Poetry and dance
July 22, 2013 11:55 AM
What songs fuse poetry or spoken word with music? The closest I can think of are Baz Luhrmann's "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" and Poe's "Hey Pretty". I'd be especially interested in mashups that do this.
The Waterboys' latest album is all inspired by Yeats. Some of it is sung, but some may be spoken - I just saw them live and one of the numbers they did from "appointment" concluded with a recitation of some passages from The Second Coming. They also do the same treatment with Yeats' Stolen Child on an earlier album.
The "extended version" of the Moody Blues' Knights In White Satin also does this.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:17 PM on July 22, 2013
The "extended version" of the Moody Blues' Knights In White Satin also does this.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:17 PM on July 22, 2013
Previous question that may be helpful.
As in that thread, I think you would like Utah Phillips and Ani DiFranco's The Past Didn't Go Anywhere.
posted by librarina at 12:20 PM on July 22, 2013
As in that thread, I think you would like Utah Phillips and Ani DiFranco's The Past Didn't Go Anywhere.
posted by librarina at 12:20 PM on July 22, 2013
Didn't you just describe Rap music?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 12:32 PM on July 22, 2013
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 12:32 PM on July 22, 2013
From opposite ends of the conceptual scale:
Belong, by R.E.M.
Jesus Was Way Cool, by King Missile.
posted by escabeche at 12:36 PM on July 22, 2013
Belong, by R.E.M.
Jesus Was Way Cool, by King Missile.
posted by escabeche at 12:36 PM on July 22, 2013
Here's one I love: Pulp's F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.
posted by fikri at 12:36 PM on July 22, 2013
posted by fikri at 12:36 PM on July 22, 2013
Greg Giraldo + LazyBoy - Underwear Goes Inside The Pants
posted by jbickers at 1:03 PM on July 22, 2013
posted by jbickers at 1:03 PM on July 22, 2013
This might not be what you're looking for (indeed, it might not be what anyone is looking for), but there's an avant-metal band called Ehnahre which did an album based on the texts of poet Donald Justice.
posted by sleevener at 1:57 PM on July 22, 2013
posted by sleevener at 1:57 PM on July 22, 2013
Tyger, by Tangerine Dream, is based on several William Blake poems. Well worth buying. Full album youtube link.
posted by sciatica at 2:07 PM on July 22, 2013
posted by sciatica at 2:07 PM on July 22, 2013
Most music by Jim Carroll. People Who Died is probably the most famous
The Fall
The Blue Aeroplanes
John Cooper Clarke, the British punk poet
The whole subgenre of song's that rip off Dylan's Suberratean Homesick Blues - We Didn't Start the Fire, End of the World As We Know It, etc
my new band
The Waterboys - An Appointment With Mr Yeats album
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 5:09 PM on July 22, 2013
The Fall
The Blue Aeroplanes
John Cooper Clarke, the British punk poet
The whole subgenre of song's that rip off Dylan's Suberratean Homesick Blues - We Didn't Start the Fire, End of the World As We Know It, etc
my new band
The Waterboys - An Appointment With Mr Yeats album
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 5:09 PM on July 22, 2013
Meat Loaf - You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (the version with the extended intro that starts "On a hot summer night.
Would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?")
You didn't say it had to be GOOD poetry.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 5:14 PM on July 22, 2013
Would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?")
You didn't say it had to be GOOD poetry.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 5:14 PM on July 22, 2013
Doseone is sometimes a rapper, sometimes a poet. That's one of the more poety tracks.
posted by solarion at 5:42 PM on July 22, 2013
posted by solarion at 5:42 PM on July 22, 2013
Patti Smith's Land is a great example, but she's a bit intense for some people (although amazing).
posted by Paper rabies at 5:47 PM on July 22, 2013
posted by Paper rabies at 5:47 PM on July 22, 2013
Quite a bit of Bruce Cockburn's work has spoken-word elements. Try Birmingham Shadows.
posted by Sublimity at 6:23 PM on July 22, 2013
posted by Sublimity at 6:23 PM on July 22, 2013
"This is Ponderous" - 2NU
"Poison", "Twisting Doorknob" - the Weathermen (and a lot more of the stuff on The Black Album According to .... [I feel I should warn you that "Twisting Doorknob" is actually quite creepy.]
...and I thought I had more, but they all turned out to be less spoken word and more staccato rapping than I'd remembered.
Fun list you have from everyone so far, though!
posted by batmonkey at 7:59 PM on July 22, 2013
"Poison", "Twisting Doorknob" - the Weathermen (and a lot more of the stuff on The Black Album According to .... [I feel I should warn you that "Twisting Doorknob" is actually quite creepy.]
...and I thought I had more, but they all turned out to be less spoken word and more staccato rapping than I'd remembered.
Fun list you have from everyone so far, though!
posted by batmonkey at 7:59 PM on July 22, 2013
The band Soul Coughing had a few of these.
posted by Eumachia L F at 10:39 PM on July 22, 2013
posted by Eumachia L F at 10:39 PM on July 22, 2013
Andrew Bird's Wait takes its lyrics from a Galway Kinnell song by the same name.
posted by yaymukund at 10:41 PM on July 22, 2013
posted by yaymukund at 10:41 PM on July 22, 2013
Golden Hair by Syd Barrett is based on a James Joyce poem
there's a few Leonard Cohen songs with spoken word bits in them
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 10:43 PM on July 22, 2013
there's a few Leonard Cohen songs with spoken word bits in them
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 10:43 PM on July 22, 2013
You must must must check out Jayne Cortez & the Firespitters. Her son Denardo (whose father is Ornette Coleman, Cortez's husband from 1954-1964) was her drummer in that band.
Some of the best:
Find Your Own Voice
You Can Be
If the Drum Is A Woman
I feel incredibly lucky to have seen her perform multiple times over the years, including a pretty spectacular appearance at VisionFest in NYC in 2001 - WOW.
Come to think of it, Amiri Baraka's project Blue Ark was also on the bill at VisionFest that evening, and they are definitely another group that fits the bill as far as your question goes.
posted by deliciae at 2:25 AM on July 23, 2013
Some of the best:
Find Your Own Voice
You Can Be
If the Drum Is A Woman
I feel incredibly lucky to have seen her perform multiple times over the years, including a pretty spectacular appearance at VisionFest in NYC in 2001 - WOW.
Come to think of it, Amiri Baraka's project Blue Ark was also on the bill at VisionFest that evening, and they are definitely another group that fits the bill as far as your question goes.
posted by deliciae at 2:25 AM on July 23, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by usonian at 12:12 PM on July 22, 2013