Poetry, Essay Writing, and Music

These last few classes we’ve had made me reflect on the creative and constructive process that goes into writing and producing a work of literature. Today’s class made me look at poetry in a different and less hostile way. I used to find poetry a burden because I would have a hard time deciphering what the poem actually means and I would feel confused because I would always have a different interpretation of the poem that was incorrect. Today’s class made me realize that it’s okay to have differing interpretations of the same literary work. Like the quote that was said during class, “poems should not mean, but be.” Everyone can reflect from and relate to a poem in various ambiguous ways.

Hearing this reminded me of this musician that I’ve recently gotten into. Her name is Grimes and although I’m not usually a huge fan of electronic music, Grimes has the ability to turn this genre of music almost into a work of poetry. She stated in an interview that writing a song, much like writing an essay, is about constructing layers and revision. There must be a central reoccuring beat to work on (like the thesis in an essay) and supporting sounds placed in the right areas to construct a whole song (like supporting examples to prove or strengthen your thesis).

The main reason as to why I related Grimes to our session about poetry specifically is because she once stated that she doesn’t make her lyrics too clear because she wants everyone to have their own interpretation on what she is saying. This is a lot like studying poetry because sometimes the text might be so ambiguous and hard to decipher that many different interpretations of the meaning can occur.
Usually when we think of poetry in terms of music, the genre of rap comes up most frequently. However, Grimes has the ability to connect poetry and the process of constructing a literary work to electronic music as well. Below is a video of her most well known song.