Paul Kelly

[warooa]

I guess a lyricist is writing poetry that will be put to music, obviously bearing that in mind using sight rhymes and half rhymes. In Paul Kelly's I Can't Believe We Were Married he uses the (God-awful) rhyme of dogs/drugs. In true rhyming poetry such would obviously be picked up on.

I reckon Bernie Taupin wrote some great lyrics that would hold up on their own as poetry:

Tune me into the wild side of life,
I'm an innocent young child sharp as a knife,
Take me to the garretts where the artists have died,
show me the court rooms where the judges have lied.

As for an Australian lyricist/songwriter, I reckon you can't go past the poetry of Don Walker (Cold Chisel songwriter). One of the most Australian of writers I know of, his words are strung together with such a raw, yet passionate feel. Like:
she played Mozart with my feelings
and Havoc with my face.

or

He rides the freight-train out of town
and whistles at the icy rime.
The cattle float like thistle-downs
and God is on the edge of time.
Somewhere behind a siren wails,
the freight-train soars above the rails,
the traveller, he's as hard as nails
as the train sweeps down the line.


I remember a mate of mine in year 12 at High School submitted the lyrics to a little known (to the teacher, anyway ) Chisel song Just How Many Times. The opening line was "Lovers see the world through an old, red wine." Suffice to say he got an "A" for "his" work.

Cheers, Marty

ps. Wasn't it the Billy Tea jingle by Marie Cowan that launched Paterson's Waltzing Matilda to national (and later international) fame?

[Neville Briggs]

he uses the (God-awful) rhyme of dogs/drugs. In true rhyming poetry such would obviously be picked up on.

What on earth is true rhyming poetry. Is there an untrue rhyming poetry.

dogs/drugs is just a partial rhyme . Still a rhyme. Whatever one chooses to use as a rhyming match is a matter of taste, almost certainly not lack of correctness.
Unless one uses dogs/mice, that most certainly is not a rhyme.

[Maureen K Clifford]

have a listen to this it is beautifully done even the story is a tear jerker and for a short while he frequented these pages. Not only a poet but a renowned composer - The London Symphony Orchestra no less

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7z4qB40s4U

[Heather]

she played Mozart with my feelings
and Havoc with my face.

I love that Marty.

[Neville Briggs]

I watched the youtube thing Maureen. It is interesting. He has got the emotion and timing into it and the music is perfect for the theme. He says it is his first go at bush poetry, which is not too bad. He just needs to find out how to control the metre, like a lot of first efforts it has ended up a sort of rhyming free verse.