Taking Chances

When asked to choose a song I would defend as poetry I was not sure what to think. I mainly felt that poetry and music differed greatly, but Mr. Heidkamp seemed to feel that some songs could most definitely be considered poetry. I did a bit of research and stumbled upon this article. The author states that sometimes poetry is just meant to be seen, rather than heard (like music), but they are often the same in their complexity. Poetry always has a deeper meaning than meets the eye, and I would argue that the song "Chances" by Five For Fighting is the same.

The opening of the song isn't what totally hooks me. As the listener gets deeper into the songs the lyrics become much more complex and meaningful. The lyrics say Chances are the fascinations/ Chances won't escape from me/ Chances are only what we make them and all I need/. These lyrics are especially poetic to me because the songwriter is describing that there are so many chances in one's life and people should take these chances. The lyrics go on to say Still chances are more than expectations/. The author continues to describe that chances should be taken because they are much more exciting and you will get much more out of chances than doing what is normally expected.

The use of repetition with the word "chances" also further proves that this song is poetry. Many poets use repetition, whether it be a word or word phrase, to emphasize something. The songwriter wants to emphasize the word "chances" and uses repetition to do this.

Although many songs are not deemed poetry by people, they are no less difficult to write than poetry, and no less complex and therefore should often be considered poetry. I still feel as though there is some differences between poetry and music lyrics, but there are much more similarities than I thought.

Do you feel that all songs are poetry?