It Could Be Verse

A Literal Lyric Poem

Each line of this poem is an excerpted song lyric. There are twenty-six lines, one for each letter of the alphabet. The artist corresponding to the song lyric on a particular line has a name beginning with the corresponding letter – e.g., line 1, artist name A, line 2, artist name B, all the way to 26 and Z.

I also tried to have the poem tell a meaningful story, in this case of the journey out of loneliness and our obligation to reach out to others who think they have no one to turn to.

Below the poem – and after some sunrise and sunset photos from a recent trip to Kenya and Tanzania – I’ve included a list of the artists and songs. If it would amuse you, annotate the poem first and see how many you can get without looking!

*******************************************

This is for all the lonely people

Where do they all come from?

All the way from China?

Riders on the storm?

A dark desert highway?  

***

You can call it another lonely day,

Come with me, or go alone.

Leave and then I’ll lose you;

Won’t you come with me and walk this land?

We’ll go walking out while others shout,

How far to the point of know return?

***

Go outside and feel the sunshine,

This is where I long to be.

I’m going where the sun keeps shining,

Come out and play –

I could stay with you for a while!

***

Care for the people on the edge of the night

Everyone around, love them, love them

Disturb the sound of silence!

Everyone is helpful, everyone is kind

We get to carry each other!

***

I’m nothing but a stranger in this world –

Did I hear you say you love me?

Trying to take this all in …

You hold the key to love and fear …

… It’s the time of the season for loving!

***************************************************

List of artists and songs:

America: Lonely People

The Beatles: Eleanor Rigby

Leonard Cohen: Suzanne

The Doors: Riders on the Storm

The Eagles: Hotel California

Fleetwood Mac: You Can Go Your Own Way

The Grateful Dead: Uncle John’s Band

The Hollies: On a Carousel

Iron Butterfly: In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida

Jethro Tull: Living in the Past

Kansas: Point of Know Return

Lighthouse: One Fine Morning

Madonna: La Isla Bonita

Nilsson: Everbody’s Talkin’

The Offspring: Come Out and Play

Pure Prairie League: Amie

Queen: Under Pressure (with David Bowie)

REM (Shiny, Happy People)

Simon & Garfunkel (The Sound of Silence)

Three Dog Night (Shambala)

U2 (One)

Van Morrison (Astral Weeks)

Stevie Wonder (Did I Hear You Say Love Me)

XTC (Senses Working Overtime)

The Youngbloods (Get Together)

The Zombies (Time of the Season)

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3 responses to “A Literal Lyric Poem”

  1. JDB Avatar
    JDB

    This is such a clever idea, Jeff. How did you a) land on the idea and b) identify the particular lyric(s) to fit the message/topic? The poem has an apt theme, given the country’s epidemic of loneliness. As for tagging the songs, I started out really well (knew 4 of the first 5) then bombed the rest the way, getting only 5 of the next 21.

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    1. Jeff Avatar
      Jeff

      Thanks! The idea grew out of a game I sometimes play in my head, of stringing lyrics together to create a message. This morning I thought it might work as a poem, and I spend a good part of a blissfully quiet afternoon working it out. As for the specific songs, I was listening to Revolver while walking Max this morning and when Eleanor Rigby came on, the “All the lonely people / Where do they all come from” line triggered a connection to America’s “This Is for All the Lonely People”. To make things more challenging, after America and the Beatles I decided each subsequent line should come from a band following in alphabetical order. Then I thought about how I wanted the poem to arc and spent some time scanning through my Apple Music library to call to mind other possible lyrics. Sometimes the lyric was from an alphabetically convenient artist. Other times, I started with the artist I wanted to represent the letter and skimmed through their songs looking for a suitable lyric.

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  2. Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow – Jeff’s Puzzles

    […] anyone’s interested, I posted a poem a couple of days ago – A Literal Lyric Poem – where each of the 26 lines is an excerpt from a song lyric. For line 1, the artist begins […]

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