Do pop songs use Emily Dickinson texts?

Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” holds the record for longest pop song hit. At 10 minutes, it is three times the attention span asked of most pop songs.

She does this with lots of musical repetition with just enough variation. The words line up perfectly with the music, stanza to stanza. The hook of “All Too Well” is a musical anchor which refreshes with new meanings. The piece nicely bookends with the “first week” scarf at the sister’s house.

Collaboration between two seasoned songwriters is key to the song. Co-credit goes to Liz Rose.

Collaboration is rare among neoclassical song composers. They often work with a commission that may require a pre-existing poem or prose setting. Or they seek public domain texts like an Emily Dickinson poem. This challenges the music. Sometimes a three-syllable word is perfect in the first verse but there’s only one syllable in the second. Effective songwriting techniques may appear outlandish, such as repeating an emotional phrase.

Poets write without music in mind. Asking the poet for an alternative word may be impossible, even if the text writer is living.

Neoclassical composers would do well to pair with a lyricist. Together, they may not pen a long breakup song. But they should understand the appeal of popular songwriting.

Neoclassical writers could also write their own lyrics. You have great singers and the audience came to hear them sing together. Some well-chosen words repeat well in a beautiful setting.

Personally, I am too curmudgeonly to collaborate. That means I cut off a lot of work with each new project. On the other hand, I enjoy the lyrical and musical surprises that each piece offers as it travels from a state of terrible but hopeful.

Public domain daguerrotype of Emily Dickinson, 1847..