Therein lies the problem. Poetry set to music seldom works, because it is too dense. When it is done, the music must be very plain, or only a short sections of

Therein lies the problem. Poetry set to music seldom works, because it is too dense. When it is done, the music must be very plain, or only a short sections of the text are used, or the text is chopped up and spliced without regard to meaning of the words, or there is a lot of repetitions, or there is a lot of instrumental passages. Often more than one of the above. Song lyrics (you can call it poetry that is meant to be sung) carry much less information, don't require careful attention of the listener, are mostly linear. But song lyrics require something that poetry does not -- they have to work: They must be vocalizable with ease. They must rhyme. There must be a leitmotif/chorus that is recognizable and catchy, et cetera. They must be popular, and make money. Some singers-songwriters write both poetry and songs[1] (or a poem is adapted into a song[2], or vice versa) -- then you can easily see the difference between the two. [1] Few of my favourites: Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Filip Topol [2] The God Abandons Anthony, by C P Cavafy: http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=12&cat=1 http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=12&cat=1 -- and a song based on it, by L Cohen and S Robinson: http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/42869/ http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/42869/