what is the different between poetry and lyrics (from a song)?

Question

When you write poetry, how do you know if it has the form and musical quality of a song?...please answer the 2 questions very specifically please.

Answer 1

Great question.

Poetry is much freer. For example, poems can be any length, do not necessarily have to ryhme, and do not always follow specific guidelines. Obviously there are exceptions.

Songs are more structured, and need to follow a specific rythym, to make singing them easier. Also, songs typically have a chorus, refrain, bridge, etc, that help create the song and make it flow. Poems sometimes have this, but don't need it.

However, I guess you could call a lyricist a poet. It's the same basic ideas, lines of words that create some kind of beat and mental image. But a song is different from a poem in as many ways as it is the same.

To answer your other question, when a poem has the form of a song, it is typically a verse to a few verses, then the chorus, then a few new verses, chorus, sometimes a refrain, and however the artist chooses to end it. A song has a very easy rythm, each line about the same lengh, with a specific pattern to everything.

Answer 2

Poetry and song lyrics have much the same relationship as sketching and oil painting. Poetry is more free-form, since it does not have to fit into a specific meter or melody.

A rhyming poem (not all poems rhyme) can be fit into a song lyric, but may need some modification like creation of a repetitive chorus.

Answer 3

I think the only real difference between poetry and song lyrics is lyrics are sung and set to music, while poems are not. Otherwise, they're pretty much one in the same.