A piece of evidence for this discussion is that on Garrison Keillor's "Writer's Almanac" web page and radio program, the poetic selections read each day often include song lyrics. Those I recall seeing recently (sorry to be so vague; I can't look at it and this at the same time without having things freeze up) were blues songs--I think I've seen "Trouble in Mind" not long ago.
Now, people either love Keillor or they hate him, and we could go on for quite a while about what this evidence is worth. But my take is that, for a lot of people, certain sets of words are just as evocative in print as in the ear, with music. Perhaps that's only because the music is being heard in the mind.
An interesting topic.
Maryann
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