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I write tomato, you sing ketchup.
Jul. 18th, 2008 09:13 pmBob Dylan does not deserve this snobbery and pedantry: Academics need to stop pretending that pop lyrics have no literary worth, writes Michael Horovitz (seen in ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
choriamb)
The article is well-written. However, there is something to the "snobbery" that many poets have towards pop lyrics. A lot of pop lyrics barely utilize the amount of craft that academic poetry does. I'm a fan of slant rhyme, for example, but even I couldn't get away with some of the rhymes that songs do unless I were writing a song. Popular lyrics have a lot more leeway because they are melded with the accompaniment (especially if the melody comes before the words do); also, much doggerel can be catapulted into cultural dominance due to the notation that buoys it. A good musical progression can lead listeners to forgive mediocre lyrics.
choriamb)The article is well-written. However, there is something to the "snobbery" that many poets have towards pop lyrics. A lot of pop lyrics barely utilize the amount of craft that academic poetry does. I'm a fan of slant rhyme, for example, but even I couldn't get away with some of the rhymes that songs do unless I were writing a song. Popular lyrics have a lot more leeway because they are melded with the accompaniment (especially if the melody comes before the words do); also, much doggerel can be catapulted into cultural dominance due to the notation that buoys it. A good musical progression can lead listeners to forgive mediocre lyrics.
