free verse

[Eric VB]

I didn't look very hard to see if this was already discussed, but does anyone write in free verse (i.e., not forcing lyrics to rhyme)? How about other poetry/rhyming structures, say limerick (AABBA)? Anyone ever try to translate a haiku to music? Or is everyone writing only in rhyming couplets?

[Tedster]

(Drunk voice from back of bar)

 

"FREEVERSE!!!"

 

I'm as free as a verse now...

And this verse you cannot cha-aange...

 

Sorry. I had to.

 

I'm terrible at lyrics...

[noneverstuck]

I mostly rhyme, although I have a couple tunes that intentionally lack rhymes. And I do have a very loose piece of free verse that I intend to set to music someday.

 

My search for a rhyme often takes at least equal effort as the devlopment of meaning, and I confess that I have allowed rhymes to alter my initial concept of the song's story (structure dictating content). I don't recommend that approach and I actually feel that rhyme is less important in popular music than it has been in the past.

 

In the pop world, I think the most casual rhymer I have heard is Neil Finn. If you look at his most famous work, Don't Dream It's Over, only the second of three verses contains a rhyme--it seems almost accidental when he sings it. And the melody subverts the only rhyme in the chorus. He seems oblivious to syllable count as well.

 

Joe Jackson has a couple of non-rhymers on his Big World album, the title track and a beautiful ballad called Shanghai sky, which is the closest to free verse I think you'll find on a pop album (you may think you see some rhymes in the text, but as sung the lyrics really float):

 

Strange

How the world got so small

I turned around and there was nowhere left to go

So sad

The dream always dies

Each new arrival closes places in my mind

But I can dream

Until I go

Of smells that I don't recognize

And by the river

In Shanghai

The colour of the sky

Is something I've never seen

After the summer rain

Children smile

Curious and kind

And the world is big again

 

Deef

[Eric VB]

Tedster, if I had a wet noodle I'd flog you with it. And yes, it is always the drunkest guy in the place that decides he wants to hear Freebird... and usually wants to come on stage and help out.

 

Deef, thanks for the info! Always good to learn something new!

[MusicYouCantGiveAway]

I've tried alot of different things. I have a couple of things that don't rhyme, but I also have free rhyming "rap-like things" that are closer to slam poetry but not really slam and not urban, in fact more like western blues meets musical theatre.

~Bob

[Negativ]

I never use rhymes unless I realize I can really make a strong impact with it. Rhymes feels too cheap, in my mind.. catches but fades away quickly..

[LOWBOY]

i dont usually think about it

a good line is a good line

and the structure tends to flow from whatever follows

 

sometimes you follow the rythmn

sometimes you follow the rhyme

sometimes you flow with the structure

and sometimes you just blow all over the place

 

cheesey rhymes are always easy

and sometimes even fun

but words that say a lot without saying much at all

thats whats hard

thats the goal

[Eric VB]

Well put, LOWBOY!