An Appreciation Of The Songwriting And Music Of John Arthur Martinez - Page 5

The rest of the song is a terrific blend of prose and poesy that references classic Western themes that prevail in much cowboy poetry (which, while not great art, is usually much better than what passes for poetry in MFA classes). The song references June bugs, heat, rain, prayer, chores, hay, cotton, and a harvest ball. But, trust me, the closest thing to a cliché is the phrase ‘the cotton was picked,’ but since it’s a literal description, not a metaphor, it veers away from cliché.

Let me next look at the love song "Home Made Of Stone," which, to any poet, evokes images of the great poet Robinson Jeffers’ "Tor House." Here is the opening verse: "I can count the walls of our singlewide trailer / On the fingers of my two hands."

Now, stop and look over this phrasing. There is the immediate familiarity of counting walls (with the number four in mind) and the familiar idea of counting fingers.

But look at how Martinez bridges the two near clichés and subverts their potential triteness. He tosses in the image of a singlewide trailer, which, if it has any other walls, they are paper thin, and barely walls. Thus, the solidity of the metaphor of walls as definitive boundaries is rent. Now, recall that this is the intro to a love song, so we have subverted the expected which, subliminally alerts the listener to the fact that this ‘love’ is likely different from others. The metaphor implies something deeper and more self-aware, but most folks will only get that in replaying the song in their minds- and it is another catchy tune. The fact that this lyric also ends the song lends the whole idea of the home made of stone being a desideratum, for the ending is wistful and soft, musically

The refrains and hooks of the song are standard love ballad fare, things like ‘I’m your man,’ ‘Woman I adore,’ ‘want to give you more,’ and ‘lucky stars.’ But, song lyrics cannot be judged by the same exacting standards as a poem is, for a poem depends solely upon its words for music and meaning. Songs have literal musical sound to convey emotional content, therefore lyrics have a lesser haul to carry.

The lyrics also have to palliate the lowered expectations of the listener, for the lull of a good tune makes a listener less willing to actively cogitate on things like meaning. Thus, good songwriters will toss in familiar platitudes to go with the flow of the music, while sticking in a few burs that force their way into meaning when the person hums the song back to themselves. It’s in the deviations from the expected, as well as the way a songwriter juxtaposes the expected phrasings in unexpected ways, that determines the quality of the lyric.

Article Author: Dan Schneider

Dan Schneider is the founder and webmaster of Cosmoetica: the best in poetica.

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