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Topic : Re: How to transition from poetry to song-writing? I've written poetry since I was nine, and I would say I'm pretty good at it. I also really like music, and I can create simple melodies that - selfpublishingguru.com

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For your specific case, I would suggest starting with the thing you're least flexible at.

I've written poetry since I was nine, and I would say I'm pretty good at it.

vs

I can create simple melodies that I hum to myself.

My guess is that you're able to mold a poem to fit a theme, but probably aren't so flexible musically as to mold a melody to be catchy, to match a specific emotion, and to incorporate a particular rhythm. So try starting with a catchy melody, and filling in an emotionally and rhythmically matching set of words.

You should also bear in mind that what makes a good poem is not exactly the same as what makes an engaging song. Songs, in my unprofessional observation, tend to be less dense than poetry that is intended to be read as poetry. That is, in poetry, there's usually more thinking, less straightforward narration, and fewer unclouded emotional appeals.

Compare Emily' Dickinson's (very good):

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading - treading - till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through -

with Frederick Weatherly's

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen and down the mountain side
The summer's gone and all the roses dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide

Both are dripping with imagery, both are make at least light use of repetition, but they don't seem like quite the same animal. Maybe it's just that I haven't ever heard Dickinson (successfully) set to music, but while she is a great poet, most of her poems feel very talky to me. There really is a difference between good poetry and good lyrics, even if you're theoretically following mostly the same rules, and acting in many of the same dimensions.

At least one explicit difference I can think of; the word-choice in the lyric must bear the weight of the song's emphasis. That is, your long, drawn-out note better not fall on the "through" of the Dickinson piece, whereas "bide" would bear special emphasis.

(And, incidentally, "Danny Boy" was written for the tune, not the other way around.)


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