If I can write poetry does that mean I might be able to write a song or is it completely different?

Question

I've been very tempted to throw my hand at song writing of recent. I've been able to write poetry for years and I was wondering since there is a particular structure to poetry writing that is kind of similar to song verses etc would I be able to carry over the skills? Or would it be difficult? What sort of things would I need to know / understand to help me write a song successfully? Any advice would be appreciated!

Answer 1

songwriting usually involves fitting words to music

so being able to write poetry is no guarantee that youll be able to write songs

Answer 2

Contrary to popular belief, writing song lyrics and poetry require different skills. Yes, poetry can be "music" to the ears, but many of the world's most popular songs sound ridiculous when read as poetry. There are, however, "some" songs that are actually poetry put to music, so it "can" be done. The trick is that the tune must fit the words precisely...they must compliment themselves. "Sting" (amongst a few others) does this quite well, yet if you read the lyrics to "Roxanne", you'll see that not every good song is good poetry. Why not? Because just as poetry evokes images and feelings with its words, "songs" evoke it with a combination of music, lyrics, and silence. Unlike a poem where the silence can be short or long according to the reader's ear, a song has a specific timeframe and phrasing that is very important to the entire canvas. Moby's "porcelain" is a very good example of this where there is only one word uttered..."play"...yet it is so haunting that it rocketed to the top of the charts. So, "can" you be a good poet and a good songwriter? yes, but just because you can do one, doesn't mean you can automatically do the other.

good luck...and keep writing

Answer 3

Maybe you have both talents: to write poetry and music. Maybe there is a relation between these two abilities, I do not know. I don't think you have to ask for this anwswer. You know better if you can . People are so different that you cannot simply apply what you hear , you only adapt . Try and you will see. Trust your abilities and good luck.
P.S. : I heard that people that have musical abbilities learn easier a foreign language. Then, why not write poetry easier? Think about it!

Answer 4

If you just want to write song lyrics, it sounds like you're in business. You'll need to write a poem that has a meter (for example, 7 7 7 7 or Common Meter 8 6 8 6). Then, just find a tune to set it to. If you just want to do it for fun, you can use any song book that has meters listed. This website can give you some ideas.
http://www.lds.org/cm/metersearchtext/1,18291,4785-1-1,00.html

If you intend to make money off your songs, you'll need to get written permission to use the tunes, or hire someone to write some for you.

If, on the other hand, you want to write the tunes yourself, you'll need to know lots about music, so take some classes!

Answer 5

Of course you can do songwriting! I'm pretty sure that you've heard that music is poetry! Many people that are supposed to be "singers" or "song writers" can't even make good poetry. But since you're an established poet - I bet that you can make better music than a lot of these "singers" today!! - Because the stuff that they're signin' ain't music!

Answer 6

Writing a song requires skill at writing music. Can you write music? Anything can be made into a song by someone who writes music, but it does help to have poetry to start with.

Answer 7

I write poems (used to write poetry 7 years ago) and have now switched to parody writing. So much fun. Have you looked at the site called amiright.com. You will see thousands of people in the same boat as you. I want to be able to sell my songs but I can't as long as they are parodies.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

If I heard what it sounded like then maybe I could answer this better, but it looks pretty good, and I think I would listen to it on occasions... It seems a little short and would only be like a 1:30 and most songs are about 2:00-4:00 minutes long... but it looks like it would be a good song... Hope I helped...

Answer 10

If you are musically minded, go for it. Its about time we had some original songs again instead of so called musicians taking songs from the 60's, 70's and 80's and giving them a dance club background. Original is best, good luck and look forward to hearing your work!