Lyrics and Limericks

John Davies

Description

In the 'Land of Song and Literature' that is Wales, what could be more natural than writing music and poetry? So this book is a collection of song lyrics and limericks. It is primarily a light-hearted look at the worlds of song writing and poetry. But it is much more than that. It is also a patchwork quilt of interviews, autobiography and mythology. Each lyric and set of limericks is preceded by prose, related (sometimes tenuously) to the reason for writing the verse. The lyrics were not written as poems, they are verses divorced from their musical settings.Are song lyrics poetry? This is a theme which runs through the book. Nine authors and songwriters were asked this question. The list of those who contributed is like a 'Who's Who' of Welsh music and poetry. Dannie Abse, Steve Balsamo, Peter Finch, Ron Griffiths, Paul Henry, Gwyneth Lewis, Robert Minhinnick, Mal Pope and solitary Scot Al Stewart. Their answers to this and other questions make fascinating reading. There is also a previously unpublished short poem from Robert Minhinnick and a two line verse from Paul Henry.What was their conclusion? Are song lyrics the same as poetry? For the answers be sure to read the entertaining 'Lyrics and Limericks'.Book reviews online @ www.publishedbestsellers.com

Informations

• Publié par: Pneuma Springs Publishing
• Date de parution: 12 avril 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781782281375
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Lyrics
and
Limericks







John Davies
Copyright
First Published in 2009 by: Pneuma Springs Publishing
Lyrics and Limericks Copyright © 2009 John Davies
Kindle eISBN: 9781907728648 ePub eISBN 9781782281375 PDF eBook eISBN 9781782280484 Paperback ISBN: 9781905809592
Pneuma Springs Publishing E: [e-mail] W: www.pneumasprings.co.uk
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Published in the United Kingdom. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. Contents and/or cover may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the publisher.
Dedication

With love to
Adrianne

Many thanks to the people who contributed to this book:-
Dannie Abse, Steve Balsamo, Peter Finch, Ron Griffiths, Paul Henry,
Gwyneth Lewis, Robert Minhinnick, Ray Morgan, Mal Pope and Al Stewart.


Thanks also to Katie Bayer, Neville Judd and Robin Pao.






Dedicated to the memory of Haydn Morgan.
Formerly with the Saints on earth, now with the Saints in heaven
Lyrics and Limericks
“There’s no money in poetry, but then there’s no poetry in money either.” So said Robert Graves, poet, novelist and biographer. Why do people continue writing poetry then? What’s the point of producing this book even? There’s obviously more to it than just earning money. It really comes down to a basic urge which some people have for self expression.
You may well ask “What is poetry?” There’s no easy answer to that question. Samuel Taylor Coleridge defined it as, “the best words in the best order”. Dylan Thomas said, “Poetry is what makes me laugh or cry or yawn, what makes my toenails twinkle, what makes me want to do this or that or nothing”.
One thing’s for sure, most people will recognise a poem when they see it written down. For one thing, it usually has more open space around it on the page than other writing has. Poets play with the sounds, meanings and images of words. They use rhyme, rhythm, repetition, simile, metaphor and imagery to paint a picture in your head. A good poem will stick in your mind. Quite often a bad one will stick there as well.
For someone who claimed to be a poet, William McGonagall (1825-1902), is generally regarded as the worst one in British history. His verses are so flawed that they have a comic effect. Many of his published works are still in print though, while the work of far more able poets has long since disappeared. A typical example of his work is ‘The Newport Railway’ which begins:-


Success to the Newport Railway
Along the braes of the silvery Tay
And to Dundee straightway
Across the railway bridge o’ the silvery Tay

It does rhyme, well at least the last two letters of each line are ‘ay’.
Taking leave of Mr. McGonagall’s silvery Tay, we end our peregrination of poetry and leap to the land of lyrics. So what are lyrics? It’s generally accepted that lyrics are the words of a song. Can poems be lyrics? Can lyrics be poems?
A poem is written to be read, preferably out loud, and it focuses on the use of words. It can be set to music as long as it’s not too long or complicated. The good thing about a poem is that you can reread it as many times as you like.
A lyric is written to be sung to the rhythm of the music which accompanies it. The melody is important and the words are structured into the refrain, verse, chorus and bridge. You listen to a song on the radio and then it’s gone. No wonder then that some lyrics are misheard like ‘The Rhinestone Cowboy’ by Glen Campbell. For years I thought it was called ‘The Nine Stone Cowboy’.
What comes first, the lyrics or the melody of a song? This depends on the writer. Some people like Bernie Taupin are purely lyricists. They pass their words on to musicians who then compose a melody around them. Singer/songwriters will do both. I think it’s easier to write words to fit into a tune. Unfortunately, the words usually come to me first and then it’s a struggle to find a tune to fit them. Formal poems rely on a pattern with the same number of syllables in each line. If your lyrics are short of a couple of words then you can repeat syllables. For example, ‘I want to go home’ can be expanded to fit the music by singing, ‘I want to go hooooooome’. Hmm, that sounds like a good title for a song.
There have always been people capable of writing their own songs, but there was a spell during the early years of the twentieth century when musicians wrote songs and singers sang them. After The Beatles, singer/songwriters proliferated. Leonard Cohen, Jim Morrison, Neil Young, Paul Simon, Don McLean and Al Stewart are just a few that come to mind. Leonard Cohen started as a poet and became a songwriter. I suppose you could say that his lyrics are poetry in motion.
Bob Dylan is widely regarded as a songwriter whose lyrics are profound enough to be poetry. Indeed, he’s been nominated several times for the Nobel Literature Prize. Can Dylan’s lyrics be regarded as literature? In answer to that question he replied, “I think of myself more as a song-and-dance man”. The lyrics of ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ have been used in an American high school text book, which does say something about their literary merit. Dylan has been likened to a twentieth century bard and minstrel. This is a reasonable comparison because minstrels of medieval times performed songs whose lyrics they very often created themselves.
The art of minstrelsy gradually declined until in the early 1800s a new form of entertainment known as music-hall became more popular. All kinds of novelty acts took to the stage as well as singers of note like Gracie Fields, Marie Lloyd, George Formby and Harry Lauder. A new breed of professional songwriter sprang up to cater for these singers. They wrote catchy tunes with lyrics that were both contemporary and humorous. However, some of these entertainers, like Harry Lauder, wrote their own songs. (There are always exceptions to almost every rule.)
Alongside the music-hall composers of the Victorian era, musical theatre came into being, largely due to the innovative partnership of Gilbert and Sullivan. Arthur Sullivan composed the music for William Gilbert’s lyrics. Gilbert employed puns and complex rhyme schemes which were to influence the work of later lyricists like Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart and Ira Gershwin.
Gilbert also wrote short stories and poetry, so this would seem to be a good place to briefly introduce the second theme of this book - limericks. They are my favourite form of poetry and Gilbert wrote many of them. I was inspired to write one recently on seeing a fellow athlete, who is a colourful character, running in the Anglesey marathon :-
There is a young man from Les Croups
Who wears socks with wide coloured hoops
He is a fine fellow
In shorts of bright yellow
And many a medal he scoops

When Marconi was awarded the patent for radio after his celebrated transatlantic transmission in 1901, he wasn’t to know that he’d created a medium for popular music. On the 14 th November 1952, the New Musical Express printed the first British singles music chart. Despite the presence of such stellar artistes as Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole and Doris Day, the chart was topped by Al Martino. His song ‘Here in My Heart’ was written by Genaro/Levinson/Borreli. It was, incidentally, top for seven weeks and so also became the first ever Christmas number one.
This first chart was only a top twelve, whilst the current chart is a top fifty. A look at the list will show that none of the artistes was a singer/songwriter, they were all simply performers. Very often the songs were composed by two people - a musician and a lyricist. Even the work of famous poets like Dylan Thomas didn’t sell in large numbers at this time, while record sales were counted in hundreds of thousands. Pop music lyrics had become the new poetry of the people.
Taking the rap or a rap on the knuckles means taking punishment meted out for a misdemeanour. RAP is also a form of music which is synonymous with African culture. As a genre, RAP is not easy to place under a specific label. It’s a mixture of poetry, prose and song. RAP lyrics contain rhymes, similes, metaphors and alliteration delivered in a rhythmic pattern with a beating accompaniment. There is no actual proof, but the word RAP has been variously explained as Rhythmically Associated Poetry, Rhythm And Poetry or Rhythmically Applied Poetry. People will often hum a tune when they don’t know the words. A good melody will often push the lyrics into the background. With RAP there’s no tune to talk of, the words are everything. Does it mean then that only RAP lyrics can have a true claim to being called poetry? Or is RAP, strictly speaking, not music?
Now we come to the real reason for this book. I’ve written many song lyrics over the years which, I fear, will join me in the incinerator when I depart this life. I know, I thought, I’ll gather them all into a book and get it published as a lasting legacy for my descendents.
I like poetry, but it does become hard work shifting from theme to theme in the short space of time it takes to read a poem. Volumes of poetry normally have one poem on each page. Why not just read one poem a day I hear you say. I have, you hear me say. It’s not just that. I like background information. What was the inspiration for the poem? Did it just flow from the pen? What does it mean? These are all questions I ask and I hope to answer them for you in this book. Each item will be preceded by a short exercise in prose containing relevant, and not so relevant, details.
Back in 1965, when the Beatles were at their peak, I played guitar in a band with my mates. We were going to be the next big thing. We had one problem - we couldn’t decide on a name, so settled for The Undecided. At that time, I wrote two or three songs which weren’t very good and were never recorded. I kept no written