Reading Poetry For Lyrical Inspiration

We live in a world of infinite songwriting idea possibilities. All we have to do is go out there and find them.

Here is another example of how the work of writers of other genres can be of immense help to songwriters.

In my blog post “Reading Books for Lyrical Inspiration” I wrote about the concept of reading books as a way of gathering lyrical ideas.

Since then I realized that you can apply this songwriting idea gathering concept to other forms of communication.

If the thought of reading a whole book is daunting, try reading some poetry instead.

Most poetry, has a short time-frame in which the reader is given the gist of the story or concept. To me, poetry is short bursts of written observation mixed with pure emotion.

Isn’t that what songs are about too?

A particular form of poetry that I have been getting into of late is haiku poetry.

Haiku is a Japanese writing art-form which is very, very constrained in its approach. You have three lines and seventeen syllables (broken into 5, 7 and 5) to get your story or concept across.

An example of this is a haiku titled “Tree, Wind, Cloud & Sky” by a wonderful songwriting friend of mine, Garth Dutton. It goes like this:

A lush green of trees
Contrasting with high wind clouds
That whiten, blue sky

Personally, I see haiku poetry as a possible type of ready made song synopsis.

In the past, I have found it a very easy exercise expanding seventeen syllables into a four minute song. Haiku poetry expands well if you apply the brainstorming concepts discussed in my “Mindmapping Your Songwriting Ideas” and “Brainstorming Possible Song Titles” blog post.

Give it a try and see what happens. Let me know how you go with it.

For people who would rather read something less abstract but don’t want to be tied to a book for long periods of time, a collection of short stories are a great way to gather lyrical ideas as well.

Make a date with yourself and go to your local library and pick up a few books of poetry (or short stories) and put the concept to the test. You’ll be glad you did.

Until next time, happy (reading and) writing,

Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician

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Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 Songwriting Ideas

5 Comments to Reading Poetry For Lyrical Inspiration

Jannie Sue says:

May 3, 2008 at 11:12 pm

On Poetry inspiration…

Melodies almost always come to me first, and fast. In fact, sometimes I have to check with friends to see if they’re really my melodies or not, as I wonder if I’ve heard them somewhere before.

Lyrics? Sometimes easy, sometimes not. But I’ve had this line from a Charles Bukowski poem bonking around in my head for a couple of months, “Miracle of Zero.” MIRACLE OF ZERO – I love it! (He was describing a person.) Can I make it rhyme meaningfully with the obvious” zero,” and not have it sound like a “conceit?”? Can I match the lyric up to an already complete funky melody and can I have that song say something new and in a way that seems completely plausible? There’s the rub, but I’m gonna try!

I can. I can. I can! (In songwriting, always tell yourself you can.)

Have a great day,

Jannie.

songwritingzen says:

May 4, 2008 at 2:49 am

I think you can too Jannie. I suppose the thing to do with the title “Miracle Of Zero” is to write down all the things those three words mean to you.

What images does it conjure up in your mind?
What story or concept could you attach to it?
What rhymes with Zero?

When I read the words “Miracle Of Zero” the first thing that sprung up in my mind was “24 Hour Anti-Hero.” Don’t ask me what that means.

Go for it Jannie! I’d love to see and hear the finished product.

Corey

Jannie Sue says:

May 4, 2008 at 4:50 am

In Bukowski’s poem the Miracle of Zero label is a very derogatory term, a place I can’t quite see me going to in a song, unless with heaping helpings of humor. Or I suppose I could make it a break-up song but I don’t think my head could quite get around that either. Hmmn, lends itself to political commentary? Social commentary? Frankly, those all sound like energy drains.

Maybe something like flowing images a la “Whiter Shade of Pale” or “Mrs. Robinson,” could work, i.e. similar “color tones” and kookiness of lyric, as long as the song says something.

And since I’ve locked myself into a certain melodic rhythm, that narrows things down a bit too.

he’s a miracle of zero
he’s a undisputed hero to himself.

he’s a miracle of zero
and he’ll never be a hero anyway

(he sounds like a real nowhere man, eh?”

Anyway, that song’s not super-high on my list these days, I’ve got this jazzy thing that’s bouncing around, from AMaj7, to DMaj7 to E, with probably a Bm7, F#m and C#m in a bridge, no title yet exactly, just a melody, feel and a bunch of loose images. A happy song.

As to Miracle Of Zero, maybe it’ll coalesce someday. Or maybe not. I do like the funky melody, tho.

Peace,

Jannie

Rob Roper says:

May 11, 2008 at 3:49 am

I agree. But it took me awhile to find poetry that I could understand. I tried to read the famous poets–Yeats, Dylan Thomas–and didn’t understand the poems, so I felt stupid, and got frustrated. So naturally I avoided poetry, despite admonitions from songwriter friends that poetry would help my songwriting. Then I discovered Ted Kooser, and really liked his poems. I understood them, and they had great emotion. (He also has a great book *about* writing poetry). A songwriter friend turned me onto Billy Collins, and I’m loving his stuff. So now I don’t dread poetry; I like it. I’ve even written a few.

-Rob Roper

songwritingzen says:

May 12, 2008 at 12:22 pm

I feel the same way with poetry too Rob but I must check out Ted Kooser and Billy Collins and see what that does for me.

I have some friends who are heavily involved with a writing group and from time to time I sit in on their meetings and listen to the works of local writers.

The advantage of doing this is that if I don’t understand their work (I too feel stupid and frustrated when this happens) I can always ask them what they meant then and there.

Is there a writers group/organization where you are?

For me, I feel good by supporting local artists and I also might find a songwriting collaborator or two through it.