The Hersey boys discuss a group that ranks highly on both their lists: The Doors. Coming in at number 8 on Todd’s list and moving from 18 to 9 on Eric’s, they chat about Jim Morrison and the rest of the group, including a discussion as to whether “An American Prayer” should count in the rankings as the Doors (or not).
You can also hear about how Todd had to sneak around to obtain (and listen) to rock and roll in his youth.
Read The Podcast: The Doors: Music Ranked!
Jim Morrision produced plenty of songs and plenty of poems. What made them different? Let’s take a look at the difference between songs and poems.
What Makes Song Lyrics Different Than Poetry
The easiest answer to the question would, of course, be music. But that doesn’t really solve much. When Jim Morrison recording his poetry for “An American Prayer” there was no background music. When the remaining members of The Doors put music behind his reciting, is that now a song?
Song lyrics and poems can be the same thing and interchangeable. Some famous songwriters write lyrics with zero intent on actually composing music. If you saw these random notes on a piece of paper and started reading, you very well could think you were reciting someone’s poems. On the other hand, poetry cannot be called “music”.
Music, Songs, and Poems
Songs are set to music. Music is not the same as a song. Gustavo Woltmann answered this question pretty elegantly on Quora in October.
He stated that Music is a collection of all kinds of musical pieces or work. The song is part of the music.
Difference between Song and a Poem
If we look at the definitions, songs and poems are both described as a composition of words with similar nature. The biggest difference comes when music is added.
So to answer the question about Jim Morrison’s “An American Prayer” album with certainty – Jim wrote poems. Once The Doors put music to his lyrics, they became songs.
Poems and Lyrics can be interchangable.
Poems are not songs.
Songs are not music.
Poems are not Music.
Confused? Great. Go Listen to “An American Prayer”.
Podcast Show Notes, References, and Links
Podcast was dropped on November 7, 2020.
Listen to The Doors: Music Ranked!
