May is dedicated to song title poetry. Thank you for commenting on each others song title poems. We write poems with the help of our favourite artists using their song titles only. My understanding is we can use song titles, don’t change them in anyway and don’t talk badly about the band/song if you wish to stay out of trouble. Tomorrow I’ll release a new podcast episode on Writer Pilgrim Sounds so the 3 May challenge is posted to web only, no inboxed email. You’ll find the post published on Substack after midnight BST (British Summer Time).
Each day in May will have a letter assigned. So, in alphabetical order, we started with a band or singer with A.
This song title poetry festival started at the back of NaPoWriMo (national poetry writing month) last year. There was a prompt with the word Cardigan. It appeared in a song by a famous singer songwriter. I took the word and instead remembered The Cardigans, fronted by the lovely Nina Persson.
I took a bunch of their song titles and wrote a poem starting with the song that came to my mind first. You can read that song title poem and some of the comments here on my publication.
It isn’t a copyright issue as the lines are all quotes from song titles and you cannot copyright those. However, some titles may be extremely unique and other countries may have trademark laws that restrict use. We are celebrating music and our love for the artists and these songs. Don’t use the titles without letting us know who the artists are and one way to do this is by adding a short sentence at the bottom of your song title poem.
One artist by letter. So if it’s A, only use Abba, or Aerosmith or Anastasia, don’t mix artists. (For mixing artists and all that join us on First Friday of the month June to April). You can post more than one poem if you feel you want to do two poems about two different artists. Stay for the whole of May or pop in as and when you can.
My Favourite Game
Erase and Rewind
My Favourite Game
In the round
A Lovefool
Hold me
For what it’s worth
And then you kissed me
After all
Losers. Been it.
Your new cuckoo
Communication
For what it's worth
This “poem” consists of titles from The Cardigans.
Your reward is the community in here and making new friends and getting readers to your own stack eventually. I hear some friendships have grown out of the May festival of last year.
Rules: Be kind! Read others’ song title poems and comment. You can use the same title over again and you can write stanzas, sonnets you name it. Title can be the artist name or a song title. The archive is open for all previous song title posts from May onwards.
Dick Whyte Fotini Masika Chris J. Franklin Gloria Horton-Young roger hawcroft Gordon Schenck Treasa Tom Shaw Jonathan Potter Rod Bluhm PS Lorcan man of aran The Sea in Me (Síodhna) Kelly Thompson Steve Spencer Margaret Ann Silver Bethel Hew Richard Blaisdell Darienne Tali Sarnetzky Richard Donnelly Berkana Marinarena
Please note that some of the emails will come to your inbox and others will be posted to web only as it can add a sense of overwhelm to get 31 song title poems in your inbox.
You’re invited to join and if you can become a paid subscriber to support this publication.
Here’s a gorgeous song by the Cardigans “Communication”.
Curious to see what you did last year on B day?
Gotta go home
By the rivers of Babylon
I'm born again
We kill the world
Painter man
Ribbons of blue
,
Rasputin
Daddy Cool
Gotta Go Home
Belfast
Ma Baker
.
Bahama Mama
I see a boat on the river
Somewhere in the world
Brown Girl in the Ring
Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday
.
Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord
Feliz Navidad
Happy Song
El Lute
Kalimba de Luna
.
Boney M songs
Jackson Browne (Haikus)
Minutes to downtown
A little too soon to say
Running on empty
Before the deluge
If I could be anywhere
Sing my songs to me
Fountain of sorrow
For a dancer Walking slow
Tender is the night
Linda Paloma
A song for Barcelona
Of missing persons
Lives in the balance
The barricades of heaven
Too many angels