Club 7 and I Want It That Way by the Backtreet Boys? (Yes, I did just scroll through my iTunes to find these examples...)

Is poetry a sliding scale?

I'm just curious as to what people think about poetry vs. song lyrics.

13 comments

Comments (13)

Reginald Casbeard

Apr 19, 2021

I thought for a long time that Dolly Parton is a poet as well as a terrific song writer, also as i have mentioned before and someone else has said look at Bob Dylan's work.