Song lyrics that can stand alone as poetry

[Randy]

There are countless songs we consider poetic or, at least, poetic sounding. However, most of these songs, when stripped of their instrumentals, may not hold up so well as serious poetry.



What songs do you feel, on paper, could pass for poetry so much so that a reputable publishing company would want to acquire and distribute them regardless of the identity of the author?



Just to get things started, here are a few of my personal choices:



All My Love - Led Zeppelin

What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

 

[Sam.]

Stairway to Heaven.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Tupac - Dear Mama



Lyrics:

Spoiler

When I was young me and my mama had beef

Seventeen years old kicked out on the streets

Though back at the time, I never thought I'd see her face

Ain't a woman alive that could take my mama's place

Suspended from school; and scared to go home, I was a fool

with the big boys, breakin all the rules

I shed tears with my baby sister

Over the years we was poorer than the other little kids

And even though we had different daddy's, the same drama

When things went wrong we'd blame mama

I reminice on the stress I caused, it was hell

Huggin on my mama from a jail cell

And who'd think in elementary?

Heeey! I see the penitentiary, one day

And runnin from the police, that's right

Mama catch me, put a whoopin to my backside

And even as a crack fiend, mama

You always was a black queen, mama

I finally understand

for a woman it ain't easy tryin to raise a man

You always was committed

A poor single mother on welfare, tell me how ya did it

There's no way I can pay you back

But the plan is to show you that I understand

You are appreciated



Now ain't nobody tell us it was fair

No love from my daddy cause the coward wasn't there

He passed away and I didn't cry, cause my anger

wouldn't let me feel for a stranger

They say I'm wrong and I'm heartless, but all along

I was lookin for a father he was gone

I hung around with the Thugs, and even though they sold drugs

They showed a young brother love

I moved out and started really hangin

I needed money of my own so I started slangin

I ain't guilty cause, even though I sell rocks

It feels good puttin money in your mailbox

I love payin rent when the rent's due

I hope ya got the diamond necklace that I sent to you

Cause when I was low you was there for me

And never left me alone because you cared for me

And I could see you comin home after work late

You're in the kitchen tryin to fix us a hot plate

Ya just workin with the scraps you was given

And mama made miracles every Thanksgivin

But now the road got rough, you're alone

You're tryin to raise two bad kids on your own

And there's no way I can pay you back

But my plan is to show you that I understand

You are appreciated



Pour out some liquor and I reminsce, cause through the drama

I can always depend on my mama

And when it seems that I'm hopeless

You say the words that can get me back in focus

When I was sick as a little kid

To keep me happy there's no limit to the things you did

And all my childhood memories

Are full of all the sweet things you did for me

And even though I act craaazy

I gotta thank the Lord that you made me

There are no words that can express how I feel

You never kept a secret, always stayed real

And I appreciate, how you raised me

And all the extra love that you gave me

I wish I could take the pain away

If you can make it through the night there's a brighter day

Everything will be alright if ya hold on

It's a struggle everyday, gotta roll on

And there's no way I can pay you back

But my plan is to show you that I understand

You are appreciated

 

[Payton]

Saturday in the Park - Chicago

I like that song because it, for some reason, makes me really happy. It brings a wave of good nostalgia over me. :}



Curl Up and Die - Relient K

This song is really sweet. Read the lyrics and listen to the song and you'll understand why.



Beaming - Relient K

Beaming is a song like Saturday in the Park... very nice, and simple. The lyrics aren't the main attraction as much as the sound is.



Candlelight - Relient K

This song is also one of Relient K's sweeter songs but it's much more cheerful than Curl Up and Die. Also, something I like to tell people about the song when I talk about it is that Matt Thiessen - Relient K's lead vocalist - wrote this song (along with others on the new album Forget and Not Slow Down) while he spent a month at a lake cabin (for the new album need I add). This song is also about his ex-girlfriend.

 

[Fayble]

Drake ~ Forever



Ok, hello its da martian,

space jam Jordan’s,

I want this sh-t forever wake up and smell the Garden,

fresher than the harvest

step up to the target,

if i had one guess than I guess im just New Orleans,

and I will never stop like i’m running from the cops,

hop up in my car and told my chauffeur to the top,

life is like a f-cking roller coaster then it drops,

but what should I scream for this is my theme park,

my minds shine even when my thoughts seem dark,

pistol on my side you don’t wanna hear that thing talk,

let the king talk check the price and pay attention,

Lil Wayne thats what they got to say or mention,

lyrics courtesy of killerhiphop.com

Im like Nevada in the middle of the summer,

i’m resting in the lead I need a pillow and a cover,

shhh, my foots sleeping on the gas,

no brake pads no such thing as last,

 

[Temerit]

^^ lol



I've got a good one:

A bit of foul language though



Immortal Technique - The 4th Branch



The new age is upon us

And yet the past refuses to rest in its shallow grave

For those who hide behind the false image of the son of man

shall stand before God!!!

It has begun, the beginning of the end



The voice of racism preaching the gospel is devilish

A fake church called the prophet Muhammad a terrorist

Forgetting God is not religion, but a spiritual bond

And Jesus is the most quoted prophet in the Qu'ran

They bombed innocent people, tryin' to murder Saddam

When you gave him those chemical weapons to go to war with Iran

This is the information that they hold back from Peter Jennings

Cause Condoleezza Rice is just a new age Sally Hemmings

I break it down with critical language and spiritual anguish

The Judas I hang with, the guilt of betraying Christ

You murdered and stole his religion, and painted him white

Translated in psychologically tainted philosophy

Conservative political right wing, ideology

Glued together sloppily, the blasphemy of a nation

Got my back to the wall, cause I'm facin' assassination

Guantanamo Bay, federal incarceration

How could this be, the land of the free, home of the brave?

Indigenous holocaust, and the home of the slaves

Corporate America, dancin' offbeat to the rhythm

You really think this country, never sponsored terrorism?

Human rights violations, we continue the saga

El Salvador and the contras in Nicaragua

And on top of that, you still wanna take me to prison

Just cause I won't trade humanity for patriotism



It's like MK-ULTRA, controlling your brain

Suggestive thinking, causing your perspective to change

They wanna rearrange the whole point of view of the ghetto

The fourth branch of the government, want us to settle

A bandana full of glittering, generality

Fighting for freedom and fighting terror, but what's reality?

Read about the history of the place that we live in

And stop letting corporate news tell lies to your children



Flow like the blood of Abraham through the Jews and the Arabs

Broken apart like a woman's heart, abused in a marriage

The brink of holy war, bottled up, like a miscarriage

Embedded correspondents don't tell the source of the tension

And they refuse to even mention, European intervention

Or the massacres in Jenin, the innocent screams

U.S. manufactured missles, and M-16's

Weapon contracts and corrupted American dreams

Media censorship, blocking out the video screens

A continent of oil kingdoms, bought for a bargain

Democracy is just a word, when the people are starvin'

The average citizen, made to be, blind to the reason

A desert full of genocide, where the bodies are freezin'

And the world doesn't believe that you fightin' for freedom

Cause you fucked the Middle East, and gave birth to a demon

It's open season with the CIA, bugging my crib

Trapped in a ghetto region like a Palestinian kid

Where nobody gives a f--k whether you die or you live

I'm tryin' to give the truth, and I know the price is my life

But when I'm gone they'll sing a song about Immortal Technique

Who beheaded the President, and the princes and sheiks

You don't give a f--k about us, I can see through your facade

Like a fallen angel standing in the presence of God

Bitch n-----z scared of the truth, when it looks at you hard



It's like MK-ULTRA, controlling your brain

Suggestive thinking, causing your perspective to change

They wanna rearrange the whole point of view in the ghetto

The fourth branch of the government, want us to settle

A bandana full of glittering, generality

Fighting for freedom and fighting terror, but what's reality?

Martial law is coming soon to the hood, to kill you

While you hanging your flag out your project window



[Talking]

Yeah..

The fourth branch of the government AKA the media

Seems to now have a retirement plan for ex-military officials

As if their opinion was at all unbiased

A machine shouldn't speak for men

So shut the f--k up you mindless drone!

And you know it's serious

When these same media outfits are spending millions of dollars on a PR campaign

To try to convince you they're fair and balanced

When they're some of the most ignorant, and racist people

Giving that type of mentality a safe haven

We act like we share in the spoils of war that they do

We die in wars, we don't get the contracts to make money off 'em afterwards!

We don't get weapons contracts, n----!

We don't get cheap labor for our companies, n----!

We are cheap labor, n----!

Turn off the news and read, n----!

Read... read... read...

 

[Payton]

In a sitch like this you've gotta think

And I don't think you think about the way he thinks

And I know you live life for yourself

But it all comes down to the way you help



And I know your life is such a hell

You wake up early and you work until

You have your drinks at 5 o'clock

The hours blend and your thoughts all

Haunt



Your hopes, your dreams, your everything

Well, momma I hope, I dream, that you won't

Leave



And I have a question!



What is love?

What is love?

Oh, oh oh oh-oh-oh

Is it giving up?

'Cause that's not how you raised me,

Yeah.



In a sitch like this you gotta think

And I don't think you think about the way

She thinks

And I know you work hard everyday

But it all comes down to the way you're

Paid



And I know you're oh so sorry dad

I truly believe that you're a better man

Than to share one kiss and then give away

All the love you come home everyday



To your hopes, your dreams, your everything

Well daddy, I hope, I dream that she won't

Leave



And I have a question!



What is love?

What is love?

Oh, oh oh oh-oh-oh

Is it giving up?

'Cause that's not how you raised me.

And what is love?

What is love?

Oh, oh oh oh-oh-oh

See, I don't know anymore;



I used to look up to that love.