First Friday Open Mic, May 7, 2021

The Open Mic was unique in that three of the poets sang their poetry.  You may read the interviews of the poet-musicians by Carla Joy Martin, in this story.

The evening was graced with performances by Carla Joy Martin, Christopher Nielsen, Cynthia Bermudez, Eric Osborne, Irene Sinopole, Samuel Benjamin, Shiyi Suynshyn, and Suzanne Weller.

See the video from the Open Mic at:
First Friday Open Mic, May 7, 2021
– video on  Kern Poetry – YouTube 

And here are the interviews:

“Songwriters Share Their Stories”

by Carla Joy Martin

We were blessed with three original songs during May’s Open Mic!  It is always a special treat to hear poetic words expressed in music.  Suzanne Weller and Chris Nielsen composed and sang their songs.  Carla Joy Martin wrote lyrics to music by pianist, Gene Lowe, and she sang the song.

The song that Suzanne Weller shared is called “The Grass is Greener.”  Her lovely, lyrical voice soothed and entranced us.  The lyrics are as follows:

The Grass is Greener

by Suzanne Weller

You think the grass is greener
But I’m so green
As if the world has seen me
I’ve made the scene

Isn’t it funny how we build those walls?
when what we want is on the other side

I am the captive
You are my audience
If I try to laugh you know I want to cry
You know I want to cry

You think the grass is greener
but I’m so green
As if the world has seen me
I’ve made the scene

Or are you going to leave me all alone
After the night that you have come and gone
I am the singer
You are my confidant
If I sing for you you know I wouldn’t lie
You know I wouldn’t lie

Isn’t it like you to keep me guessing
Isn’t it like you to sing my song
If I walked up and gave you
The key to my heart
I’d turn around to find that you had gone

You think the grass is greener
But I’m so green
As if the world has seen me
I’ve made the scene

(repeat fade)

Q.  What is the back story to your song?  What inspired you to write it?  What musicians have inspired or influenced you?  Are song lyrics poetry?  How do you feel about the craft of writing poetry and the craft of writing songs?  Are they similar or opposed?  Is one more serious or noble than the other?  What steps do you take to create each kind of work?

A.  Poetry often has rhyme, rhythm and repetition and so do songs.  When a singer sings a song it is the voice that becomes the instrument and the vowel sounds of the language are used to express the musical notes.  When I wrote this song, I wrote the words and melody simultaneously and then added the musical accompaniment later.  I wrote this song in the late 1970s and then recorded it in a sound studio with four other songs.  I had studied music my whole life and French literature, too, and always enjoyed listening to songs by other artists. In the 1960s and 1970s many artists composed their own songs and lyrics and I was always impressed by their creations. So I decided to try writing songs myself and this is one of the results of my efforts.  The musicians who inspire me the most are usually the originals.  Joni Mitchell in the 1970s, Linda Ronstadt’s beautiful voice, and of course Bob Dylan’s, stream of consciousness poetry.  

Writing poetry and songs require inspiration and spontaneity and a person has to feel inspired to write.  Just like many things in life, I find it difficult. I try to share the creations that I think are good or of value, but the others I keep to myself.   Poetry and music are both art forms, so when a poet reads a poem or a singer sings an original song it is artistic expression, not unlike a painter putting a painting on a wall.  

Song lyrics are poetry.  The melody of a song is music.  A song is the combination of poetry and music.  Poetry isn’t more noble than music, because the two can’t really be separated.  Poetry from the beginning of time was often sung or accompanied by an instrument, even since Greek times and before.  Indians and indigenous people around the world and since the beginning of time sing words and play instruments.  Poetry and music bring people together.

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This is the song that Christopher Nielsen shared with us, accompanied by his guitar.  It moved our hearts with its plaintive, heartfelt melody and mournful words.

Lonesome Lament

by Christopher Nielsen

I am still lonesome (x3) 
I am still alone
Still alone

I am still learning (x3)
I am still schooling
No fooling

I am still reading (x3)
Reading poet’s books
Reading their poems

Food on the table
Fire in the fireplace
Peace and a prayer

I am still lonesome (x3)
I am still alone
Peace and a prayer
Peace and a prayer

Q. What are the backstories to your songs?  What inspired you to write them?

A.  I think nearly everybody goes through some lonesome times in their lives. A writer writes about those times. Could be a story, a poem, or maybe a song. Playing guitar, thinking about things and then the beginnings of a song comes out. Words or chords, might be both and the song forms. Hoping for a resolution for the issue, about being lonesome in this song. Comes through learning, reading and prayer also. 

Q.  What musicians have inspired or influenced you? 

A.  The Beatles at first. I wanted to be a songwriter, singer and player. Learning their songs is an education and happiness. 

Many musicians have been inspiring and influencing me over the years. Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Jason Isbell, Jay Farrar, John Prine, Jimi Hendrix, Lucinda Williams, Taj Mahal and so many more. Always listening, playing music and still learning. The music, the words and the meanings in life.

Q.  Are song lyrics poetry?  How do you feel about the craft of writing poetry and the craft of writing songs?  Are they similar or opposed?  Is one more serious or noble than the other?  What steps do you take to create each kind of work?

A.  Some songs are literally poetry. Reading lyrics of certain songs out loud are very poetic. Two songs by Bob Dylan – “Every Grain Of Sand” and “Mr. Tambourine Man”, can stand on the own words as poems. Worth reading them.

Different writers can do poetry or song writing (lyrics), or sometimes both. I think either poetry or lyrics can be serious or noble, in their own right as read or listened to. 

At times songs or poetry just happens and that is good. When writing, the feeling and being inspired, it occurs at any time. 

For me I have turned some of my songs into poems, when they right into that format. Or, poems into songs.  

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Carla Joy Martin sang the lyrics she composed to piano music by local artist, Gene Lowe.  Her low alto voice captured the sadness of love that is no more.  The piece was called “Reminiscence” and the lyrics are as follows:

Reminiscence

by Carla Martin

I see you standing there

With sunlight streaming through your hair

But now a chill is in the air

I can’t find you anywhere

I thought you were the one

Our future bright and glowing as the sun

Who harmed you when you were young 

And made you fearful of becoming one?

Our love was fresh and new

Full of promise, hope and truth.

But you kept a part of you away from me,

Shut me out – now I’m in misery.

How I long for those happy days

When it seemed our love was here to stay

Those memories flash before my eyes

Your fleeting beauty always made me cry.

Will I ever find a kindred soul,

Someone to treasure me and share my bowl?

It seems so hopeless – will I ever find

A lover open and forever kind?

I see you standing there

With sunlight streaming through your hair

But now a chill is in the air

I can’t find you anywhere

There was a time when I felt sure of you

You pledged your love to me and I was fooled

You left and went away….

Do you miss me when you think of me?

Or am I alone…. 

in misery?

How can a person seem so kind, so dear

Promise the moon – then simply disappear?

You broke my heart, my love

Can I live without you near?

Or am I alone….

I’m alone with thoughts so dark and drear.

But now I face each day

In a sadder, wiser way

I’ll wait a long, long time

Before I throw my heart away again

I remember our nights of love

When I saw heaven truly shine above

My soul rose in ecstasy

I thought you flew with me eternally

But you left me all alone

What could I do, my love?

I gave you everything I had

Now I have nothing left

Sometimes I see you standing there

With sunlight streaming through your hair

But then a chill is in the air

I can’t find you anywhere

Q.  What is the back story to your song?  What inspired you to write it?

A.   Gene Lowe is a phenomenal Bakersfield pianist who was classically trained and even aspired to be a concert pianist.  But his parents’ divorce when he was a teen ended his dream, as they sold his piano.  Gene became a nurse for the Navy for many years.  During a low point in his life, he made a promise to God to leave music behind that he created.  What followed was truly inspired — he would fall asleep, then wake up in the middle of the night with these songs going through his head.  He tried to sing them in a tape recorder, but his voice was too sleepy to be understood!  So he trained himself to get up and write the music down.  He created enough works to make an album titled “Awakenings.”  It is available on YouTube.

When Gene learned I was a poet and read some of my work, he asked me to write lyrics to some of his songs.  I was thrilled! 

Q.  What musicians have inspired or influenced you?

A.  Two artists that immediately come to mind are Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell.  They wrote amazing lyrics that read just like beautiful, intriguing poetry.  And what a body of work they produced! 

 

I also thought of the great collaborators – Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein – they created the musicals that are emmeshed in our popular culture: Oklahoma!CarouselSouth PacificThe King and I, and The Sound of Music

Another dynamic duo were Elton John and Bernie Taupin. They wrote 30 albums together. Their collaboration was incredible. As Elton John said,  “[W]e’ve never ever had an argument professionally or personally, which is extraordinary because most songwriters sometimes split up because they get jealous of each other. And it’s exciting because it’s never changed from the first day we wrote songs. I still write the song when he’s not there and then I go and play it to him. So the excitement is still the same as it was from day one and that’s kept it fresh and it’s kept it exciting.”

When I wrote the lyrics to Gene Lowe’s music, I also did it when he was not there and then sent the words to him.  His music, I would say, is influenced by Frederic Chopin.  The melody is haunting and the piano part ripples up and down the keys in a minor key.  It is the perfect mood for lyrics about lost love.

Q. Are song lyrics poetry?  How do you feel about the craft of writing poetry and the craft of writing songs?  Are they similar or opposed?  Is one more serious or noble than the other?  What steps do you take to create each kind of work?

A.  I believe lyrics certainly can be read as poetry. Writing lyrics is every bit as much of a worthwhile creative endeavor as writing poetry.  I encourage all poets to give it a try!  

 I noticed when writing lyrics to “Reminiscing” that I had to make the rhythm of the poetry fit the rhythm of the notes.  There is a definitive metrical structure to writing songs — free verse poetry just won’t work – unless you are singing scat, I suppose. 

When I showed Gene my lyrics, he said, “This is uncanny!  You captured exactly what I was thinking about when I wrote this song.”  I was so pleased and grateful that I managed to understand the mood and story of his music.  I hope to write lyrics to more of his works.