Music Banter - View Single Post - Question To Songwriters: Do You Consider Yourself A Poet?

Freebase Dali · 06-26-2010, 07:54 PM

I generally write lyrics that mean something to me and catalogs some important part of my life in a way that lets me exercise some kind of creativity. Regardless of whether it's poetic, creative, or crap, I don't go into it with a definition in mind nor do I care. I write what I like. It's great when someone can relate to what I'm saying, but as far as whether someone thinks it should fit some kind criteria or not, it doesn't affect me in the least because I don't do it for anyone but myself.
I think that if your motive is to please everyone else, then you're not being true to yourself and your words won't hold much personal weight. While I agree that there are certain attractive methods of literary implementation, I think the author's motive shouldn't be based on meeting those imposed standards, but instead, be based on the emotional content and the intent presented in the piece.

Write what you want to write. If you aspire to be some great poet, then learn how to do that. But if you simply want to express your emotions creatively, then just do what comes natural to you.
If anything, the real poetry involved in the whole thing is not the meeting of a standard, but the ability to reach even one other person emotionally. The words don't have to be fancy to do that.

06-26-2010, 07:54 PM	#11 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	I generally write lyrics that mean something to me and catalogs some important part of my life in a way that lets me exercise some kind of creativity. Regardless of whether it's poetic, creative, or crap, I don't go into it with a definition in mind nor do I care. I write what I like. It's great when someone can relate to what I'm saying, but as far as whether someone thinks it should fit some kind criteria or not, it doesn't affect me in the least because I don't do it for anyone but myself. I think that if your motive is to please everyone else, then you're not being true to yourself and your words won't hold much personal weight. While I agree that there are certain attractive methods of literary implementation, I think the author's motive shouldn't be based on meeting those imposed standards, but instead, be based on the emotional content and the intent presented in the piece. Write what you want to write. If you aspire to be some great poet, then learn how to do that. But if you simply want to express your emotions creatively, then just do what comes natural to you. If anything, the real poetry involved in the whole thing is not the meeting of a standard, but the ability to reach even one other person emotionally. The words don't have to be fancy to do that.