Gina's Quote Du Jour (Harburg)

“Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes you feel a thought.” - E. Y. (Yip) Harburg, lyricist of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’

Recently I was reading Malvina Reynolds' daughter, Nancy Schimmel's blog, Writing Malvina and I discovered this quote. It struck me as the perfect answer to a question Scott and I often ponder and discuss, "Are song lyrics poetry? Can they stand alone and convey the same meaning as they do when accompanied by their music?"

Our consensus was (usually) that although lyrics often can stand up to analysis in much the same way as a poem, there is some indefinable difference between the two.

I think this quote colorfully illustrates why, as far as a song is concerned, in order to convey the entire experience, the words and music are inseparable.