Everyday Canvas

Poetic License and Song Lyrics

Poetic License According to Britannica:

“Poetic license, the right assumed by poets to alter or invert standard syntax or depart from common diction or pronunciation to comply with the metrical or tonal requirements of their writing.

As a general rule, poetry has a carefully controlled verbal structure. The metre of the poem, the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, and the sounds and modulations of the words themselves all affect the subtle meanings and feelings that the poet may be trying to convey or evoke. Poets may distort normal prose patterns for the sake of form and therefore assume poetic license; it is solely a matter of aesthetic judgment and sensibility as to whether the alterations enhance or detract from the total effect of the poem.

The term poetic license is also sometimes used in a humorous or pejorative sense to provide an excuse for careless or superficial writing.”


Okay, not just poets but I’d like to cut some slack to all writers if what they write pushes forward an idea or a feeling more forcefully than any other way. I may even look over a slight grammatical booboo in favor of a farce or mimicking an accent.

Still, I cringe at badly written song lyrics, even if I don’t expect any one of them to be 100% correct. It is one thing to try to create a dramatic effect and another thing to botch up the meaning or the language. I don’t want to give examples here for fear that nowadays music lovers may have my head for that, but there has to be a line drawn between blatant errors and poetic license. Especially in music. For the simple reason that we remember things better when they are set to music. Music has a way of infusing into our consciousness. For example, I can’t remember the day-to-day events that happened during the 1950s, but if you hum an Elvis song under your breath, its words will come to me in a flash.

Yes, I strongly believe grammar is important, and it is especially so when words are set to music. Moreover, let’s not forget what Michel de Montaigne said, “The greater part of the world’s troubles are due to questions of grammar.”