Behind the Music: The Poetry of Popular Songs

Behind the Music: The Poetry of Popular Songs

Full Description

Do you think "poetry" means "Shakespearean sonnets"? Think again! Poetry is everywhere, racing through the airwaves this very second! When you play a CD, sing along at work, or crank it up during your commute, you're tapping into a body of poetry more expansive than anything you'll find in a textbook. It's time to get your poetic feet wet with this fun introductory course. You'll master the basics of poetry analysis as you look at the songs you love in a whole new way. Clear explanations and a broad variety of song lyrics help you explore poetic conventions and learn to analyze the structure, word choices, point of view and social context of popular songs. Best of all, you'll learn it all in a fun, non-threatening environment that's free of outdated language and complicated concepts. And whether you stop here or go on to further study, you'll have a firm grasp of poetry's guiding principles. The course is ideal for radio listeners, song writers, and anyone interested in poetry, literature or writing. It draws from a wide variety of musical styles -- including top 40, pop, rock, hip-hop, 80s, country, Christian, classic rock and more -- using examples from songs new and old to illustrate and clarify each lesson. Whatever songs you love, this course is your ticket to getting more out of music and more into poetry!

Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: A. Analyze any song's structure, rhythm, rhyme scheme, word choices, point of view and social commentary. B. Understand the relationship between modern music and traditional poetry, and identify common similarities and differences. C. Identify the three kinds of poems. D. Identify the parts of poems and songs. E. Understand how poetic conventions can be used to make songs unique -- or ordinary. F. Understand the relationship between lyrics and music. G. Recognize grammatical errors and poor word choices that distort or confuse a song's message. H. Understand how a song's social and cultural context can influence its meaning.

Assessment:

1. After each lesson, students will take a multiple-choice quiz. 2. After the final lesson, students will take a multiple-choice exam.

Week 1 Introduction: Poetry Yesterday and Today

This introductory lesson explores the similarities and differences between today's music and traditional poetry. We'll outline the poetic conventions that are usually reinforced by music, and those that are usually downplayed or ignored. We'll also discuss basic song analysis and learn about the three major types of poems. Week 2 The Shape of a Song

In week two, we'll look closely at the fundamental structure of a poem or song. We'll break our song lyrics into chunks, learning about the parts of poems and songs, and how the structure of a song relates to its meaning and message. We'll also talk about the functions of rhyme and rhythm.

Finally, we'll observe good and bad ways of using these conventions, learning how they can make songs original and compelling -- or typical and boring. Week 3 Lyrical Language

Week three is word week. We'll discuss the importance of song lyrics overall, then look deeper into word choices, lyrical originality, and some of modern music's common pitfalls.

We'll also discuss the relationship between lyrics and music, and the effects of garbled enunciation and misheard lyrics. Week 4 The Meaning Behind the Music

In this fourth lesson, we'll discuss the "voice" behind the song -- not necessarily the artist's -- and learn how a song's point of view affects its meaning and tone. We'll also look at the role of cultural context, learning how to view songs as social commentary.

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SAMPLE LESSON WEEK 1
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Conventions: compare and contrast

Now that we've gone over these types, let's talk about the elements of poems.

Like any genre within an art form, popular song lyrics cling to certain poetic conventions and mostly ignore others. (Of course there are many exceptions, but in general there are noticeably recurring patterns.) The following list explains some of the most important conventions, and outlines how they are used in song lyrics as well as written poetry. (We'll go over each of these in detail in later lessons.)

Rhyme. Songwriters seem to have taken the classic joke—"It's not a poem if it doesn't rhyme"—to heart. Very few songs dispense with rhyme completely. Interestingly though, rhyming techniques are noticeably sloppy in song lyrics. Instead of pushing for exact rhyme—words like "digit" and "widget"—we have to hear " baby" rhymed with "crazy" a billion times.

Structure. Most songs have a number of verses (or "stanzas"), separated by a chorus (or "refrain") and a transitional passage called a bridge. Structure is an important aspect of all poems and songs, but traditional poetry affords many more variations than popular music does.

Rhythm. Rhythm is extremely important to both today's music and traditional poetry. However, songs tend to get their rhythm from the beats of the music, whereas poetry depends on the stresses in the individual words.

Language techniques. Let's face it—a lot of music out there offers nothing more than a catchy beat. And, let's face this too—a lot of people don't care. Now I don't have a problem with catchy beats, or even people not caring, but a lot of songwriters do tend to slack in the lyrics department just because they can get away with it. The result is that we hear the same old rhymes, same old phrases, same old topics, with no real message or original approach. Obviously, since traditional poetry has no music (or anything else) to distract its readers from the words, writers have to be original; they make ample use of metaphor, simile, symbolism, imagery and allusion (but hey, don't get offended here—there are still many songs that utilize these techniques, and we'll discuss them when the time is right).

Unlike songs, poems with boring words or a lot of repetition cannot succeed. Can you imagine house music being written out as poetry?

Baby I Love Leaves
by your instructor
Baby I love leaves
Baby I love leaves
Baby I love leaves
Baby I love leaves
Baby I love leaves
Baby I love leaves
etc.

(Note: I'm not criticizing house music for being repetitive; that's the nature of the genre. However it does illustrate just how far apart song lyrics and traditional poetry can be at times!)

Contact Hours: 5