EsquireDog

Thanks for all the coments so far. I doubt I'll ever reach the point of writing successful poetry, as opposed to lyrics, but I would like to add a bit more beauty to my more literal prose. By the way, I don't know if there is any bright-line way to distinguish when a poem becomes a lyric, or vice-versa, but I read somewhere once that a poem is utterly complete unto itself, whereas a lyric always knows that it needs music to become complete. Not sure where to draw that line when someone takes a true poem, and then sets it to music. But when I say that I'd like to add more poetrty to my lyrics, I guess I mean using more beautiful, or more evocative, or more metaphorical elements in my own writing. I've always been interested in writing lyrics, but never had much of any desire to write poems. EsquireDog

I'm a longtime dabbler in writing lyrics. I have no professional/commercial aspirations, and I have no gift for making music, although I listen to a great deal of it. So writing lyrics is my creative musical outlet. I probably knock out a couple of partial lyrics per week, but my main problem is that I tend to get my ideas down on paper, and then never get around to polishing them up. They always seem to remain works in progress that I never quite finish before moving on to the next one. I thought I'd try out a forum like this one in hopes that criticism and maybe some ideas/suggestions might help me get the satisfaction of finally feeling that some of my lyrics are actually complete. I tend to write fairly straightforward lyrics, as opposed to more elusive or "poetic" lyrics. I'm particularly partial to story-telling songs. But sometimes I feel that my efforts are too literal, and not poetic enough. Maybe some good feedback will help me reach a happy medium. My musical preferences growing up were fairly typical - - 60's & 70's pop and rock. These days I'm more into American Mongrel Music - - that mix of rock/country/pop/blues/folk/etc also known as Americana, alternative-country, and roots music. My tastes now run more towards off-the-beaten-path artists and bands, rather than with the mainsteam. Although I feel utterly unqualified to pass judgment on anyone else's lyrical work, I have read here that we are all encouraged to do critiques. So I went ahead and jumped in before I had even done this intro, or posted any of my own lyrics, when I ran across a lyric that caught my eye while browsing this forum. Dive right in to unfamiliar waters, I say! Anyway, I hope that some of you will take the time to comment on my own "lyrics in search of a song" when I pick out a few and load them on the site. Thanks. Garry