Wow. So you want us to write an actual letter/email to the artist and send it to them. That's an amazing idea. I think they would be very touched. It's not possible to write to some of mine, of course, but I guess someone like Billy Corgan could possibly be into it. He actually released his own book of poetry about twenty years ago. But would he appreciate me turning his songs into a story about a group of people trapped on a mountain in a blizzard? I'm not sure. Haha... 😎
Ha! I don’t if he would. It’s a risk someone does not approve of our art, artform, expression… it’s a risk. No progress without risk. If you’re willing to take it why not. Pick the one you’re most comfortable with. We gotta do something more with these poems.
Absolutely. We have got to do something with them. It's a damn shame Substack don't yet have the facility to post books on here. As they would have made a lovely little anthology, with a few in there from each of us, as a free memento of the event for everyone to enjoy... 😎
It's three of you now mentioning the collection be put in a book, or online pdf. I'm thinking it will take work to put it all and get you all to consent, but most of all, the artists should be known their titles are collected in this way. It would take some research and further consent from the artists I'd guess. While titles are not copyrighted, it is complicated to create a whole book with these. From where I stand. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Yeah, it would be a mammoth task! You could ask each poet to make their own PDF and then combine them all together (as long as we all had the same page size that would work - like 5x8, or A5, or something)? Or everyone could make their own, and then just host them all on one post? Or get everyone to choose one poem each and then just make that into a book, with links to each person or something? Any word processor program/app can output to PDF (for anyone into making books, I highly recommend Scribus, which is a free, open-source Indesign-style program). Full disclosure, mine are already in PDF book form as I slowly work on editing (it's currently 48 pages long) :-)
I think it could work, for sure. And as was mentioned before about these things, as long as it's a free download there should be no issue. Because it falls under 'fair use' as long as you're using titles to create something new, and it's significantly transformative, and in our case, you could even argue it's something educational that was part of a writing group, and the book is just a record of what we learnt. It's only once you try to monetize that things become a hassle... 😎
Just going to throw this out there… even though I've missed this months poetic task. Oops!! Life stuff blah blah got in the way.
if you are ever wanting to have an anthology completed of these monthly challenges...
I can format both poetry and writing books. Even highly customised poetry layout. Whether they are individual series or an anthology collection. Available as full publication sale or as a free download. Roman Newell's BLACKED poetry collection is my highlight work. I've formatted pretty much all of his poetry collections. It's got some detailed layout.
I can even do cover formatting. However… it'd look pretty neat if you asked Duane to create an original collage piece. That would look pretty cool with all these letters and song title poetry.
Hmm. Ian Anderson. Donald Fagen. Tom Waits. Bowie’s out. Your suggestion reminds me of my brother. He hosts a backyard concert at his house each summer. He hires a local musician, often struggling but always with talent, to play. Not stars and affordable for a middle class guy. But he also sends requests to big (Canadian) stars, Sarah McLachlan one year, Randy Bachman of BTO another year. When I suggested he was crazy and wasting his time, he just said, hey, what’ve I got to lose? They might say yes, and that would be amazing! Might do Ian Anderson, we’ll see!
I love that your brother does that! Seriously, it’s just… what if they say yes? I did something similar on my writing workshop. Invited some authors. Out of 3, one said let’s make this happen, two haven’t responded. But the most amazing thing is that one author I admire and like, got in touch as said she wants to guest speak at my workshop! Once you put yourself out there, things happen! I hope Sarah MacLachlan, Bryan Adams and all these guys say yes! You better post about it and invite us as well. I guess it is bringing it back to the roots and the fun. It’s these stories behind the scenes you’ve all been sharing that have been another highlight. Thank you.
Had to do this one quickly without thinking haha - otherwise I would have lost my nerve. Thankfully a few of mine were written based on very obscure small NZ bands, so it wasn't too hard to figure out how to contact one of them. So letter sent - I'll let you know if I get a reply. I sent it to Alistair Galbraith, from A Handful of Dust;
.
Hey Alistair,
.
You don't know me, but I have been a long time fan of your music. And some 25 years ago (or so) when you opened for Keiji Haino in Auckland, my friends and I gave you a cassette of our band on the first night - and then on the second night you remembered us, and had listened to the cassette, and gave some lovely feedback. It's been a really special memory for us ever since.
.
Anyway - I was recently taking part in a poetry challenge, where we were tasked to create poems out of song titles. And one of the bands I chose was A Handful of Dust. Then at the end of the challenge, one of the follow up prompts was to send a letter to one of the artists, to share the poem and let them know what an impact their music has had on us, and I chose you. Many thanks for all the great music over the years, and I hope you enjoy my humble effort at writing some poetry using song titles from Handful of Dust. Here's the poem, written as a sequence of 3 free-tanka;
Lovely idea to give thanks for the inspiration. Have written to Jim Kerr of Simple Minds, not sure where to send it to, but I am checking for agents etc. now. I did as suggested and wrote a REAL pen and paper letter, so hope he (his rep) can read my handwriting. Let's see if there's any response...
I was doing this already too! I guess great minds think alike! I write the music artists and ask can I use their images and songs in my books. As well as the poets here on Substack. It's fun. I'm sure you're participants will think the same. The only superstar who said no was Colson Whitehead's manager. Oh well. He is not the only ballgame in town. And I got a former president too. So, that other guy doesn't matter.
Happy reading! And to all the participants, happy writing!
Shout out to @Paul Wittenberg @Stanley Wotring @Shimizu Akira @Matt Murray @Sea who allowed me to use their works in my books. Thanks 👍 guys!
They are in my book, The Under Ground Rail Road - Remixed. Shimizu and Matt Murray. Along with former president Barack Obama Jr.. B0D3DYT1F2 on Amazon. I don't know why the entire link doesn't paste. The other 3 will be in my sequel and forever more if they allow me. :-)
Oh, you're always asking us to write more and more, Writer Pilgrim! It was a super intensive writing course, don't we deserve a little break? How many more words till you give us the degree?
Damn…. I wish I could hand out degrees! I apologise for making you write! Hahahaha nearly there! I found today hard. I’ve written my letter, contacted the management, but nothing. So I have to wait a bit more.
Wow. So you want us to write an actual letter/email to the artist and send it to them. That's an amazing idea. I think they would be very touched. It's not possible to write to some of mine, of course, but I guess someone like Billy Corgan could possibly be into it. He actually released his own book of poetry about twenty years ago. But would he appreciate me turning his songs into a story about a group of people trapped on a mountain in a blizzard? I'm not sure. Haha... 😎
Ha! I don’t if he would. It’s a risk someone does not approve of our art, artform, expression… it’s a risk. No progress without risk. If you’re willing to take it why not. Pick the one you’re most comfortable with. We gotta do something more with these poems.
Absolutely. We have got to do something with them. It's a damn shame Substack don't yet have the facility to post books on here. As they would have made a lovely little anthology, with a few in there from each of us, as a free memento of the event for everyone to enjoy... 😎
You can include PDFs for download in a post, which works for books :-) You can't have it displayed on the page - but yeah, downloadable at least!
Well that could work very nicely... 😎
It's three of you now mentioning the collection be put in a book, or online pdf. I'm thinking it will take work to put it all and get you all to consent, but most of all, the artists should be known their titles are collected in this way. It would take some research and further consent from the artists I'd guess. While titles are not copyrighted, it is complicated to create a whole book with these. From where I stand. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Yeah, it would be a mammoth task! You could ask each poet to make their own PDF and then combine them all together (as long as we all had the same page size that would work - like 5x8, or A5, or something)? Or everyone could make their own, and then just host them all on one post? Or get everyone to choose one poem each and then just make that into a book, with links to each person or something? Any word processor program/app can output to PDF (for anyone into making books, I highly recommend Scribus, which is a free, open-source Indesign-style program). Full disclosure, mine are already in PDF book form as I slowly work on editing (it's currently 48 pages long) :-)
I think it could work, for sure. And as was mentioned before about these things, as long as it's a free download there should be no issue. Because it falls under 'fair use' as long as you're using titles to create something new, and it's significantly transformative, and in our case, you could even argue it's something educational that was part of a writing group, and the book is just a record of what we learnt. It's only once you try to monetize that things become a hassle... 😎
Just going to throw this out there… even though I've missed this months poetic task. Oops!! Life stuff blah blah got in the way.
if you are ever wanting to have an anthology completed of these monthly challenges...
I can format both poetry and writing books. Even highly customised poetry layout. Whether they are individual series or an anthology collection. Available as full publication sale or as a free download. Roman Newell's BLACKED poetry collection is my highlight work. I've formatted pretty much all of his poetry collections. It's got some detailed layout.
I can even do cover formatting. However… it'd look pretty neat if you asked Duane to create an original collage piece. That would look pretty cool with all these letters and song title poetry.
Great idea
Thank you!
Done. Well, I send a DM on Twitter. I hope he sees it. I will keep you all posted.
Oooooh! Twitter is a bit of hit and miss but I think it shows you if message have been read. Fingers crossed!
Update: I told him about Song Title Poetry, thanked him for his music, and sent a screenshot of the poem.
He replied with “Love it!”
Knowing that he read the message and poem and then took the time to reply really impresses me.
Thanks, Pilgrims! My day is made! I wouldn’t have done this without your prodding.
Oh wow, my day is made too! What a feeling! And remind us, who was your artist pls?
John Ondrasek of Five for Fighting.
That's amazing Rod!!!! Good stuff. :-)
Thanks, Dick!
That's amazing! Well done! 😎
Thanks, Chris!
Hmm. Ian Anderson. Donald Fagen. Tom Waits. Bowie’s out. Your suggestion reminds me of my brother. He hosts a backyard concert at his house each summer. He hires a local musician, often struggling but always with talent, to play. Not stars and affordable for a middle class guy. But he also sends requests to big (Canadian) stars, Sarah McLachlan one year, Randy Bachman of BTO another year. When I suggested he was crazy and wasting his time, he just said, hey, what’ve I got to lose? They might say yes, and that would be amazing! Might do Ian Anderson, we’ll see!
Amazing story about your brother! Yeah, I agree - nothing to lose. May as well do it. :-)
He's got a way more positive attitude about things than I do! He's a 'cockeyed optimist'!
Love that haha!
I love that your brother does that! Seriously, it’s just… what if they say yes? I did something similar on my writing workshop. Invited some authors. Out of 3, one said let’s make this happen, two haven’t responded. But the most amazing thing is that one author I admire and like, got in touch as said she wants to guest speak at my workshop! Once you put yourself out there, things happen! I hope Sarah MacLachlan, Bryan Adams and all these guys say yes! You better post about it and invite us as well. I guess it is bringing it back to the roots and the fun. It’s these stories behind the scenes you’ve all been sharing that have been another highlight. Thank you.
Ian would reply I'm sure! Your brother has the right attitude, I hope someone does say yes one day.
Had to do this one quickly without thinking haha - otherwise I would have lost my nerve. Thankfully a few of mine were written based on very obscure small NZ bands, so it wasn't too hard to figure out how to contact one of them. So letter sent - I'll let you know if I get a reply. I sent it to Alistair Galbraith, from A Handful of Dust;
.
Hey Alistair,
.
You don't know me, but I have been a long time fan of your music. And some 25 years ago (or so) when you opened for Keiji Haino in Auckland, my friends and I gave you a cassette of our band on the first night - and then on the second night you remembered us, and had listened to the cassette, and gave some lovely feedback. It's been a really special memory for us ever since.
.
Anyway - I was recently taking part in a poetry challenge, where we were tasked to create poems out of song titles. And one of the bands I chose was A Handful of Dust. Then at the end of the challenge, one of the follow up prompts was to send a letter to one of the artists, to share the poem and let them know what an impact their music has had on us, and I chose you. Many thanks for all the great music over the years, and I hope you enjoy my humble effort at writing some poetry using song titles from Handful of Dust. Here's the poem, written as a sequence of 3 free-tanka;
.
-: The Colour of Grasshoppers: A Dance :-
.
I. first dance
.
in a handful
of dust—
.
i am god's finger,
.
and the sun
is not named
.
.
II. second dance
.
dialogues
of the dead—
.
in the house of voluntary poverty,
we will blow
our best
.
.
III. third dance
.
come,
breath upon these slain
that they may live—
.
in the city of the sun,
a brief apology
.
All the best,
Richard Whyte
.
.
.
<3
That is fantastic. And a great story about the cassette, too. I think he's going to be absolutely thrilled to receive that... 😎
Cheers Chris! Yeah, fingers crossed haha. Will keep you posted!
OMG! This brought me a tear to my eyes. What a powerful message! Yeah, do it fast, like ripping off the band aid, or plaster… Fingers crossed!
Awww 💜 best response ever!
Lovely idea to give thanks for the inspiration. Have written to Jim Kerr of Simple Minds, not sure where to send it to, but I am checking for agents etc. now. I did as suggested and wrote a REAL pen and paper letter, so hope he (his rep) can read my handwriting. Let's see if there's any response...
Keep a copy, photo on your phone or camera!
Done!
I'm stuck... not sure whether to choose Wham, Hozier, ABBA, Youssou N'Dour. This is a tough one.
I was doing this already too! I guess great minds think alike! I write the music artists and ask can I use their images and songs in my books. As well as the poets here on Substack. It's fun. I'm sure you're participants will think the same. The only superstar who said no was Colson Whitehead's manager. Oh well. He is not the only ballgame in town. And I got a former president too. So, that other guy doesn't matter.
Happy reading! And to all the participants, happy writing!
Shout out to @Paul Wittenberg @Stanley Wotring @Shimizu Akira @Matt Murray @Sea who allowed me to use their works in my books. Thanks 👍 guys!
Wow! You’ve got a lovely list there and a president? Do share!
They are in my book, The Under Ground Rail Road - Remixed. Shimizu and Matt Murray. Along with former president Barack Obama Jr.. B0D3DYT1F2 on Amazon. I don't know why the entire link doesn't paste. The other 3 will be in my sequel and forever more if they allow me. :-)
Good stuff!
Congrats!
Oh, you're always asking us to write more and more, Writer Pilgrim! It was a super intensive writing course, don't we deserve a little break? How many more words till you give us the degree?
:) :) :)
I will get back with the letter, I promise!
Damn…. I wish I could hand out degrees! I apologise for making you write! Hahahaha nearly there! I found today hard. I’ve written my letter, contacted the management, but nothing. So I have to wait a bit more.