[Tony Robinson]

Elvis Costello, yes.

One of my favorites:

"I said I'm so happy I could die,
so she said 'drop dead' and left with another guy"

Also, Lou Reed and Paul Simon have tons of good moments.

Tony

[graywyvern]

Originally posted by Nigel Holt:
Alicia,

For me, Leonard Cohen
(snip)

i'll second that

PS not everyone may know that he was already a recognized poet in Canada before taking up the guitar (for me, one of those defining moments of the 60's)...



[This message has been edited by graywyvern (edited June 14, 2001).]

[Tim Murphy]

What Len said, and Aliki, what is it with you and trains, filing their grievances in the tall cabinets of the night? A song lyric must be simple, and metrical substitution, the rhythmic heart of poety, is impermissable because the lyric must dance to the music. Here is Robert Francis' Night Train, which cries out for a music that will never be written to its rhythms:

Across the dim frozen fields of night
Where is it going, where is it going?
No throb of wheels, no rush of light.
Only a whistle blowing, blowing,
Only a whistle blowing.

Something echoing through my brain,
Something timed between sleep and waking,
Murmurs, murmurs this may be the train
I must be sometime, somewhere taking,
I must be sometime taking.

[Nigel Holt]

I'm not sure how well known Peter Hammill is, but I think alongside Cohen, he probably writes the best lyrics of anyone I can think of. He has about 40 albums to his credit over the past 33 years.

You can check them at:
http://www.vub.ac.be/STER/KoenWWW/Ph...cs/Lyrics.html

Nigel

[Alan Sullivan]

Belated return to this thread after my week sailing the Chesapeake. Lovely train lyric, Alicia, and I agree with the others about the dawn.

I would quibble with Tim about regularity in lyric. A good singer can work around a few extra unstressed syllables. Extra stress would be a problem.

In my songwriting days I worked in a wide variety of styles; but I always composed the music first, sometimes in tandem with an initial verse, so I was usually setting words to fit the notes. High and/or sustained notes carry stress; low and/or quick ones fit unstressed syllables.

I found the transition to metrical writing very hard, and I have still not completed it to my entire satisfaction. The rhythms of poetry seem very abstract to me. I'm always wanting to beat time! My year working with the Beowulf translation was a pleasantly musical interlude, as I composed lines for isochronous recitation.

I hope the Spetses fest is going well.

Alan Sullivan