grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
I don't really think of lyrics that way ~ although some lyrics are clearly poems set to music. Or are very poetic.
Thing is, a poem exists on its own. It is intended to be read. It needs absolutely nothing with which to adorn or assist it. While it's good to have a meaningful lyric, they are by no means necessary. Some great songs have banal lyrics. If they were to be read as poetry, the writer of them would be exiled to outer space !
True, but the words that are fitted into a melody are by nature often subservient to the melody and the music. It's one of those 'grey area' things, it's not hard and fast but I'd say it leans more in one way than another.
I'm not the greatest or most poetic lyricist you're ever likely to meet. More often than not, my lyrics develop separately to the music they end up being paired with and I often bend words, extend syllables, or make syllables or words twist around multiple notes. For me, the lyric has often played much more of a musical and rhythmic role than a literary one.
