Poem or Song? Part II

I decided to do a part II of one of the posts I had done some on, but only listed as a part I (because I wanted to do more on the subject).  To me, there is never a bad time to examine the poetic aspects in music.  Like poets, many musicians use the lyrics in their music as a sort of autobiography.

I hate to use a band over and over again, but when I think of autobiographical music, I automatically think of The Wall by Pink Floyd who I used in part I.  The whole album is a semi-autobiography of Roger Waters who wrote it and sang the driving vocals of the protagonist.  Like "Pink", Waters' father died in WWII and he never got to really know him.  Using metaphorical language, Waters paints a scene of a nurturing but oppressive mother, a "helicopter parent".  It also has been interpreted a metaphor for authority in general, with the authority being mother.  Authority doesn't let us fly but shields us and puts their fears (propaganda) into us.  I think at its base is about a mother-son relationship but poetry can have many meanings.

Now its surprises me that I did not go with any Bob Dylan for the first one.  Dylan is one of the great musical bards of our era.  There are some great poets out there but no one can surpass his superb usage of figurative language.  All Along the Watchtower is one of his greatest feats of poety and is so marvelous because of how subtle it is.  Its a jab at the government over the Veitnam War, but it is masked through figurative language galore.  I could do a whole post about it, but in summary it is about businessman with their hands in the joker's pocket and the "princes in the watchtower" and their lavish lives while they fiddle with people's lives and have no respect for them.  The song also makes deft allusions to western culture (to capture the sense of cultural isolation) and The Bible (much of the allusions centered around Revelations and the impending doom the narrator foresees).  The allusions and figurative language set the scene for themes of war, isolation, idol worship, and political corruption while hiding it by the characters talking in riddles.  

I wanted to follow this up by going modern and finding a rap song with as much figurative language and metaphors as All Along the Watchtower but its hard to do.  Rap is a good example to show that not only is poetic music not just an oldies thing, but also not exclusively rock music.  One of the most powerful poetic rap songs that I have heard is Changes by Tupac.  Its much more direct than the weaving imagery of Dylan, but direct is not bad.  It starts out with: "I see no changes. Wake up in the morning and ask myself, 'is life worth living? Should I blast myself?" Right there you already have the start to some very powerful lyrics.  The song revolves around a narrator from a poor black community who is very aware of his struggles and the situation he is in.  He is frustrated that there is no change and wondering if suicide is an option.  Its poetry if read without the lyrics, but its also a protest song, trying to put into the public light the plight of these people.

And still I see no changes. Can't a brother get a little peace?
There's war on the streets & the war in the Middle East.
Instead of war on poverty,
they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me.
And I ain't never did a crime I ain't have to do.
But now I'm back with the facts givin' 'em back to you.