Are songwriters equal to poets?

Dave3x

Just a question- having read the most recent post on the "Today's Observation" thread, where fjon writes:

Lyrics have never meant a huge deal to me, but I used to wish they did. I tried to relate to them when I was younger, but always ended up drawn to the stupider or weird ones (I always liked "a man needs a woman like a fish needs a bicycle"). I do find that not really listening to what someone is singing doesn't detract from my enjoyment of music at all though. I can also happily listen to a song in Spanish or French just as easily as one in English.

However, I would consider the writing of lyrics as more important than the musical portion of a song- just look how Bob Dylan, who can hardly sing (just listen to "Rainy Day Women") creates great songs. And many well-written songs are very much like musical, rythmical poetry (with a strong emphasis on rhyme).

So, I'd just be interested to hear whether or not other people consider songwriting to be as valid an artistic output as other forms of creative writing (I realise this isn't a music forum, so I'm tallking in a purely lyrical sense).

Bass.exe

Absolutely.
Lyrics can have as much, or more meaning than some of the "best" poetry out there.
Songwriting is the NEW poetry. Except it's not new.... um...
The addition of music lets the songwriter subtly (or not so) alter your mood, so you end up understanding the point of the song better than if it were merely spoken. Sometimes poems leave you wondering "WTF? Was he happy or sad?" whereas with songs, you're pretty much covered , though I suppose that's more to do with the fact you can hear the singer's voice.... my point about mood is still valid though.

Shad0r

Are apples equal to oranges?

shiv

I agree with bass.exe
songs take words to a whole new level, and give you more of an idea of tone as opposed to imaganing what the author meant..

There was an interesting show on telly tonight about Leonard Cohen (the most shaggable man in poetry) and how he started off as a traditional poet, and was very successful, and then moved into songwriting and singing, all the while keeping the quality of his writing intact, and bringing it to a wider audience. He's about the only one I can think of who's done both so brilliantly.