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Why Song Lyrics Aren't Poetry Why is Poetry so Difficult to Define? Isaac Sweeney, Yahoo! Contributor Network Why a Poet is Against National Poetry Month "As Jul 13, 2010 "Contribute content like this. Start Here." Such" Patriotic Music: Surprising Secrets About Those MORE: Song Lyrics Love Song Lyrics Poetry About Love Flag-Waving Sounds Learning Spanish the Right Way As an instructor of Critical Reading and Writing at James Madison University, I assign a packet of Carrie Underwood 'Quitter' Song Lyrics Review poetry for my students to read. I do this as a break from the academic essays we tend to get bogged Carrie Underwood 'Someday when I Stop Loving You' Song Lyrics Review down with. After they read, we have a discussion about poetry in general, and about the specific poems Carrie Underwood 'Cowboy Casanova' Song Lyrics I assigned. Review

In almost every class, a student says that poems and song lyrics are the same thing. I disagree completely. Resources Takeaways

Poetry can be musical. This is one of the things I love about poetry. I love the sounds of certain words isweeney.wordpress.com and phrases together. I love a poet's attention to this kind of detail. Some poems (poems by Kevin Young come to mind) even get stuck in my head, in part because of this musical quality.

Song lyrics can be poetic. A lyricist can be meticulous when it comes to choosing words and structure. A lyricist can even experiment, like a poet, and go beyond what is expected of him or her.

But, again, they are different. The difference is that a lyricist writes lyrics knowing that they will have musical accompaniment. Sometimes, a lyricist has a tune in hand, or at least in head, and writes accordingly. In many ways, this limits a lyricists abilities, but it also probably helps the lyricist come up with ideas.

This is why poetry is on an echelon above song lyrics. Poets don't write with this musical accompaniment. They make the music with only the words. It's harder. There can be no gaps in the language or structure filled in with an awesome guitar solo or a sweet violin. It's only words and pauses.

Song lyrics can be poetic and poetry can be musical, but they aren't the same thing.

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Published by Isaac Sweeney Born and raised in Virginia, I have been a writer all my life. I teach at James Madison Univeristy and I am a freelance writer and editor. I live in Virginia with my wife, son, four dogs, three cats, and bunny. View profile

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